

Here is a quick example of how the pricing scheme would work, as the cost scales exponentially with each horse you add to your betting pool: A bet with three horses would cost you just $12, but the cost of four or more horses is significantly higher. This type of exacta bet won’t limit you to the number of horses, but the significantly increasing odds of success are reflected in the price scheme for placing such bets. This will substantially increase the odds of getting a payout, with the downside of exponentially increasing your bet size. You’d place 5-8 and 8-5 bets for $2 apiece, for a total of $4.įortunately, you aren’t limited to just two horses - you can select as many horses as you want to. So, say you think horses 5 and 8 will win and place. These bets allow you to select more horses that you think will finish first or second. Exacta boxĮxacta boxes are more flexible than straight exacta bets, which carry a higher amount of risk. If it sounds simple, that’s because placing a straight Exacta bet pretty much is. The format is as follows: You place a 3-6 exacta bet for $2. If you get the order wrong, you lose, even if they both win and place. You pick two horses and the order in which you believe they’ll win and place. Straight exactaĪ straight exacta is exactly what the description above says. The following are the three main types of exacta bet, with the requirements for each explained in detail. While you might have to crunch the numbers, there is nothing to fear with exacta bets it just takes a little knowledge to get the best out of them. Looking strictly at exacta bets, depending on how much risk you want to face, there are various ways for you to place such a wager. Like the quinella bet, an exacta bet is anything but one-dimensional - don’t worry, we’ll be comparing those two types of bets and clearing up a few misconceptions later on. This increases your odds of success, but it also increases the cost of placing a bet. To guard against this possibility, exacta bets allow you to box your horses, so that all possible combinations are covered. If your choices win and place, but in the order other than what you specified, you win absolutely nothing at all. Unlike the popular quinella bets, exacta bets require you to select the correct finishing order of the top two horses. What is an exacta bet?Įxacta bets, also referred to as perfecta or exactor bets, involve a bettor choosing two horses he thinks will place in the top two positions. The following looks at the ins and outs of exacta betting, so you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into before you put down any cash. Odds are an exacta bet is exactly what you’re looking for. If you’ve moved beyond the win, place and show side of betting - and we’re sure that if you are reading this article you likely have - it’s time to increase the potential returns with something more exotic or “exact.” But what happens on the track is only part of what makes this sport so fun, as the betting markets in the world of horse racing never fail to bring the action.įrom a basic flutter and beyond, there are countless ways for you to bet on the big (and not so big) races out there. Showcasing pure power on the track, it’s no wonder why these horse and jockey combinations command the attention of millions of punters around the world every single week. About a million people placed a bet-equivalent to 1 in 7 city residents.There is simply no sport in the world quite like horse racing. That balmy November night, the pot had gone unclaimed six times over. When no one picks correctly, the prize money rolls over to the next set of races. More than 10 million combinations are possible. The wager is a little like a trifecta of trifectas it requires players to predict the top three horses, in any order, in three different heats.

6, 2001, all of Hong Kong was talking about the biggest jackpot the city had ever seen: at least HK$100 million (then about $13 million) for the winner of a single bet called the Triple Trio. Their cathedral is Happy Valley Racecourse, whose grassy oval track and floodlit stands are ringed at night by one of the sport’s grandest views: neon skyscrapers and neat stacks of high-rises, a constellation of illuminated windows, and beyond them, lush hills silhouetted in darkness. Horse racing is something like a religion in Hong Kong, whose citizens bet more than anyone else on Earth.
