Inside Track is an interactive betting shop for thoroughbred horse races featured as an accessible store in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Description
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. The two Inside Track outlets are specifically located in Downtown Los Santos under the Mulholland Intersection and in Montgomery, Red County.
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.
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. If the horse the player bets on wins by finishing first, the player receives amount of money that the player wagers multiplied by the odds that the bet racehorse has. Otherwise, the player gets nothing.
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.
Inside Track reappears in GTA Vice City Stories and GTA IV, but exist in both games as non-interactive establishment with very spartan frontages. The GTA Vice City Stories rendition is located in Vice Point, Vice City, just east of the Vice Point Pay 'n' Spray; the GTA IV rendition is located on Morris Street in East Island City, Dukes, Liberty City.
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.
A simple way to ensure you never lose is to save before you bet. This way if you lose you can just reload your save game. If you gamble all your money in one go, then if you win you will gain a large amount of money.
To ensure that you eventually win, you should bet on the same horse every time. Statistically, this horse will eventually win, and should not take more than around five attempts. Once you win, save the game again and you can repeat if required.
To save time travelling back to the betting shop after reloading, you 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 under the Mulholland Intersection.
Catalina's hideout works just as fine. Since a Buffalo spawns right beside your 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.
Note that 4/5 Times Blue or Teal will always win the race, and it can become extremely frustrating, especially if your horse jetted off the starting line and then slowed down. Do not let this change your mind though, because the chances are the horse you previously bet on will win if you bet on a different one.
Always bet with the horse with the worst amount of odds (the 11/1 or 12/1 horse). This way, when you win, you will win the most amount of cash. (Note: 12/1 usually takes more than 10 tries to succeed, however you do get 12 times the money if you win.)
List of horse names
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Trivia
- 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 CJ in the mission Against All Odds.
- Almost all of the horse's names are humorous and crude terms, referencing genitalia and sex. This is another Easter Egg.
- 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. (Tested on Mobile.)
- When watching the horse races, the player can spot a sign saying SARC24. This is the Horse Racing channel on which the player is watching the horse races, and the first TV channel the player can watch in GTA History.
- The maximum amount you can bet is $9999995, $5 short of 10 million. If you win on the 11/1 or the 12/1 horse, the amount you get is at least 100 million. ($109999945 for 11/1 and $119999940 for 12/1, to be exact.)
- This trick can be used to achieve $999999999 ($1 short of 1 bill, max amount of money) without using cheats, hacks, trainers, or even using a downloaded savefile. This, however, is a time-consuming way of doing that. This also makes the assets useless, unless one wishes to keep the max money amount even after spending on car mods, food, weapons, clothing, hookers, importing cars after completion of the Exports and Imports side mission, properties (if not yet bought), and other stuff.
- The company's logo from GTA San Andreas appears on the Red Racing Suit from the Cunning Stunts DLC in Grand Theft Auto Online.
- Inside Tracks logo can be found as a sponsor on vehicle liveries in Grand Theft Auto Online.
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