The common wisdom here seems to be that Pinnacle is the best place to bet offshore. In actuality, 5Dimes, which pays an extra 10% on winning exotic and win bets, is substantially better in most instances. Here’s why.
Let’s assume you are good enough to break even when you bet at the track. So, when a horse goes off at 4 to 1, you have a 1/5 chance to win your bet.
After 100 races betting on 4-1 shots, you should win 100 * 1/5 = 20 of them. (And you will lose 80 of them.)
Now say you bet $50 on 100 horses that go off at 4 to 1. Where will you end up with more money, Pinnacle or 5Dimes?
At Pinnacle, you are going to break even on your bets, but you will get a 7% rebate. (let’s assume this isn’t New York where the rebate would be just 4%) That is 7% * 100 * $50 = $350. So you will end up with a $350 profit at Pinnacle, even though you are just a breakeven capper.
At 5Dimes, you get an extra 10% on your winning payoffs. A horse that is 4 to 1 will pay $250 on a $50 bet. Each time you win, 5Dimes is going to give you an extra 10% on top of that—an extra $25. As we said above, a breakeven capper will win 20 out of 100 races (at 4-1). So at 5Dimes, you would collect 20 * $25 = $500 extra.
At 5Dimes you end up $500 ahead; at Pinnacle $350 ahead. Still think Pinnacle is better?
You can choose any odds and any bet size, and the result will be the same. You will do better at 5Dimes. And the better you cap, the bigger the edge at 5Dimes. But even a losing capper is better off at 5Dimes, unless the capper is worse than a chimpanzee throwing darts.
FINE PRINT:
There are some other considerations.
Disadvantages to 5Dimes:
1. No bonus or rebate for place and show bets
2. Caps on odds:
Win bets are capped at 110-1 or 50-1, depending on the size of the track. Exactas capped at 165-1 or 150-1, depending on track size. Tris capped at 550-1 or 500-1. see
http://5dimes.com/payouts.html for more detailed info.
3. Not all tracks are covered by 10% bonus. The most glaring omission is Oaklawn. (at least 20 tracks ARE covered, however:
http://5dimes.com/tracks.html
Disadvantage to Pinnacle:
1. Rebate is just 4% for NY tracks.
2. Bonuses are not as good as 5Dimes' bonuses
You get 20% in free play on your initial deposit at 5Dimes. This is better than Pinnacle’s 10% cash bonus.
If you lose at 5Dimes, you will be able to get another bonus when you re-deposit.
Both books now permit betting very close to post time. Up until recently, this was a problem at 5Dimes; they used to cut off betting a couple of minutes before post.
Bottom line: For most tracks, you are better off making your win, exacta, and trifecta bets at 5Dimes. If you think there’s a chance your exactas could pay more than 150-1 or your trifectas pay more than 500-1, you should bet those at CRIS. That’s right, CRIS, not Pinnacle. But that’s another post.
If any of this isn’t clear, tell me and I’ll try to clarify. I'll also show in another post that even a dart-throwing capper is usually better off at 5Dimes.
--Dunbar
PS--both 5Dimes and CRIS are top-notch sportsbooks, each having an "A" rating from the best industry watchdog, Sportsbookreview.com.