The popularity of off track betting is undeniable, even in 2024. Off track betting is perhaps one of the oldest forms of betting in the world, and it is no surprise that this has translated into a rich world of horse racing betting sites providing off track betting online. More and more people are turning to this option to bet on their favorite horses, as it is much easier than going to a physical track.

Here, Bookies will cover the best off track betting sites in 2024, with a particular focus on factors such as betting offers and promos, diversity of markets, off track betting facilities, user experience, customer service, live racing and security.

Best Off Track Betting Online Sites For Horse Racing

Off track betting sites serve one common purpose - to bring all the experiences of horse racing betting at the tracks online, for far more convenience. You will find all the markets and types of wagers that are available traditionally on off track betting sites, typically with some generous betting welcome offers or bonuses attached to them. 

OTB betting offers usually come in the form of either deposit match bonus offers or risk-free bets - which means you'll be able to start off your online off track betting journey with a potentially big win on the house. If you know your horse racing, a solid bonus can come in handy in putting together combination bets like trixies and patents, all while you catch a live stream of the race on any of your chosen horse racing betting apps. We'll discuss all of this in detail on this page but first, here are some of the best OTB sites.

TwinSpires Off Track Betting

TwinSpires is among the leaders in the world of off track betting online. It falls under the banner of its illustrious parent company Churchill Downs, which has been in the betting space since 1875 and has become synonymous with horse race betting. TwinSpires is a much newer brand in that sense, having begun in 2018, but bring all the betting prowess that is associated with the Churchill Downs brand.

While TwinSpires offers betting on most sports from around the world, the best options come in the horse racing services it provides. This expertise in OTB online wagering is visible as soon as you reach the website, where a dedicated section meets you first up. In that section, you will see the vast array of OTB markets and features that are provided: enhanced place terms, jollies vs. rags, forecast and tricasts, faller insurance - they're all there.

We've mentioned previously that online off track betting sites aim to create the same experience as when you head to the tracks yourself. It goes without saying that the key to that experience is watching the race itself, and this is where TwinSpires' quality shines through. When you create an OTB account online with TwinSpires, you are also signing up for live streams of pretty much every race it lists. Combine this with the attractive bonus offers provided and the user-friendly UX and information streams on the site, and there are very few providers in the world that can match up.

TVG Off Track Betting

If you're even a little familiar with the world of horse racing, you'll have heard of the TVG brand. Its dedication to horse racing broadcasting has stretched nicely over to the world of off track betting online as well. It is one of the very few betting sites that focuses exclusively on off track betting online.

This is immediately visible when you visit TVG, where there is no need to navigate to a specific horse racing section that sits alongside other sports. Everything on the front page is an OTB listing. Like any other quality OTB online providers, TVG offers live streams of races on its platform - you will spot this prominently on the platform, branded as FanDuel TV, which also powers the TVG platform. As such, TVG also has its very own partnership with a reputed global brand to boast of.

On the experience front, TVG provides everything you would expect from a specialized horse racing platform. A whole host of combination bets, events from all tiers of horse racing across the world, as well as pari-mutuel wagering are all available. Risk-free wagering offers such as free bet no deposit promos also form part of TVG's offerings, and it has comparable new customer betting offers to TwinSpires that gives you a refund on your first single-horse bet if your horse doesn't win.

What Are Off Track Betting Sites?

As the name suggests, off tracking betting refers to when you're placing bets on horse races without being at tracks themselves. This is where either off track betting sites or off track betting apps come into the picture. On the face of it, most off track betting sites are similar to the experience of betting on any other major sports on an online sportsbook - there are games listed, options for multiple picks and you simply pick the type of market you want to use. 

However, the biggest difference setting online off track betting apart is the fact that the odds don't work in the same way as in sports betting. While the odds in the latter are set by the house, i.e. the USA sports betting sites, OTB online wagering follows a pari-mutuel system. This means that you aren't betting against the house but against other bettors. 

The size of the prize pool determines your odds and is consequently very likely to fluctuate more than you will have experienced on traditional sports betting sites, where your payout is very rarely different from what was initially promised.

How We Review Off Track Betting Sites

Our team consists of dedicated experts in off track betting, who test various platforms for a multitude of boxes that need to be ticked before we recommend them. While a good selection of racing markets and overall reputations play a big part, they're not the be-all and end-all. Here are some other key areas we focus on. 

Offers 

We all love free bets on OTB sites, don't we? There are a number of operators who provide welcome bonuses, and seasonal bonuses for OTB online wagering, but it is important to understand which of these are beneficial for you; higher dollar-values don't necessarily make for great bonuses, and the old principle of something appearing to be too good to be true applies here. 

One of our favorites on this front is FanDuel's welcome bonus called the no-sweat first bet, where the operator will give you up to $1,000 in free bets if your first wager on the platform doesn't win.

A Range of Horse Racing Markets

There's nothing that takes away from the off track betting experience more than when bookmakers offer limited markets and events to bet on. One bookmaker that hits all the basic market requirements, particularly with respect to types of bets and the diversity of events covered, is TwinSpires. 

Withdrawal Speed

While off track betting online can bring all the fun involved in wagering on races like you would offline, it is vital that transactions also replicate that aspect. While deposits are generally standardized across the industry, withdrawal speed is where real quality sets itself apart - how quick the customer verification process is and how soon winnings are released from horse racing results are vital. Not many bookmakers do better than bet365 on this front.

Betting App

The standards for what make an acceptable mobile device experience are greater than they've ever been. It's a faux pas to have a slow and clunky app experience in your everyday life, but when a betting app malfunctions, there's money on the line. A smooth app experience is the bare minimum, and we're fans of the apps 888 and FanDuel dole out.

Website UX 

It goes without saying that a large number of OTB online betting users are familiar with horse race betting at tracks. Off track betting operators, therefore, have an obligation to make the transition as easy as possible and website UX is step number one. We lean towards specialist OTB sites for this reason usually, but larger sportsbooks have their own responsibilities to make sure that markets are easy to find and placing a bet takes as few clicks as possible. Caesars is among the best on this front among multi-sport platforms.

Horse Racing Live Streaming

This is another one of those features that we believe falls in the bare minimum category. If OTB sites' unique selling points are that they save you the trouble of physically being at the tracks, it is imperative the experience involves being able to watch online horse races without being there.

Cash Out Options

A vital part of the online OTB site experience is to be able to opt out with ease. Cash out options allow exactly that, either when it's clear your bet isn't going to land, or when you want to exit a more complex bet structure while you're ahead. It is a pretty big red flag if a platform you choose doesn't offer cash outs.

Customer Support

While operators can tweak and fine tune their platforms, it is inevitable that things are going to break from time to time. We recommend bet365 on this front - not only does it bring its expertise in areas like problem gambling to the forefront of its support, the betting site also has offerings in close to 20 languages, which hasn't been matched in the industry. 

States That Allow OTB Sites

Off track betting is legal in more states in the USA than sports betting is. This generally comes down to the fact that off track betting online follows the pari-mutuel betting concept that is legal in most offline channels - as long as you're wagering against other bettors and not against a house, horse race betting is OK in most states in the country. OTB off track betting is legal in the following states:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Best OTB Betting Online Offers

Here are some of the best enhanced offers for new customers looking to take advantage of OTB online wagering at the moment.

FanDuel Sportsbook - $1,000 No Sweat First Bet

FanDuel provides one of the best betting offers on off track betting online with a free bet of up to $1,000. This offer is simple – no betting promo codes involved. Simply sign up, make a minimum deposit of $10, and if your first bet within 14 days loses, FanDuel will match that first deposit for up to $1,000.

DraftKings Sportsbook - Bet $5, Get $150

This one from DraftKings is another simple offer to pick up. Sign up, make your first deposit and bet a minimum of $5 on any pre-race market. If your horse wins, you will win $150 worth of free bets.

TVG - $200 Risk-Free Bet On US Horse Racing

TVG will refund up to $200 of your first deposit if the horse you back finishes in second or third place in a race with at least six betting interests. You only have to opt in for this special after signing up to be eligible.

Off Track Betting Payment Methods

All world class OTB sites will allow you to transact with some or all of the following payment methods:

• Instant banking: This is generally considered the safest method of payment and involves either direct deposits from your bank or middlemen services like iDebit, Instadebit or their equivalents wherever you're based. The involvement of the bank is why this is among the more secure methods, although withdrawals can take up to a week.
• Credit cards: This payment method is ubiquitous and also generally a sign that the platform you're on is a licensed operator - the likes of Visa and Mastercard do their due diligence. Very few operators allow you to use credit cards for withdrawals, though.
• E-Wallets: This method involves virtual wallets like PayPal, Skrill, ecoPayz and the like. Where instant banking provides a layer of extra security, e-wallets provide speed as they're generally operating outside the realm of bureaucracy and process payments much quicker.
• Cryptocurrency: An increasing number of top off track betting providers offer cryptocurrency payment methods these days. Where cryptocurrency methods are available, the only constraint to your payment speed is generally the transaction speed of the cryptocurrency network you are using.

How to Sign Up to an Off Track Betting Site

Off track betting sites and sportsbooks generally have very simple signing up processes that are typically completed within two or three screens. You can click on any of the verified sign-up links listed on our site and will be taken directly to a simple sign-up form.

The vetted sites on our pages will have an additional identity verification process that enables you to be ready to transact on their sites, usually in the form of Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. This is important for compliance purposes and is a sure shot way of knowing that you are wagering on a trustworthy and regulated platform.

How to Place a Bet an Off Track Bet

You can begin your off track betting journey by signing up through one of the links provided by Bookies.com. Once you click through and sign up, most off track betting sites will immediately give you a deposit option when the registration process is completed, and you can use your preferred payment method to complete your first deposit. 

Once you've completed these simple steps, you will get access to a wide variety of off track betting markets, and it's a matter of just navigating through the site to find your preferred race. When you place a bet, typically a bet slip will pop up on the right side of your desktop screen or the bottom of your mobile app, from where you can review your selections before hitting the submit button to place your bets.