Inside Track is an interactive betting shop for thoroughbred horse races featured as an accessible store in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and as a casino-themed activity in Grand Theft Auto Online.
Description[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
Inside Track's inclusion in GTA San Andreas is part of the game's gambling mechanism, serving as one of the first gambling establishments that the player has access to prior to unlocking the Las Venturas segment of San Andreas; in fact, GTA San Andreas' only two Inside Track outlets are located within the Los Santos/Red County landmass that is available for the player to explore from the beginning of the game.
Inside Track appeared in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and reappears in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories and Grand Theft Auto IV, but exist in these games as a non-interactive establishment with very spartan frontages.
In Grand Theft Auto Online, the company's logo appears on the Red Racing Suit from the Cunning Stunts update. It also can be found as a minor sponsor on some vehicle liveries, such as the 190z.
Grand Theft Auto Online[]
Inside Track is officially featured in GTA Online as part of the The Diamond Casino & Resort update. It is located inside The Diamond Casino & Resort.
Interior[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
Shared interior of Inside Track outlets in GTA San Andreas.
The interior of each Inside Track features four manned counters, ceiling-mounted television screens that broadcast horse races, and two inside track betting (ITB) machines, the only interactive items in the establishment, that line the walls. The interior also features a backroom which can be entered.
Unlike virtually every other interior space in the game, it is possible to enter Inside Track shops with recruited gang members and other NPCs. This is mostly likely a programming oversight from the fact Catalina enters the shop with Carl Johnson in the mission Against All Odds.
Grand Theft Auto Online[]
The interior of the Inside Track room consists of a large room with a large LCD screen displaying the horse races. Numerous IBT machines can be seen, enough for at least 16 participants (though NPCs may be seen participating in the game).
Locations[]
Betting System[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
The ITB machines allow players to bet on any one of five racehorses for any amount of money divisible to five, from a minimum of $5 or a maximum of $9,999,995. After selecting a racehorse, players define the amount that they would like wager using a calculator which allows the player to add specific amounts of money into the wager, including $5, $25, $100, $250, $1,000, $5,000, or $10,000; the $0 is used to clear the amount bet.
Once the player places their bet (thereby deducting the bet amount of money from the player), the player is directed to a broadcast of the horse race that last between 25 and 30 seconds depending on when the last horse crosses the finish line. The player can then spot a sign saying "SARC24", the channel which is broadcasting the horse races, and probably the first TV channel the player can watch in the Grand Theft Auto series.
If the player bets $100 on a horse with 2/1 odd and the horse wins by finishing first, the player receives their $100 bet back in addition to $200 from the 2/1 odds. Otherwise, the player gets nothing.
Based on 1,000 simulations, the blue colored horse wins 22.9% of the races, the red colored horse wins 22.3% of the races, the yellow colored horse wins 18.0% of the races, the purple colored horse wins 17.4% of the races, and the teal colored horse wins 19.4% of the races. Due to this, paired with the betting odds on each horse, the player should always bet on the teal horse. Also, at the end of the race, if two or more horses tie for a position, the win automatically goes to the horse with the better odds to win (Blue then Red then Yellow and so on).
Betting trick[]
- Adapted from Forum:Get Rich Quick Betting Trick
By smart utilization of Inside Track, it is possible to amass great sums of money very early on in the game. This trick can be used to achieve $999999999 ($1 short of 1 billion, max amount of money) without using cheats, hacks, trainers, or even using a downloaded savefile.
A simple way to ensure the player never loses money is to save before betting, so they can just reload the save game if anything goes wrong. With gambling all their money in one go, the player can earn a large amount of money if succeeding.
The player should bet on the same horse every time. Statistically, this horse will eventually win, and should not take more than around five attempts. After winning, save the game again and repeat the process if required.
Note that around 45% of the races will be won by Blue or Red horses. The results can become extremely frustrating, especially if the player's horse jetted off the starting line and then slowed down. Do not let this change your mind though, because the chances are the color of horse the player bet on will win if they continue betting.
Always bet on the Teal horse that has the worst odds (the 11/1 or 12/1 horse). This way, the player can win the most amount of cash if succeeded. (Note: the Teal horse usually wins around 19% of the time, yet the player wins 11 or 12 times the money bet if the Teal horse wins).
For example, the maximum amount the player can bet is $9999995, $5 short of 10 million. If they win on the 11/1 or the 12/1 horse, the amount earned is at least 100 million. ($109999945 for 11/1 and $119999940 for 12/1, to be exact)
To save time travelling back to the betting shop after reloading, the player should save at a location close to the betting shop. The closest safehouse and Inside Track Betting Shop together are the Jefferson Safehouse in Jefferson and the betting shop in Downtown Los Santos.
Catalina's Hideout works just as fine. Since a Buffalo spawns right beside the spawn point, anyone should be able to to make a left turn, drive straight into town, and stop right in front of the betting shop within 20 seconds.
Grand Theft Auto Online[]
Inside Track in GTA Online works similarly to its counterpart in GTA San Andreas. Players can bet on any of the six horses in the race, with a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $10,000.
The horses are numbered. Horses #1 and #2 are the most likely to win, the next two have a smaller chance, and horses #5 and #6 are least likely to win.
Each horse has its chance of winning given in the form of decimals. Each horse in line has a smaller chance to win than the previous; the two horses from the same "tier" can have the same chance. The high-tier horses can have chances from "evens" to "5/1", the mid-tier horses from "6/1" to 15/1", and the low-tier horses from "16/1" to "30/1".
Players can theoretically win as much as $300,000 from a single race - if they bet $10,000 on horse #6, but this horse is unlikely to win.
Players can opt for any of the two events:
- The Single Event, which the player can bet on their own and the races last for around 30 seconds.
- The Main Event, which the player can bet against other players and the races last longer, for a minute. This type of race is automatically triggered every five minutes.
Mission Appearances[]
In "Against All Odds" in GTA San Andreas, Catalina, together with protagonist Carl Johnson, robs the Montgomery branch of the betting shop for money by blowing open the outlet's safe in its back room, drawing the attention of the police before escaping to Catalina's hideout in Fern Ridge.
List of Horse Names and Chances[]
Almost all of the horse's names are humorous and crude terms, referencing genitalia and sex.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
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Grand Theft Auto Online[]
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Gallery[]
Trivia[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
- It is almost impossible to shoot one of the attendants working behind the counter. As soon as Carl opens fire, they will duck and cover. Since there is no actual way of getting behind the counter, this will make the attendants virtually impossible to kill unless the player uses explosives or Molotov cocktails.
Grand Theft Auto Online[]
- The Inside Track logo in Grand Theft Auto Online uses the Impact typeface.
- The description for the Single Event in the ITB machine is "Play with yourself", a clear reference to masturbation.
- The horse "Scrawny Nag" is a reference to the Scrawny Nag horse which players temporarily receive in Rockstar Games' Red Dead Online if their main horse dies.