Here's how to bet on the Kentucky Derby without looking like you've had too many juleps

(Image credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

By all means enjoy a mint julep on Derby Day, but placing your bets on the first race of the Triple Crown series is a time for sober calculation. For Kentucky Derby neophytes, CBS Sports has this handy breakdown of all the main betting terms you'll need to understand at the track:

Win: Pick the horse that wins the racePlace: Pick a horse that finishes first or secondShow: Pick a horse that finishes first, second, or thirdDaily Double: Pick the winners of two racesExacta: Pick the first and second-place finishers in the correct orderExacta Box: Pick the first and second-place finishers in no particular orderTrifecta: Pick the first, second, and third-place finishers in the correct orderTrifecta Box: Pick the first, second, and third-place finishers in no particular orderSuperfecta: Pick the first, second, third, and fourth-place finishers in the correct orderSuperfecta Box: Pick the first, second, third, and fourth-place finishers in no particular order [CBS Sports]

As for which horses to pick (assuming you're not choosing on name quality alone), Andrew Beaton at FiveThirtyEight explains that new rules for determining which 20 Thoroughbreds get to run has made the race more predictable in recent years, even though the contest remains volatile compared to comparable races. That new dynamic means "the best betting strategy for this year's Derby may also be the dumbest one," Beaton says, namely: "Bet on Classic Empire," the favorite to win.

Coverage of the Derby begins at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday on NBC. The race itself, "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports," is scheduled for 6:46 p.m. ET.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.