Place bets require your horse to finish either first or second. A show bet is when your horse finishes in first, second, or third. There are two types of exotic bets, horizontal wagers, and vertical wagers. The types of horse racing bets that are available will depend on the race you are doing your horse betting on. Win Bet This horse racing bet is when you wager on a horse to finish first. Minimum entries 3 for a bet to be official. Place Bet On this horse racing bet you wager on a horse to finish first or second. You have two categories of bets to choose from when you bet on horses: Straight bets and exotic bets. For a beginner, it's advisable that you stick with straight bets. With these bets, you are betting on just one horse. Your horse must finish in 1st place. Your horse must finish in 1st or 2nd place. Your horse must finish in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. There were two basic types of exotic bets: single-race and multi-race. Single-race exotic bets require you to pick the top finishers.
To enjoy betting on horse races, and to effectively manage your wagering bankroll, it is important to understand the wide variety of horse racing wagers now available. Once limited to win, place, show, with a few exacta and daily doubles thrown in the mix, the wagering menus at all tracks have expanded greatly over the last decade.
We now have an expanded menu including Pick 3 and Pick 4 wagering, and a horseplayer has to decide which betting pools to jump into when betting horses online. Getting familiar with all of the different types of horse racing bets will make it more enjoyable and profitable.
The Exotic Wagers
Exactas – Exactas remain one of the most popular of the exotic wagers. The bet involves selecting the top two finishers in exacta order. A common bet would be a $2 exacta box of two contenders, and the ticket is a winner if they finish in the top two positions.
A common exacta wager is boxing contenders, with a $2 two-horse exacta box costing $4, and a three-horse exacta box costing $12. An exacta key is often a preferred wager, using one horse on top of several others if a horseplayer has a strong opinion on who is going to win a race.
Quinella – A similar wager, although with a separate betting pool, involves quinella horse bets. With the quinella wager, the payoff is the same regardless of which horse wins the race, which differs from exacta betting.
Trifecta – Horseplayers looking for a bigger score may want to look to trifecta wagers, which involves selecting the exact order of the top three finishers in a race and while it is harder than hitting an exacta, the payoffs can be much higher. A popular way to bet the trifecta is to box three contenders, which for a $1 unit would cost $6. A four-horse trifecta box would cost $24.
The Banker – Choosing a winning horse while also choosing two or more horses to come in the top positions
Superfecta – Horse racing superfecta wagering has become popular in recent years, and involves a much tougher proposition for horseplayers: Selecting the top four finishers in a horse race. Hitting the superfecta is one of the toughest exotic wagers to hit, but can often lead to a huge payoff if there are a couple of longshots in the mix.
A four-horse superfecta box would cost the horseplayer $24 for a $1 unit, with a five-horse superfecta wager costing $120.00. There are two ways to avoid digging deep into the wagering bankroll when playing horse superfectas. One is to key one or two horses in the win position, which gives a horseplayer more options in the other spots. Another way is to play the superfecta for less than the $1 unit. Most tracks now offer 10-cent superfecta wagering, meaning that five-horse box that cost $120.00 for a $1 unit would cost just $12.00 on a ten-cent unit.
Daily Double – This wager was the first exotic wager, and involves correctly selecting the winners of two consecutive races. Once limited to the first two races on the card, most tracks now offer 'rolling doubles' meaning a new horse daily double bet starts in each race.
The Pick 3 – Involves selecting the winners of three consecutive races. It is not an easy wager to hit with a straight bet, but using several contenders in each race can lead to a generous payoff if all three winners are selected. Hitting a Pick 3 can be lucrative, particularly if several of the favorites do not win. (See the daily double link above for a more in-depth look at Pick 3 betting)
Pick 4 – Similar to the Pick 3, only a horseplayer has to pick the winner of four consecutive winners, no small task. Most horseplayers will use multiple horses in most of the races in the sequence, which takes a bigger bankroll, but the payoffs can be huge.
Pick 6 – This wager can have the racetrack buzzing, particularly if the wager was not solved for several days and there is a Pick 6 carryover. Hitting the Pick 6 takes good handicapping and money management, along with a little luck. Having a lone winning ticket in a Pick 6 with a carryover can lead to a life-changing score.
The Horse Betting Options
Thoroughbred – There are three different breeds of horses, with thoroughbreds the most popular among online horse bettors. The betting action starts early in the year, with promising three-year-olds prepping in major stakes around the country trying to earn enough graded earnings to get to the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May.
The Run for the Roses is the first jewel of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, which also includes the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course and the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. No horse has swept the three races since Affirmed became the last Triple Crown winner in 1978. The year-end championship in thoroughbred racing is the Breeders' Cup, which is held in the fall at a different venue each year.
Harness – Harness horse bets are popular among horseplayers as most harness tracks race at night, giving punters that have a day job plenty of action in the evenings. The Meadowlands is one of the most popular harness tracks among online horse bettors, and the Hambletonian at The Big M is one of the three jewels of the Trotting Triple Crown, which also includes the Yonkers Trot at Yonkers Raceway, and the Kentucky Futurity, held at The Red Mile.
Quarter – There is no quicker action than quarter horse wagering, with most races a mad dash on a straightaway in races that are usually 300 or 350 yards and start to finish are less than 18 seconds. Los Alamitos is one of the most popular venues for quarter horse race betting. The California track is home to the richest race in California, the $2 Million Futurity, which is held each December.
The quarter horse Triple Crown is restricted to two-year-olds and consists of the Ruidoso Futurity in June, the Rainbow Futurity in July, and the All American Futurity on Labor Day.
Of all the sports in existence today, horse racing might have the closest, longest relationship with gambling. Whether you're a sports betting purist or just looking to have fun on the weekend, you need to understand the hype that surrounds the track.
Be it the lack of media coverage or simply different interests, younger sports bettors are often unfamiliar with how betting on horses works. If that's the case for you, as they say, 'You don't know what you're missin'!'
The good news? Betting on horse racing isn't as intimidating as it might seem at first. While it might be a little more difficult to win than betting on a football game, the payout and the excitement make it all worth it.
Here are six types of bets to know before you get started.
1 – Win, Place, Show
Win, place, or show bets are some of the more common options available online or at the track. If you choose a 'win' bet, you're simply trying to predict the first-place horse. You'll only get paid if you choose correctly.
If you choose a 'place' bet, you get a little bit more leeway. As long as your horse finishes in first or second, you'll win the bet. Keep in mind that the amount paid out on the bet does not change regardless of if your horse finishes in first or second place.
A 'show' bet gives you even more wiggle room. As long as the horse you wagered on finishes in the top three places, you'll cash in. Again, the payout is the same whether the horse finishes first, second, or third.
In addition to these plays, you can also make a 'win-place' or 'win-place-show' bet. These are similar to the other bets, but the payouts are different depending on the exact finishing position within the top three.
In what's known as an 'across the board' bet, you'll select a single horse but will get paid out differently based on where the horse finishes.
If your horse comes in first, you'll cash out on the 'win, place, and show' portion of the bet.
If the horse comes in second, you'll win the 'place and show' part of the bet.
A third-place finish will still give you a win in the 'show' portion.
This 'across the board' bet is technically three bets, so if you wanted to bet $4 across the board, the ticket would be $12.
2 – Trifecta
Once you've mastered the more basic win-place-show bets, you can move on to some more complex plays. The 'trifecta' would be the logical next step.
A winning trifecta bet can have a huge payoff, although it isn't easy to win.
Don't worry — there's another way to make this play that increases your odds.
The most popular way to play a trifecta bet is by 'boxing' three or more horses in various combinations. This allows you to choose more horses than just three. It works like this: with 10 horses in the field, you might think horses 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 have a chance to finish third or better. A five-horse box would cost $30 if there is a 50-cent minimum.
That math works out like this:
- (5 x 4 x 3 x .5)
3 – Quinella and Duet
A quinella bet involves picking two horses. In order to win, they must come in first and second place, although it doesn't matter which order they finish.
Similar to a trifecta, you can box your bets in order to give yourself a higher chance of winning.
In a quinella box, you choose three or more horses, and if two of the three (or two of the number of you picked) finish first or second, you win!
The catch is that not all tracks offer these types of bets. It's also important to keep in mind that the more horses you choose, the lower your overall payout will be if you win.
If you think getting the top two exactly right is too much risk, you have the option of the Duet play. This type of wager requires you to accurately choose two of the three place-getters (top-3 finisher), with correct order not important.
4 – Pick 3, 4, 6
These types of bets involve multiple races. A pick 3 bet is when you choose the winner in three consecutive races before the first race begins. In order to cash in on this type of bet, all three horses must win the race.
You might think that a bet like this is nearly impossible to hit, but if you do your homework and find out which horses are the favorites, you'll find it's more winnable than you may have anticipated.
A pick 4 is a newer type of bet at most tracks and is even more of a longshot than a pick 3, but the payout might make you think it's worth the risk.
Keep in mind that choosing longer-shot horses will give you higher payoff than selecting all favorites, although there's no question it's more difficult to win.
How much exactly are we talking? If you had wagered just $0.50 on a pick 4 at the 2013 Breeders' Cup, you would have taken home nearly $30k.
A pick 6 represents one of the most difficult wagers to win but also one of the highest payouts available. If you haven't picked up on the theme here, in a pick 6, you must correctly choose the winner in six consecutive races.
As with the other types of bets, the play of choosing multiple horses is still available. You're allowed to select more than one horse in each (or every) leg of your bet.
5 – Each Way
An 'each way' is considered two separate bets, although they're placed together.
- The first bet is on the horse to win.
- If your horse wins, you win the bet.
- The second bet is on the horse to place.
- If your choice finishes in the top three, you also win.
For example, if you bet $3 each way on a horse, your total wager would be $6 ($3 on the horse to win, and $3 on the horse to place).
It's important to consider the odds on this type of bet on both the winning and placing aspect of the wager.
The advantage of an each way bet is, obviously, an increased chance of winning as you have essentially two different ways to win. If there is no big favorite and you can find favorable odds, it might be a good idea to spread out your money.
6 – Daily Double
The 'daily double' is pretty simple to understand.
In the past, the daily double option was only available on the first two races of the day, but nowadays, it's usually available on any two consecutive races.
While it may not seem that complicated, daily doubles can have huge payoffs if you find a lower-odds horse that has a great day!
Conclusion
Getting into horse racing can be a little tricky at first, but the low-risk, high-reward nature of betting the sport can be a thrill.
Types Of Horse Racing Bets
Just a few dollars can go quite a long way at the track or betting on horse racing online if you're able to get lucky and hit on a multiple-leg wager. As with any other sport, plenty of information is available online about the horses you'll be betting on, so be sure to do your research and give yourself the best chance at a big payday!
Types Of Horse Bets List
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