The first step in betting is figuring out which wager you want to make. For first-timers, we recommend keeping things simple by picking a win, place or show bet. Once you get the hang of things, exploring more exotic wagers can garner especially nice payouts for the skilled bettor.

Once you’ve picked your wager, it’s time to select your horses. This can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. If it’s your first time, there’s nothing wrong with simply selecting horses by their name or color. There’s also nothing wrong with using every statistic available to try to weigh the odds in your favor. If that’s your strategy, the race-day program will be quite helpful.

You know your wager and your horses. It’s time to enter your bet, cross your fingers and hold on for the ride. You can either place your bet with a teller or do it yourself at a self-service machine. Below are directions for both.

Like a program at a baseball game, racetrack programs provide information about all the players. In this case, the players are the horses, drivers, trainers and owners. Reading up on these kinds of details helps bettors make an educated guess on which horse and jockey combo is most likely to win. And with a racetrack program only costing $3, it’s a worthy investment.

Check out our harness racing tracks across the United States.

Watch this video to learn more about the difference between the two gaits for Standardbred horses.