I do not claim to be much of a gambler; in fact, I rarely play at the casino. It just does not excite me. I never win on slot machines, I get annoyed at the Blackjack table because people blame losing a hand on others, and call out, in their mind, poor card decisions, and let’s face it, Craps tables are overwhelming with all of the action and screaming going on. One night I got a text from my friend asking if I wanted to meet him at the horse racing track as they had live racing going on that night. I honestly had only been to the track once before, and it is funny because it is only about 10 or 15 minutes away from my house. I always forget that it is there. It was actually perfect timing of his text because I was looking for something low key to do that night, had a tailgate planned for the next morning, so did not want to stay out too late, so I figured why not.
There were 12 live races going on that night, and had no idea how to even bet, but I got a program and went outside by the finish line and watched a race to see what it was all about. The crowd was pretty light, as expected, hearing rumors facing closure, but people seemed to be into it. My friend showed me the basics of how to bet, I usually just tried picking a winner based on odds, but mostly because of the name. You could place low risk bets of a couple dollars, beers were cheap, and I was not winning at all, but I was having fun. It was something different. The crowd started to fill in a little more, but most seemed to be focused on the race simulcasts that you could bet on, but I enjoyed being outside watching the races.
As the races went on I was starting to box trifecta’s (picking 3 horses to finish top 3 spots in any order) to try and win the seemingly impossible odds. The 8th race, final lap (of two laps), last turn, I had all 3 of my horses in the top 3 coming towards the finish line. Jumping up and down yelling “go, go, go, go!” they cross the finish line and I won, slapping high fives to everyone around me! I won $160 on that race, I was pumped! I tried a couple more races but did not win, but it did not matter, I had a great time, and I am definitely coming back. In my 30’s, I am definitely not the youngest age group, but judging by the age of the crowd, they need a younger crowd to start supporting horse racing, and I am going to get my friends to come with me next time!