| Another wealthy Wall Street trader just made the | | | | to lose from an outside source. |
| news when he got arrested and charged with insider | | | | Think you have the savvy to see this on the |
| trading. Betting on horses has been compared to | | | | toteboard? Think again, Sherlock. What you see on |
| playing the stock market by horse players and | | | | the toteboard may only be a small portion of the real |
| investors alike. But just how crooked are the races | | | | money that is wagered on that race and it may be |
| and how crooked are the markets? | | | | dispersed quite differently than the sums you see in |
| A good investor can accumulate wealth on the | | | | front of you. |
| markets, but it can all be wiped out by a Bernie Madoff | | | | There are offshore sports books and bookies that still |
| type or some other scammer, such as an inside trader. | | | | take action, sometimes a lot of action, on races run |
| In horse racing, you never know if the fix is on, though | | | | right here in the U.S.A. That means that the horse at 3 |
| some of the things you see certainly make you | | | | 5 according to the track's toteboard may not have as |
| wonder. The truth of the matter is that both | | | | much money bet on it off shore or in other venues. In |
| endeavors involve the ingredients for chicanery; | | | | fact, something called seeding goes on. |
| money, people, greed. | | | | People who bet offshore still watch the track |
| I grew up on a farm and learned the truth of the old | | | | toteboard odds to determine some of their bets as do |
| saying," Don't put all your eggs in one basket." That | | | | the sports book operators. So a wise guy may dump |
| certainly holds true when it comes to investing. | | | | ten grand on a horse to push it into prohibitive favorite |
| You can make money investing and also betting on | | | | status on the track tote but then bet $50,000 or more |
| horse races, but the operative word is "make." It isn't | | | | to win on another horse in the same race. That other |
| done without some effort and vigilance on your part. In | | | | horse may be part of a fix, along with the favorite that |
| horseracing vigilance means don't put yourself in a | | | | will be stiffed. The crowd, including the ones who bet |
| position where a person who has a good reason for | | | | the offshore venues, see the favorite is getting what |
| losing a race is your bet. In other words, betting big | | | | they think is lots of action so they pile it on. |
| favorites is crazy, especially in races with small purses | | | | And where does most of that money go? Right to the |
| and no prestige. | | | | wise guy who fixed the race. This is less likely to |
| Don't just look at your bet in terms of risk and reward | | | | happen at the bigger tracks and in high profile or large |
| to yourself, but also in terms of what the players, i.e., | | | | purse races, but no race is completely safe. One way |
| jockey, owner, trainer, stand to gain from a win or loss. | | | | to avoid this is never ever jump on the bandwagon |
| Sometimes, a trainer can stiff his or her horse and | | | | with a big favorite. There are just too many reasons |
| make more betting against it. There are other times | | | | for that horse to lose. |
| when the trainer is honest but the rider has instructions | | | | |