Learning How To Wager

FLAT BETTING:

Win Bet: Betting which horse will finish first in a race is called a win bet.

Place Bet: When making a place bet, one is wagering that a certain horse will finish first OR second. If you bet a horse to place and it wins, you win. If it finishes second, you still win. If it finishes third, you should have made a show bet.

Show Bet: Betting a horse to show is wagering that it will finish either first, second or third. As long as your horse finishes first, second or third you win.

EXOTIC BETS:

Exacta Betting:

Straight Exacta: A straight exacta bet is wagering on which two horses will finish first and second in order in a particular race. Betting a 5-8 straight exacta is betting that the 5 will win the race and the 8 will come second. If the 5 wins, but the 8 doesn't come second, it is a losing bet. If the 5 doesn't win, but the 8 does come second, its also a losing bet. Because an exacta is a more difficult wager to win, the odds and payoffs are usually much greater than that of a flat bet.

Exacta Box: An exacta box is a combination of sorts. Betting an exacta box is betting which two horses will finish first and second in a particular race, regardless of order. If you box the 5 and 8, as long as the race finishs 5-8 or 8-5 you win. These cost twice as much as a straight exacta because it really is two bets. 5-8 and 8-5. Exacta boxes are not limited to just two horses. The more horses you box, the more the bet will cost. A three horse exacta box costs $6 for every dollar wagered. To figure the cost of an exacta box based on a dollar bet, multiply the number of horses you are boxing by 1 less than that number. An example: A seven horse exacta box would cost you $42 dollars (7x6=42) for every dollar bet.

Exacta key-wheel: This type of bet is made when one horse is keyed, or singled out, to win over more than one horse to finish second. An exacta key-wheel bet of 4 with (or over) 5, 6, and 7 is a bet that the 4 will win and either the 5, 6, or 7 will finish second. So, if the race finishes 4-5, 4-6, or 4-7 you win. The price of this bet is determined by the amount of horses underneath the key horse. The above bet would cost $3 for every dollar wagered.

Exacta key-box: This is similar to the key-wheel, except the horse that is keyed can finish first or second to the horses underneath. An exacta key-box bet of 4 with the 5, 6, and 7 is a bet that the 4 will win or come second to the 5, 6 and 7. So, if the race finishes 4-5, 4-6, 4-7, 5-4, 6-4, or 7-4 you win. The difference between the exacta key-box and the exacta box is that in this instance if the race finishes 5-6, you lose. Price is determined by multiplying the number of horses underneath the keyed horse by 2. The above bet of an exacta key-box 4 with 5,6,7 would cost you $6 for every dollar wagered.

Exacta part-wheel: This bet is very similar to the exacta key wheel except your bet is keying on more than one horse to finish first or second. Essentially, this bet is two or more exacta key-wheel bets combined. An example would be betting and exacta part-wheel 1 and 5 with the 1, 5, 6, and 7. This means that the 1 or 5 has to win the race, and the 1, 5, 6, or 7 has to finish second to win the bet. The cost of an exacta part-wheel is determined by the number of horses underneath each key horse. The above bet would cost you $6 for every dollar bet. The 1 has the 5,6,and 7 behind it for $3 and the 5 has the 1,6, and 7 behind it for the other $3.

Exacta box part-wheel: This is similar to the exacta part-wheel except the horses that are keyed can finish first or second to the horses underneath. The price of these bets are determined the same as above, then multiplied by 2.

A Trifecta is a bet on which horses will finish first, second, and third in order. There are numerous ways to bet a trifecta just as an exacta.

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