All of those stories about a gambler hitting a huge bet at the races involve exotic bets. They are the parlay style bets in horse racing and the payouts can change lives. Exotic bets involve wagering on more than one horse per ticket and everything has to fall into place for you to hit a big pay day.
Keep reading to see explanations for all of the popular single race and multiple race exotic bets that could make your rich in an instant.
Single Race Exotic Bets Explained
Exacta Bet – With an exacta bet you are wagering on the horses that will finish in 1st and 2nd, in that order.
Quinella Bet – A quinnela is also wagering on the horses that will finish in 1st and 2nd, but the order doesn’t matter. Both horses you select can either finish first or second. This is the easiest exotic bet to win, but it will still generally payout a good amount.
Trifecta Bet – With a trifecta bet you are picking the horses that will finish in 1st, 2nd and 3rd in that order.
Superfecta Bet – With a superfecta you are betting on which horses will finish in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in that order. This task may seem impossible, but if you do manage to hit a superfecta bet you will be paid out handsomely. It’s quite common to hear about superfecta bets paying out $50k or more from a $2 wager at major races.
Multiple Race Exotic Bets Explained
Daily Double – With a daily double bet you are wagering on the horse to win in two different races. It’s similar to the exacta in that you need 2 horses to finish in exactly the right positions. The difference is that the horses are taking part in two back to back races.
Pick 3 Bet – With a pick 3 bet you must select the 1st place horse in 3 consecutive races.
Pick 4 Bet – With a pick 4 bet you must select the 1st place horse in 4 consecutive races.
Pick 6 Bet – With a pick 6 bet you must select the 1st place horse in 6 consecutive races. If you have a pick 6 bet then you are probably having the luckiest day of your life. Pick 6 bets are generally considered even harder to win than Superfectas.
Options for Exotic Wagers
Wheels – A wheel bet allows you to keep one specific horse as your winning horse and then add others as the second horse in your exacta bet. For example a full wheel would be selecting one horse to win and then placing exacta bets with every other horse in the field as the second place finisher. A partial wheel would involve you selecting a few specific second place horses instead of the entire field.
Boxes – The easiest way to think of boxing a bet is as a larger version of the Quinella bet explained above. You are betting on every permutation of the horses you have selected.
For example, if you box a Trifecta bet then you are in reality placing 6 Trifecta bets with each of the three horses in every possible top 3 position. Here is the example of a boxing a Trifecta wager with horses A, B and C:
- 1st-A, 2nd-B, 3rd-C
- 1st-A, 2nd-C, 3rd-B
- 1st-B, 2nd-A, 3rd-C
- 1st-B, 2nd-C, 3rd-A
- 1st-C, 2nd-A, 3rd-B
- 1st-C, 2nd-B, 3rd-A
