Different Horse Racing Wagers Explained

Are you thinking of wagering on horse races? Or do you simply want to enhance your learning of the different types of horse racing types? Whatever your reason, the first step to horse racing is understanding what bets you can place and how to win them!

There are different horse racing wagers: straight, exotic single-race, and exotic multi-race bets. As you go on this list, you’ll see that the bets go from easy to complex.

Straight Wagers

Making a bet requires a strategy. However, for newbies just looking up the odds on the breeders cup and other events, it can be hard to dive into the complicated world of betting. The ins and outs of the games can surely be intimidating.

For beginners, the most straightforward wager you can make in horse racing is straight bets, which have three types: win, place, and show. Straight bets got their name since betters only need one element that has to be met to win their wager.

Win Bet

Win bet is the most straightforward and typical bet in this list. Theoretically, you’ll wager on a horse you believe will finish first. If you chose the wrong horse or if they didn’t finish first, then you lose the bet. It’s pretty straightforward, right?

This bet has the best payout out of all the straight bets; however, as you can see, it also has the most significant risk. You’ll see why when you read about the other straight wagers.

Place Bet

The place bet is a much safer wager than the win bet. In this bet, you’ll wager that a horse will finish in either first or second place. It means that it offers more chances for you to win your bet, two to be exact. Additionally, your payout won’t be affected by which place they finish.

So whether they finish in first or second place, the payout remains the same. Naturally, you would lose your bet if the horse you chose doesn’t finish in the top two places.

As you can see, the risk is lowered since you have two chances. However, the payout is also lower since there is a lower risk.

Show Bet

To take the concept further, a show bet is wagering on a horse you believe will finish in first, second, or third place. It’s the safest bet out of the three straight wagers. As a result, the payout is also lowered. You can use this type of bet if you have a favourite horse that you think will win one of the top three places.

Exotic Single-race Bets

Now, let’s move on to the ‘challenging’ bets in horse racing. As you’ve observed above, the higher the risk, the bigger the payout. So, you can go home with huge earnings with these exotic bets. Exotic bets are wagering on multiple horses in a single race.

Exacta Bet

An exacta bet is like a place bet – it involves the first and second place. However, in exacta bet, you must accurately predict who will finish first and second place in their specific order. The payout is quite large as compared to betting on each horse individually.

Trifecta Bet

Trifecta bets are where you predict which horses in the contenders will finish in first, second, and third place. Like exacta, the order must be specific.

Superfecta Bet

A superfecta bet is just like an exacta and trifecta bet; the number of horses you must choose would increase to four. You must accurately predict which horses will finish in the top four places. The potential winnings would increase since this bet is much trickier and riskier than the other two.

Hi-5 Bet

The hi-5 or pentafecta bet is just like the other three above this, e.g., exacta, trifecta, and superfecta. However, this time, you’ll be predicting the top 5 finishers of the race.

Quinella Bet

It’s like an exacta bet; however, there’s a key difference: you don’t have to get the order correctly when you choose the first and second-place finishers. You’ll simply wager on the two horses you think will finish in the top two. Regardless of the order, you’ll get your payout if these two horses win the first and second place.

Exotic Multi-race Bets

Let’s now move on to exotic multi-race bets. As observed above, exotic bets entail betting on more than one horse. Exotic multi-race bets differ from exotic single-race wagers in that you’ll bet on multiple horses over multiple races. The following bets offer larger payouts since it has a higher risk and greater odds than those listed above.

Daily Double Bet

You can use the daily double bet if the horse racing event has more than one race that day. In this bet, you must accurately pick the winners for the two consecutive races on that day. You can wager on two different horses using this bet but only one finishing place since there’s a possibility you might change to a different horse for each race.

Pick 3, 4, 5, or 6 Bets

This exotic bet is simple: it follows the same principle as the daily double bet; you must choose and predict 3-6 first-place finishers for 3-6 consecutive races. The amount of horses and races is depending on what bet you choose. For example, for Pick 3 Bets, you’ll only have to predict three horses you think will win for three consecutive races.

Final Thoughts

Now that you’ve learned the types of bets you can place, you can now use your online betting website and place your bets. We recommend using this website if you haven’t memorized it. Having this list as you make your wagers can help ensure you use the right bet type.

SEE ALSO: AEW Terminates CM Punk’s Contract Following Backstage Incident At All In Event