HORSES BET INFO
Betting on horse racing is now more convenient than ever due to the advancement in sportsbooks clarity. It is often viewed as complicated and too complex for a relative newcomer to understand. In reality, while there are several ways in which to play an individual race, the basic wagers that have been the sport’s backbone for decades are fairly simple and an easy introduction to the “Sport of Kings.”
HOW TO BET ON HORSE RACING
One of the features of modern-day horse racing is the range of bets you can place. As we show you how to bet on a horse race, we’ve included a summary of the different bet types you can access below.
STRAIGHT BETS IN HORSE RACING
The basic or “straight” wagers newcomers generally become familiar with upon their first exposure to horse racing are Win, Place, and Show. Historically, all three required a minimum bet of $2, but these days they can be had for a minimum of $1 in most places. Here’s a closer look at the three wagers.
WIN BET
A win bet is one of the simplest and most common types of bets in horse racing. With a "win bet" in horse racing, you are betting on a particular horse to win the race. If your chosen horse finishes in first place, your bet is successful, and you receive a payout based on the horse’s odds.
For example, let’s say there’s a race featuring several horses, including Horse A, Horse B, and Horse C. Each horse is assigned odds by the bookmaker.
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Horse A has odds of 5-1 (or +500 in American odds).
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Horse B has odds of 2-1 (or +200 in American odds).
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Horse C has odds of 7-2 (or +350 in American odds).
If you place a $10 win bet on Horse B, and Horse B wins the race, you will receive a payout based on the odds. So, as the odds are +200, this means that for every $100 wagered, you make $200 in profit.
PLACE BET
The place bet is a type of wager where you select a horse to finish first or second in the race. If your pick crosses the wire in either of those specified positions, regardless of whether it wins or not, your bet is successful.
Place bets offer a higher likelihood of winning compared to win bets but generally come with lower odds and payouts. It’s a popular bet type for those seeking a more conservative approach or when there’s uncertainty about a horse winning outright.
SHOW BET
A show bet is where you select a horse to finish in the top three positions of a race. Payouts are the same regardless of the position, meaning that you get the same return if the horses finish first, second, or third. Show bets differ from place bets in that it pays for the top three rather than the first two.
ACROSS THE BOARD BET
Across the board refers to placing three different bets on a single horse to win, place, and show. Unique to pari-mutuel wagering, it is essentially a combination of three bets: a win bet, a place bet, and a show bet.
Here are the bets included:
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Win Bet: You bet on your chosen horse to win the race. If the horse finishes in first place, you win the win bet.
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Place Bet: You bet on your chosen horse to finish first or second. If the horse finishes in either of these positions, you win the place bet.
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Show Bet: You bet on your chosen horse to finish in one of the top three positions. If the horse finishes in any of these positions, you win the show bet.
By placing an across-the-board (ATB) bet, you cover all three outcomes and have the potential to win all three bets if your horse performs well. However, it’s important to note that the unit stake will be multiplied by three, as you are essentially placing three separate bets. So, if you were to place a $10 ATB bet, your total stake would be $30.
EXACTA BET
Now, for the exotic wagers. First up, the exacta bet is one where you predict the horses that will finish in first and second place in the correct order. It’s a tough bet to win but can come with huge odds and can pay massive profits for a relatively small wager.
Alternatively, you can place an “exacta box” bet. This allows you to choose two horses without specifying the order of their finish. This bet increases your chances of winning but also requires a higher stake as it covers all possible finishing order combinations.
TRIFECTA BET
A trifecta is an extension of the Exacta type of bet but instead of picking two horses in the correct order, you need to extend this to three. Like an exacta, you’re able to create a box bet where you choose three horses that cover all possible combinations. Your stake will bet per line as you cover all combinations.
SUPERFECTA BET
The Superfecta bet is yet another extension of exacta and trifecta, but this time you need to predict the correct order of the first four horses in a race. The difficulty of this bet is incredibly high, even in smaller-field races, but you can bet smaller amounts than most markets, with a minimum bet starting at just 10c for this bet type.
For this example, we’re going to assume that we’ve placed a $1 straight Superfecta and there has been a total of $10,000 wagered (pool), with just 4 other winners who have also placed a $1 wager each.
This would mean the pool is divided up to the 5 winners, resulting in payouts of $200 each ($10,000 / 5 = $200).
HI-5 BET
DAILY DOUBLE BET
PICK 3/4/5/6 BET
Pick 3, 4, 5, and 6 are multi-race bets that extend from the daily double market. For this bet, you need to choose the winner of three, four, five, and six consecutive races. These are separate bets, but you must make your picks before the start of the first race and let them run through as each one finishes.
A lot of these cards are linked to single-race meetings, where you work through as many races as you want and try to pick the winner of each. With online betting it’s possible to mix and match, meaning that you can pick winners from races across different meetings.
