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Hi, this is Kei!
How are you guys doing?
I am going to explain about 「KEIBA」 today!
◆What is 「HORSE RACING (KEIBA)」?
You know “HORSE RACING”, right?
That is one of the most popular gambles in the world.
And, in Japan, we call the “HORSE RACING” 「KEIBA」.
「KEIBA」 is a form of public gambling that is officially approved by the government. In addition to 「KEIBA」, there are other forms of public gambling in Japan, such as boat racing, bicycle racing, and auto racing. But I think 「KEIBA」 is the most attractive one!
After all, the dividend is the biggest of them all.
On August 4, 2012, a record-breaking payoff of 29,832,950 Japanese yen for a trifecta happened! Payoff is the money you get when your horse ticket is a winning one.
At this time, the odds on the trifecta were 298,329.5!
Odds are the multiplier that a horse ticket will have when it becomes a winning ticket.
In addition, the Internet-only voting format called “WIN5,” which was launched on April 24, 2011, will pay off 554,446,060 Japanese yen on March 14, 2021!
This is a dream 「KEIBA」 where you can win such high dividends, but you can join for as little as 100 Japanese yen!
Everyone can easily participate, and everyone has an equal chance to win high dividends.
And 「KEIBA」 is going on every day at some racescourses.
Yes, that means the opportunity to win a lot of money is right in front of you every day. haha
What do you think? Are you dying to try 「KEIBA」?
Then I’ll tell you how to do 「KEIBA」.
◆How to do 「KEIBA」
【1】Purchase a horse ticket at the racecourse
At the racecourse, there are automatic ticket vending machines where you can purchase horse tickets with cash.
Near the machine, you will find a mark sheet for voting, so fill in your prediction and put it in the machine.
You’ll get your ticket in exchange for the mark sheet, so don’t forget to take it!
Of course, if you miss the deadline, your vote will be invalid.
If your prediction is right, but you miss the deadline, you miss out on the dividend that you should have gotten…It’s such a sad thing, isn’t it?
The ticket machines get crowded just before the deadline, so make sure you buy horse tickets well in advance!
【2】Buying a horse ticket at WINS (Off-site Horse Ticket Office)
There are more than 40 WINS, or off-site horse ticket offices, located all over Japan.
Each WINS has a mark sheet similar to that of a track, and an automatic ticket vending machine.
If you don’t know how to buy a ticket, the staff will help you, so even if it’s your first time, you can buy a ticket without any worry.
【3】Buying Horse Tickets on the Internet
Finally, I would like to introduce the most popular way to buy horse tickets nowadays, especially among young people. You can buy horse tickets from PC, smartphone, or any other device with an Internet connection.
This means that you can buy horse tickets anywhere in Japan.
It’s very convenient, isn’t it?
To purchase horse tickets for Central 「KEIBA」, I recommend registering for the Internet voting service 「Soku PAT」!
There are several other ways to vote, but 「Soku PAT」 is the most convenient because you can buy horse tickets the same day you register as a member, you don’t have to pay any necessary fees, and you can buy from your cell phone or smartphone. In order to register, you will need to have a bank account that is compatible with 「Soku PAT」, so be sure to prepare one beforehand.
For local 「KEIBA」, I recommend SPAT4, which is also an Internet voting service. You can buy all the races in all the time zones with this one service.
◆Types of Horse Tickets
Here I’ll introduce 9 types of horse tickets (win, place, quinella, exacta, bracket quinella, quinella place, trio, trifecta, and WIN5).
【1】Win
Win is the simplest and most basic horse ticket.
A win ticket is to buy the horse that you think will win or come in first in the race.
The percentage of the most popular horse winning is about 30%.
【2】Place
Place is a ticket to buy a horse that you think will come within the top three.
It’s the ticket with the highest chance of success, but the pay off is not very high.
I don’t want to use place tickets because I’m always thinking about winning a big pay off and going out at night. haha
If there are less than seven horses in the race, the winner will be the top two, so be careful!
【3】Quinella
Quinella is a horse betting ticket that guesses the horses that will come in first and second place. In other words, if you can pick the two horses that will finish in the top two, you will win. The first and second horses can be in reverse order!
【4】Exacta
Exacta is no different from quinella in terms of guessing the horses that will come in first and second. However, you have to guess the horses in order to win. For that reason, the pay off is much higher than that of quinella.
In HORSE RACING the harder it is to guess, the higher the pay off will be!
【5】Bracket Quinella
In 「KEIBA」, there are “bracket” that divide all the horses in a race into up to eight groups.
Each of the eight “bracket” has its own color, which can be determined by the color of the hat worn by the jockey.
If there are eight or fewer horses in a race, there will be one horse in each bracket.
If there are nine or more horses in the race, there will be more than one horse in each bracket.
Then, you guess the bracket numbers of the horses that will come in first and second place.
Like quinella, you can win even if the order of arrival is reversed.
【6】Quinella Place
Quinella place is a combination of two horses that finish in the top three.
The three patterns, “first and second,” “second and third,” and “first and third,” would hit the target.
【7】Trio
Trio is a horse ticket that guesses the combination of horses that will finish in the top three. Like quinella, you don’t have to worry about the order of the first three horses.
In Japanese 「KEIBA」, there are a maximum of 18 horses in a race, and in that case, there are 816 possible combinations of trio.
【8】Trifecta
Trifecta is a horse ticket that guesses the combination of horses that will finish in the top three in order. The relationship between trio and trifecta is similar to that between quinella and exacta.
If there are 18 horses in the race, there can be 4,896 possible combinations.
That’s why, when you hit on an unpopular combination, you can get a huge pay off of tens of millions of Japanese yen, as I mentioned at the beginning!
【9】WIN5
Finally, I’d like to introduce you to WIN5, the highest pay off bet.
WIN5 is only available in Central 「KEIBA」 and can only be purchased through internet voting.
For that reason, I recommend you register with 「Soku PAT」, which I introduced before, for free.
WIN5 is a horse race where you guess the first horse in five designated races.
In other words, you’ re going to hit a win five times in a row. When you hear just that, you may think, “What the heck. It sounds surprisingly easy.”
But this is really difficult. I’ve been chasing my dream and have been putting money in WIN5 for a long time. haha
◆Central 「KEIBA」 and Local 「KEIBA」
「KEIBA」 in Japan is divided into two main categories: central 「KEIBA」 and local 「KEIBA」.
There is no fundamental difference between the two types of 「KEIBA」.
But there are some differences between the central and local, and I’ll just mention three things that are useful for us to know in order to enjoy 「KEIBA」!
【1】Differences between Organizers
Central 「KEIBA」 is organized by the Japan Racing Association (JRA), a special corporation, and is a public sport fully funded by the government. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
As you can see, the government is involved, and the scale and amount of money involved is huge.
In 1996, the Arima Kinen (a big event held at the end of the year) recorded 87.5 billion Japanese yen in sales in just one race, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s No.1 record!
87.5 billion! Can you even believe it?
The Central 「KEIBA」 is operated by 10 racecourses in Japan (Tokyo, Nakayama, Hanshin, Kyoto, Chukyo, Hakodate, Sapporo, Kokura, Niigata and Fukushima).
Local 「KEIBA」, on the other hand, are organized by prefectures and local governments.
Currently, there are horse races held in 16 locations throughout Japan (Obihiro, Monbetsu, Morioka, Mizusawa, Urawa, Oi, Funabashi, Kawasaki, Nagoya, Chukyo, Kasamatsu, Kanazawa, Sonoda, Himeji, Kochi, and Saga).
The record for the highest sales for a single race in local HORSE RACING is 600 million Japanese yen for the Tokyo Grand Prix in 2020.
That’s an impressive enough figure, but it’s still a bit behind that of central 「KEIBA」.
【2】Differences in Dividends.
This is related to what I just explained, but the bigger the sales, the bigger the expected pay off.
You might be thinking, “I can’t make money in a small local 「KEIBA」…”
Actually, that’s not true.
The highest pay off for a local 「KEIBA」 was 2,8481,550 Japanese yen on January 24, 2020!
In addition, the “Triple Quinella”, which is held only in some areas of local 「KEIBA」 (in contrast to the “WIN5” in Central 「KEIBA」, this one is for exacta in three specified races.), paid off 228,130,165 Japanese yen on June 21, 2021!
But there is one drawback. Although the maximum pay off is great, local 「KEIBA」 often have fewer horses and less money per race than the central 「KEIBA」.
The smaller number of horses in the race makes it easier to guess, and the easier it is to guess, the less dividend excitement there is.
Also, in races where sales per race are low, if you put in a lot of money in hopes of making a big profit, the odds could change drastically.
You buy a million Japanese yen worth of tickets for the central 「KEIBA」, and the odds don’t change a bit, but if you put a lot of money into the local 「KEIBA」, you could find yourself in a terrible situation where the odds are 1.0 times.
If you bet 1.0 times on win, you’ll get your money back even if the ticket is a hit.
You might be thinking, ‘If I’m going to do 「KEIBA」, I’d rather do in central 「KEIBA」.
The local 「KEIBA」 also have their own unique points.
【3】Great Characteristics of Local 「KEIBA」
The last race of the day in central 「KEIBA」 is over by 5:00 p.m. at the latest. On the other hand, local 「KEIBA」 are held at night. In night races, the last race of the day starts at 8:50 p.m., so you can enjoy 「KEIBA」 until late.
Also, while central 「KEIBA」 are held only on Saturdays and Sundays, local 「KEIBA」 are held every weekday.
Even if you are busy with work on weekdays, you can still enjoy 「KEIBA」 when local 「KEIBA」 are held at night.
I often take girls to local night races.
You might think “Do girls go to 「KEIBA」?” “Would she enjoy dating at a racecourse?”
In Japan, the number of female 「KEIBA」 fans is increasing rapidly, thanks partly to JRA’s PR.
With the increase in the number of female 「KEIBA」 fans, the term “Umajo” was created to describe female 「KEIBA」 fans.
Hit a night 「KEIBA」, have a drink, and go to the hotel!
What a great flow! haha
◆3 Recommended Racecourses
Now I’m going to introduce you to three of my favorite racecourses in all of Japan!
【1】Oi Racecourse
First, let’s take a look at Oi Racecourse, which is the largest of the local racecourses.
It is easily accessible from Tokyo by public transportation, and is only a two-minute walk from the station.
It is also known as “Tokyo City Keiba,” or TCK for short.
TCK itself calls itself a nighttime amusement park, which is why Oi Racecourse has so many night races.
It is famous for the illuminations that are displayed in various places in the place, making it a great date spot.
In the past, there was even a couples-only “TCK Illumination Tour” planned, and it’s really beautiful, so everyone should take a girl and go once!
【2】Tokyo Racecourse
Tokyo Racecourse is the most famous horse racecourse in Japan, and the Japan Derby, a dream of every horseman, is held here.
The 1990 Japan Derby once had a crowd of 196,517 people.
I’ve only seen it on video, but I’ve talked to people who was there.
You know that crowded train that often surprises foreigners when they come to Japan?
What a large racecourse, but it was packed with people.
The Japan Derby is a special race not only for horsemen but also for 「KEIBA」 fans.
You can usually relax and enjoy 「KEIBA」!
I often go to Tokyo Racecourse, and I think there are a lot of girls there.
And it’s easy to pick up girls because we have something in common, 「KEIBA」.
It is easy to pick up if you say, “Hey, girl. I just won a race, so I’ll buy you a beer.”
In fact, I would say the same thing whether I won the race or not. haha
【3】Kawasaki Racecourse
Kawasaki Racecourse is a local horse racecourse located in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture.
It is one of the largest local horse racecourse in Japan, but it is not very impressive…
“So why do I recommend it?”
Because Kawasaki City, where the Kawasaki Racecourse is located, has one of Japan’s leading 「SOAP」 called Horinouchi. haha
In addition, there is a brothel area called “Minamimachi” in the same city!
There are not only 「SOAP」, but also 「KYABAKURA」, 「PINSALO」, and other places where you can play with girls.
“Win a lot of money at Kawasaki 「KEIBA」 and have a lot of fun in Kawasaki City.”
Remember, you can have a dream in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture! Haha
◆People who is suited for 「KEIBA」
- Like to gamble
- Like sports
- Like exciting places
- Want to capture the Japanese dream in 「KEIBA」
- Want to make a lot of money and have a great time
- Want to make money easily
- Want to connect with girls who like 「KEIBA」
- Want to make friends through 「KEIBA」
◆People who is NOT suited for 「KEIBA」
- Who dislike gambling
- Who dislike sports
- Can’t stop yourself from betting
- Don’t have enough money to buy horse tickets
- Don’t want a girl who likes 「KEIBA」
◆Summary
How was it guys? I hope it made you want to try 「KEIBA」.
「KEIBA」 is really interesting and has much depth.
It could pay off big dividends, and more importantly, I’ve made a lot of friends and met a lot of girls through 「KEIBA」.
In Japan, 「KEIBA」 are held every day.
There’s always a chance to win a lot of money, make friends, meet girls, and have fun!
I hope you will visit the racecourse sometime.
See you guys later, this was Kei!