Horse Racing Betting and Terminology Explained
Win
The most basic horse racing bet is playing to win, place or show. Playing to win is just what it appears. Your horse must win for you to collect your bet. An example of how to place the wager would be: $2 to win on number 5.
Place
Playing to place means your selection must finish 1st or 2nd for you to collect your wager. Regardless of whether your horse finishes 1st or 2nd you receive the place payout. $2 to place on the 5 would be an example of a place wager.
Show
Playing to show is similar to the place bet, except you win the show payout no matter if your horse finishes 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
Exacta
An exacta, sometimes referred to as perfecta, is a wager where you need to pick the top 2 finishers in a race together. If you play a 1/5 exacta the 1 horse needs to win and the 5 needs to finish 2nd. That would be considered a straight exacta. (example: give me a $2 1/5(one, five)exacta). If you want to play the 1/5 and 5/1 together for the same amount of money you can play what is called a box wager. (example: give me a $2 exacta box 1/5(one, five). If either horse wins and the other comes 2nd you hit the bet.
Triple
Also known as the trifecta, you need to pick the exact order of finish for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. It is like the exacta, only you also need to hit the 3rd place(show) horse in addition to the 1st and 2nd place finishers. (example: give me a $2 triple 1/3/8). In this example the #1 horse would have to win and the #3 would need to finish second with the #8 third. To box this triple so that you win no matter which order in the top three they come in you would say: $2 triple box 1/3/8. That wager would cost you $12 for a $2 wager. You could play it for $1 and would get half the payout of the $2 wager, and it would cost you $6.Daily Double
The daily double consists of picking the winner of 2 races. So if there is a daily double in race one, you would need to select the winner of race 1 and race 2.
Pick 3
The pick 3 is similar to the daily double, except you need to select the winner of 3 races. Most pick 3's are in consecutive races, although there are special events where there are exceptions made.
Pick 4
The pick 4 is the same as the pick 3, except you need to hit the winner of 4 straight races.
Pick 6
The pick six is similar to the Pick 3 and 4. You need to win 6 consecutive races. There are a couple things that tend to be different from the other similar type races. This bet often has a payout for hitting 5 out of 6. There is also a carryover when nobody hits all 6. Part of the take is added to the next racing day's pool. Those are days where you potentially get more bang for your horse racing dollar. However, the pick 6 is a tough wager to hit and becomes expensive when you start playing more than one horse a race.
note: Some races have what are called coupled entries. What that means is there will be more than one number 1, for example. 1A and 1B or 2A and 2B would be instances of this. When this happens you get both horses. If you play the number 1 to win and 1B comes rambling home the winner, you still win.
Which Wager is Best?
The vast majority of the time your payout is less with place and show wagers. If you are going to play place and show wagers on a regular basis you should do so by checking how much money is bet on those horses in the place or show pool. Wager on your horse to place or show if the money in those pools is considerably less in proportion to the win pool. Otherwise, playing to win is a wiser wager in the long run.
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