The Betting System for Japan's Boat Racing

Bets start at 100 Yen and go to up to over a million Yen. In terms of betting pools, by far and away the highest is the Trifecta pool. On busy days, the Trifecta pools for a single race get reach over 100 million Yen. While the Win/Place pool will almost never reach 1 Million yen. The Exacta/Quinella pool generally falls right in the middle of the other two pools. Lastly, the Quinella-Place pool typically picks up a fraction of the remaining money spent by all bettors. (Similar amounts of the Win pool)

How to Read a Japanese Betting Ticket:

Unfortunately, the number of foreign bettors is very low and betting tickets are currently only available in Japanese. This poses quite a challenge to all who aren't familiar with the thousands of characters used in the Japanese language. Please see the below picture that shows what a typical Japanese betting ticket looks like:

[Credit to Heiwajima Racing for the screenshot]

The translation/guide for the above betting ticket is:

1. 開催場 / Stadium … Fill in the race Stadium where the race is being held at.
2.  式別 / Bet Type … Fill in the type of bet you wish to make.
3.  レース / Race No. … Fill in the race number to bet on.
4.  1着・2着・3着 / 1st, 2nd, 3rd … For Trifecta or Trio bets, fill in the boat numbers up to third place. For Exacta or Quinella bets, fill in the boat numbers up to second place.
5.  金額 / Bet … Fill in the amount of your bet. To specify a number like 15, fill in 10 and 5.
6.  単位 / Units … You can specify 100, 1,000, and 10,000 yen.
7.  取消 / Cancel … If you make a mistake, you can cancel that line by filling in this slot. Any bets on that line will not be purchased.