It doesn't matter what your bankroll is. You know you're going to the ATM anyway lol :)

only on turf races....

I'm pretty solid on dirt, but i couldn't pick the winner of a turf race if it was a horse, 2 dogs, 3 sheep, and my neighbors cat.

I like the cat at a price.

Hey, you know blinkers off and 1st lasix and all....

I think this was an earnest question...
 

start slowly... understand that even for experts, the random variability of racing can lead to losing streaks... a weekly budget that fits within your circumstances....

This will get a lively discussion started, and I don't know anything about where you are on the handicapping journey...but since you asked about how much to set aside, this would be my advice:

don't bet overlays/favorites... if you can't help it, put 7-1 or better horses underneath in $1 exactas... you'll bleed slowly boxing horses between even money and 2-1

Learn to and try to indentify false favorites.... I just love a horse that is being pounded at 3/5 or less.... it just spells opportunity. Any horse that is truely that dominant in a given field is there for a reason, usually not because the trainer just want to come in an crush a bunch of dogs...

don't use other people's pics... no exceptions

Don't make "chipping" bets... $2 -$3. You should be betting enough to make a real difference if you are right, and enough that you are really making an effort to cap the race... trust me $2 here... $12 exacta box there adds up. Most advise no more than 5% of whatever you are playing with

Bet win/place if you are playing horses at 7/2 and up.... it's up to you if you want to overweight the place bet... e.g. $5 win, $10 place. Longer prices come in 2nd much more often that 1st

Until you really feel like you can consistently pick contenders, don't play multi-race bets if you are not prepared to wager enough to really cover.. I have lost a lot by being too "cheap", to cover a horse in a pick 3 that I thought had a chance, because I was unwilling to go from $36 to $48

Learn to understand how the pace of race will probably play out, and understand how the horses in the race will probably react to the speed which will unfold in the race..

If you get a nice hit and are up for the day...put down the mouse, enjoy it, come back tomorrow fresh.....

Finally... study. There is no substitute for reading PP's and and seeing how the race unfolded, but some references/books that I highly recommend

Handicapping 101 Brad Free
Handicapper's Condition Book James Quinn
Common Sense Handicapping Dick Mitchell
Horseplayers, Life at the Track Ted McClelland

Once you have digested these.... explore Mark Cramer, Davidowitz, and pretty much anything written by James Quinn...

let the flames begin.....

I/L

Good advice, everyone has something that works for them. The best thing you can do is read right now. Learn how to read the form and classes of horses. Like they say Pace makes the Race. What really helped me starting off was getting old PP's and a video subscription and capping and then going back and watching the actual races. You get instant gratification on right and wrong decisions and you can see very quickly where your strengths and weaknesses lie. As has been mentioned before, I have a horrible ROI on turf races and a decent one on dirt. So I bet very very few dirt races. Once you find out the types of races you have a good read on you'll be well on your way.

You probably should not bet more than about 2% of your bankroll on any one race. So let's say that you are going to put $200 aside to play the horse for the next few weeks. If you are a win and place bettor, you probably should only bet about $2 WP a race. That way you don't lose more than 1/50th of your bankroll on any one race. That way you're not going to sweat it if you lose 7 or 8 races in a row. Losing 7 or 8 races in a row will not put too big of a dent in your bankroll if you are only betting 1/50th of your bankroll per race.

When you overbet your bankroll, it's much tougher to think clearly. If you have a little losing streak, it can stress you out. When you are stressed out and are playing scared, it's easy to make bad decisions. When I used to bet at Pinnacle, I always did the best when my bankroll was large and I was betting small relative to my bankroll. When I had $30,000 in my account, I didn't get stressed if I lost five or six $500 bets in a row. When I only had $3,000 in my account, I would get all bent out of shape if I lost just three or four $500 bets in a row. It's tough to play like that because no matter how good you are, you will have losing streaks. You don't want to be betting so large relative to your bankroll that a losing streak will wipe you out.

where you get old pp's from. ones you saved?

Yes delta, I mean if your serious, you need to buy some kind of subscription to drf. Then download them everday even if you dont plan to play. That way you can go back and cap later on and see how you did.

bet real money ..nothing stings as bad as losing the real thing..you damn well will go back and see what you may have missed..other than that..infield advice is pretty strong..ill add that you should pick two tracks and stick to them also learn how to watch races..find troubled trips set up a drf watch mail..that alerts you when said horse with trouble will run again..good luck hooves

All good. I'll add that paying $10-$20 a month for a racereplays.com account (or at Youbet.com, etc...) is very worthwhile. Watch the races from your track over and over along with looking at the pp's. There's very little that's not widely available to the public and what is widely available is worked into the tote board. Trip handicapping is about all that's left to find meaningful information.

You can get the same thing for free on calracing.com but they don't carry CDI tracks. . .

They have the head-on?

Yup. . . and winning photos

Like others said, stick to win or win/place bets. While it has been advised repeatedly on this site that w/p are losing bets, and those people saying so are right, I think for a very small bankroll, learning experience and confidence they are a good place to start.

"Practicing" in free online contests is a great way to develop your skill if you need to keep your bankroll low for now. Slowly you'll find yourself making more complex bets when you recognize races you feel confident in.

in the words of the late great kevin goemmer(rip)"bet with your head and not over it"

Something larger than what you want to end up with.

i'd stick to the 40 bucks or so it might cost to buy gallop racer for the playstation 2.

G1 Jockey 3 is Mineshaft to Gallop Racer's Volponi