Here's why 5Dimes is better than Pinnacle

[SCUDSBROTHER]

"For Pick 3's, and Pick 4's, if a horse is scratched in any leg, you will receive refunds on all combos with the scratched horse, no matter when the horse was scratched. You will not receive the track favorite or any consolation payouts, but instead a refund. This is an advantage for the player."

Pinnacle is a joke for having this idiotic policy above.Let me know when they stop doing it.

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

Dunbar can correct me if I am wrong but I thought that the limits were very low at 5Dimes when it comes to the 10% bonus. I thought that they only offered it on bets up to $100 or something like that. If that is the case, then a big bettor would want to stick with Pinny.

Rupert, you are making the same mistake I did for awhile. I initially misread the FAQs. The $100 is simply the limit that they will guarantee full track odds. Above $100 5Dimes pays track odds UP TO 110-1 odds. But they have no limit on the 10%. If you bet $500 at 4-1 and win, you will collect $2750, not $2500.

Mis-reading that cost me a bunch of money. But even so, I wouldn't have made the complete switch to 5Dimes before they began taking action close to post time.

--Dunbar

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

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.

CLARIFICATION/CORRECTION! The DEPOSIT bonus situation at 5Dimes is not as good as I implied. You do get the deposit bonuses I indicated, BUT you cannot activate the bonuses by betting in the racebook. You can only satisfy the "rollover" requirement by betting in the sportsbook (or, heaven forbid, in the casino.) Therefore, unless you bet other sports or are experienced in looking for arbs, you can forget about bonuses at 5Dimes.

I started out at 5Dimes five years ago as a sportsbettor, so the issue never came up for me. Once your withdrawals exceed your deposits, you can no longer get reload bonuses. So I haven't been able to get a bonus for years and I never noticed the racebook exclusion before today.

--Dunbar

[Dunbar]

Just to be clear, the "Clarification/Correction" only related to DEPOSIT bonuses. Everything I wrote about the 10% payoff bonus at 5Dimes is correct, to the best of my knowledge.

--Dunbar

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

I am still so happy with Pinnacle, and since the majority of my action is split between matchups and regular horse wagers, I'd prefer to keep the majority of my bankroll in one place.

Originally Posted by Scav

The matchup thing is key....I would be interested to know what type of overall action they take on those, I bet it is alot

Scav and randall, you are totally correct about the importance of Pinnacle's matchups. A serious horse bettor needs an account at Pinnacle for these matchups alone. But a serious bettor should not be "leaving money on the table" by making win and exacta bets at Pinnacle rather than 5Dimes.

Every time you make $1000 worth of place or show bets at the track or OTB, you are giving up somewhere between $40 and $70 that you could have earned at Pinnacle.

Similarly, every time you make $1000 worth of win or exacta bets at Pinnacle, you are giving up somewhere between an additional $15 and $100 (depending on the kind of bet and your skill level) that you could have averaged from 5Dimes. For these bets, choosing 5Dimes over Pinnacle makes as much sense as choosing Pinnacle over the OTB.

The truth is, any serious or semi-serious bettor should have an account at both places.

--Dunbar