It’s no wonder why so many horseplayers like exotic bets. Exotic bets like exactas, trifectas, superfectas, and pick 6 plays often have higher odds than regular win, place and show bets. Consequentially, players who master them can reap big rewards for winning. If you are new to exotic plays, read How to Box, Key and Wheel Your Way to Winning at the Races! in the Case the Race articles. The article by Vince Conti, author of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Systems and Methodologies, is a great primer for learning the terminology and basics of several exotic plays. To help take your play to the next level, we asked 4 horse racing experts which exotic bet strategies were their favorites and what advice they had for helping other players be successful with these plays. Here is advice from Vince Conti, Toby Turrell, Paul Lambrakis and Steven Kolb.
Playing Part –Wheel Wagers
Vince Conti is the author of Thoroughbred Horse Racing Systems and Methodologies and author of the site Horse Racing Book.com.
Favorite strategy: Out of all the wagering strategies I prefer the Part-Wheel. The Part-Wheel wager increases your coverage in more than one position. Whether you’re playing an exacta, triple or superfecta you can increase your win percentage by utilizing 2 or more horses in the win position, place position and/or show position. The amount of horses you use in each position would depend on several factors including the size of the field, using multiple favorites or using an extraordinary amount of longshots and of course the size of your bankroll. The best part about the Part-Wheel is you can produce a winning ticket using more horses than just boxing 2 or 3 horses, but you need to have a specific key horse in mind when playing this method.
Advice to others: I recommend using your key horse in both the first and second position of your wager. If your key horse loses by a nose you still have it in the second position and you can still catch a winning ticket.
Here are some prime examples of placing a Part-Wheel wager.
Exacta: If your Key horse is the 5 horse, and you think the only other horse that can beat him is the 1 horse;Play; Exacta 1, 5 with 1, 3, 5, 7. Here you can cover the 1 and the 5 while adding 2 longshots in the place position with the cost being only $6.00 ($1.00 wager)
Triple Play: Use the same logic; 1, 5 with 1, 5 with 3, 7 which is only a $4.00 play.
Superfecta Play: Use the same logic; 1, 5 with 1, 5 with 3, 7 with 3, 7 which is only $4.00 as well. Adding horses to the 3rd and 4th position increases your coverage for a few dollars more.
10-Cent Superfecta with a Key Horse
Paul Lambrakis has been a professional handicapper for over 25 years and has been the senior staff handicapper at Santa Anita since 1997. He is also the author of the popular "10-Cent Superfecta Complete Guide to Wagering and Winning".
Favorite strategy: I like playing the 10-cent superfecta because it gives you a chance at a big payoff without having to spend a lot of money.
Advice to Others: My advice would be to find a race with eight or more horses in which you can narrow down the winner to a single horse. When you have a key horse, it makes it much more affordable to add extra horses in the lower legs. Also remember that the bigger the field, the higher your potential payoff will be.
10-Cent Superfecta with Vulnerable Low Priced Contenders
Toby Turrell has been clocking horses in Southern California for more than 20 years, and is widely recognized as one of the circuit's premier morning observers.
Favorite strategy: My favorite bet is quickly becoming the 10-cent superfecta. I’m not sure all the tracks have it yet. A big part of my daily attack on all exotics is based just on the way the horse is training. When I can throw out a low-priced contender based on how it’s is training, I can use the 10-cent superfecta to play all the other horses with a reasonable chance of winning. In this way, I can win big priced exotics by just eliminating one horse. If a horse isn’t training well, it’s likely that it will run outside the superfecta.
Advice to others: If they think that a lower priced horse if vulnerable – it doesn’t have to be the favorite, it can be second or third – [players] can use the 10-cent superfecta to cover all other contenders and longshots and still make a healthy profit. Generally, the 10-cent superfecta is a $1 bet. The 10-cent superfecta gives you 10 times the spending power to cover various combinations.
Play the Pick 6 by Eliminating False Favorites
Steven Kolb is the author of How to WIN the PICK 6.
Favorite strategy: The best of the Exotic Wagers is the PICK 6. If you want to attain wealth playing the horses, the only way to do so is by being a Pick 6 winner. A repeat Pick 6 winner.
Generally NY and CA offer the largest Pick 6 opportunities, with daily five – six – and sometimes seven figure jackpots.
It’s a minimum $2 bet that some players, or syndicates, will wager thousands of dollars on. Time and time again the big bettors come up empty – losers. They probably know how the Pick 6 should be played, but they don’t play it that way. They play like everyone else – cover the favorites.
Studies show that year after year, Morning Line Favorites win about 30% of the Pick 6 races. The 30/30/40 Rule states that 30% of Pick 6 races are won by favorites, 30% are won by horses at 9-2 odds or lower, and 40% of Pick 6 races are won by horses at 5-1 odds or higher!
Time and time again, players cover five or all six of the favorites on their ticket. It’s a maddening thought, “How can I NOT cover the favorite? On paper it’s the best horse in the race!” Do your homework and handicap the races. Find at least three false favorites and don’t bet them.
Advice to others: For a basic $32 wager you can select ten horses. Pick three favorites and single two of them. Then fill your ticket with three selections of horses at odds of 9-2 and lower; followed by four selections of horses at odds of 5-1 and higher. Before long you just might bring home a $10K to $25K paycheck. Then you’re off to the races.
The Pick 6 is where the BIG money is. It’s where you should be, too.
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