If you never bet on a horse race but want to get involved in today's festivities, it can all be a bit confusing, but to help we've put together a guide to betting on the 156th Melbourne Cup race.
First and foremost: never, ever pick a horse based on how cool its name is. You need to look at the facts and the money the horses are paying to win.
There are different variables that determine a 'favourite', but the easiest way is to stick with is how much the horse is paying to win.
Basically, the closest to $0, is the 'favourite.'
For example, Big Orange is paying $13 to win - that's a fair bet and you might come up trumps.
A bad example is putting money behind the likes of Rose Of Virginia, who is paying $101.
While getting a return on $101 might sound lucrative, it means the horses aren't in the best position to beat the other horses.
So it's more than likely a waste of your hard-earned $10, or like some joker who has splashed out more than $12,000 on one horse - good luck buddy.
TAB's Chief bookmaker Mark Stafford says this year it's very hard to pick.
"It's so hard, like every year is it so hard with 24 horses trained to the minute for this race."
His three picks to win were: Harntell, Almandin and outsider Wicklow Brave.
According to TAB, here are is what the horses are paying (based on fixed odds):
Hartnell $5.00
Jameka $8.00
Oceanographer $8.00
Bondi Beach $10.00
Almandin $11.00
Big Orange $13.00
Wicklow Brave $15.00
Heartbreak City $17.00
Exospheric $21.00
Who Shot Thebarman $26.00
Almoonqith $26.00
Qwery $26.00
Secret Number $31.00
Grand Marshal $35.00
Grey Lion $41.00
Curren Mirotic $41.00
Our Ivanhowe $51.00
Gallante $51.00
Assign $61.00
Pentathlon $71.00
Beautiful Romance $81.00
Sir John Hawkwood $81.00
Excess Knowledge $81.00
Rose of Virginia $101.00
...
If you do end up betting, the most important rule of all is to have fun with it. Good luck!
Newshub.
