There is a good chance that betting on the 2005 Preakness may surpass that of the Kentucky Derby as Sports911.com believes many more people will be motivated to bet long shots with the hope of striking it rich.

Giacome stunned the racing world by winning The Kentucky Derby as a 50 to 1 long shot. Alone, he paid $50 for every $1 bet. As part of a trifecta with the top three finishers (Closing Argument with 70-1 odds and Afleet Alex), Giacomo paid high five figures and upwards with a $1 bet.

It is this type of potential windfall that has gamblers even more excited to be betting on the Preakness, despite the fact that most horse racing aficionados lost on the Kentucky Derby.

The majority of bettors go with the perceived favorites. With neither Giacomo or Closing Argument appearing under the radar, few had money on these two horses. This resulted in a 40% hold (profit) for online sportsbooks like Bodog.com. The average hold on a horse race for the internet books is just shy of 20%. This is compared to around 5% for basketball and football.

Giacomo's surprising win is not something most experts feel will happen again, but these are probably the same people who didn't think to consider Giacomo winning in the Kentucky Derby. So what do they know?

Alas, The Preakness has its tight turns and an element of predictability, making the race much more easy to handicap for bettors. A 50-1 long shot has never finished first in the Preakness either and only three horses have won when facing odds of 20-1 or higher.

Still, there isn't much to lose in betting on a favorite at one online race book and a long shot at another. In fact, Sports911.com regularly suggests opening at least three online betting accounts. Savvy sports bettors are catching on to this fact. They can now bet on the Preakness right from their own living room or office without ever picking up a phone and payouts are often next day depending on the method requested. And, yes, credit cards are an option.

In studying Kentucky Derby betting trends this year, Sports911.com found that most people coming through the internet were looking to use their Visa or Mastercard credit cards for opening accounts (online bookmakers do not accept American Express due to card policies). The minimum deposits at most race books are under $20, sometimes much less. Online checks are becoming another popular option. Creit cards and online checks are not only convenient but usually allow people to start placing bets online within minutes of opening a wagering account.

The internet gambling industry has witnessed a tremendous improvement in horse wagering options with brand new software that allows bets to be placed online as opposed to over the phone.

Bodog.com, as an example, enjoyed close to $800,000 in wagering handle and 1000 new signups on the Kentucky Derby alone. Companies like VIPsports.com dedicate an entire web site to horse racing via its VIPhorses.com. They have spent significant amounts of money upgrading their horse racing platform.

911 observed average deposits around $60 and most of these individuals were laying the entire amount down on the race. Companies like VIPhorses.com and MyBookie.com welcome these types of recreational bettors with open arms. Most horse bettors tend to be recreational bettors. Sportsbooks the likes of Pinnaclesports.com, Skybook.com and BetCRIS.com are accommodating to high rollers as well.

"Sports911.com's decision to provide expanded coverage on the Triple Crown has already begun to pay off with the Kentucky Derby," claimed Thomas Jensen, Marketing Director for Sports911. "The amount of traffic coming onto our site was unprecedented and slightly more than what we had anticipated, with a major surge from Wednesday right up until post time."

In fact, Sports911.com noticed that a large proportion of sportsbook signups were taking place within the final hour leading up to the race.

"The reason for this has to do with gamblers trying to gather as much late minute information as possible in order to improve accuracy," said Christopher Costigan, founder and President of Sports911.com. "But I also suppose some of these last minute signups came from procrastinators."

Costigan and his staff spend the day of the race requesting that readers have all their bets placed hours in advance of post time, and this means opening a wagering account early as well.

"Some of our sponsors now allow us to track real time results and this enables 911 to monitor at what times individuals are signing up with the various racebooks," Costigan explained. "We also have a keen awareness of how much demand is being placed on these racebooks and during which hours wagering and signup activity is at its peak."

Our Kentucky Derby traffic analyses suggested that most of the online racebooks would encounter some degree of processing delays the four hours leading up to the actual race. This is why we ask readers to at the very least open a wagering account no more than four hours before the starting time. We were noticing a rather large number of people able to signup but not get their credit cards processed in time for the race."

Once again Sports911.com will be providing expanded coverage on the Preakness beginning Wednesday May 18 thru the weekend.

"Our time will be spent matching bettors with the race book of their choice," Costigan stated. "Anybody who checks out the Sports911.com website during any of the Triple Crown races will notice live hourly updates related to wagering activity and potential for bet and deposit

Sports911.com anticipates Betmaker.com will be offering another free $50 bet with all new accounts for the Preakness though this is yet to be determined as of press time. They do offer a 10% signup bonus regularly however. Then there is MVPSportsbook.com which is offering an unprecedented free $100 cash signup bonus when depositing $100 via NETeller (an alternative payment solution), Western Union or Moneygram."

Any deposit over $100 will get 10% on the additional funds. A 10 time rollover is required in order to receive this free cash as MVPSportsbook.com is not in the business of just giving away money for nothing. This and similar offers are used to get gamblers betting at their sportsbook.

And losses are not always complete losses at racebooks the likes of VIPhorses.com and PinnacleSports.com where rebates of 7% are offered to those whose account balances end up in the red. Again, readers are asked to please review any rules or restrictions that might apply.

"There is going to be a lot of wagering on The Preakness this year," Mr. Jensen advises bookmakers. "Based on the outstanding results we witnessed from the Kentucky Derby in terms of both demand by bettors and overall profit, it truly is foolhearty for bookmakers to ignore this event."

Likewise, after Giacomo's magnificent pay out in the Kentucky Derby, it would be foolhearty for gamblers to pass up this race as well.