Collectively called straight bets, the most popular bets are the win, place, and show bets. If you bet to win, the horse must come in first. If you bet to place, it must be first or second, and if you bet to show, it must finish in the top three spots. The minimum amount for these bets is $2. If the horse you select is favored and you bet to win, the payoff will be relatively small. Longshots with low odds pay much more on a win, place, or show bet when they win than favorites do. If a horse finishes in any of the top three positions, it is called finishing “in the money”.

 

“Exotic” wagers start with the exacta, trifecta, and superfecta. In an exacta, you must pick the horses that will finish in the top 2 positions in order. For a trifecta, it’s the top three in order, and a superfecta is the top four in order. You can play any of these straight bets for $1 in California. You can also “box” the bet, as well. For example, boxing a $1 exacta means that the two horses you picked can finish in either order in the top two positions, but the bet now costs you $2 because there are two possible winning combinations. A boxed trifecta of three horses will cost $6 instead of $1 because there are 6 possible winning combinations. Some tracks offer bonus wagers such as the 10 cent superfecta, meaning that for only a dime you can play a superfecta, and you get 1/10^th of the payout.

 

These tricky and popular bets can be extremely lucrative, but are difficult to hit. A Pick 3 bet is a bet on the winners of three straight races; a Pick 4 is bet on four straight winners; and a Pick 6 is a bet on six straight winners. The Pick 4 and Pick 6 are usually offered on the second half of the day’s races. The Daily Double, where you pick two winners in a row, is offered several times throughout the day.