| Horse Racing Betting Types | |||
| Straight Bets | Quinella | Trifecta | Daily Double |
| Superfecta | Exacta | Pick 3 | Other Types |
Superfecta
With this bet you must pick the first four finishing horses in the
order of their finish. In other words, you must pick the horse that
wins, the horse that finishes second, the horse that finishes third and
the horse that finishes fourth. Since it is very difficult to determine
the top four finishing horses without playing a lot of combinations
which can be very costly, the superfecta is not a very popular bet among
seasoned handicappers. If by chance, the top four finishers are a
standout and easily determined, then the return on the wager is
generally very low and can easily be smaller than the amount of money
required to hit the winning combination. Nevertheless, I will give you
the details if you choose to be daring.
The simplest form of this wager is the Straight Superfecta, which is a
single combination of the first four finishers. The minimum bet for a
Straight Superfecta is $2. To purchase, simply tell the clerk: "$2
Superfecta on 1-2-3-4." A Superfecta is not offered in all races at all
tracks (refer to program).
Superfecta Box
The Superfecta Box has a $1 minimum bet per combination -- $24 minimum
total cost. You can box four or more horses on a single ticket and wager
$1 (or more) on each combination.
Example: To purchase a $1 Superfecta Box using four horses, tell
the clerk: "$1 Superfecta Box 11-2-3-4."
The following examples are for a $1 Superfecta Box:
4 horse box ( 24 combinations) Cost $ 24
5 horse box (120 combinations) Cost $120
6 horse box (460 combinations) Cost $460
7 horse box (840 combinations) Cost $840
Superfecta Key
The Key Wager requires the key horse to finish FIRST with any
combination of three or more horses finishing second, third and fourth.
For example, if your key horse is #5 and your other horses are number's
2, 4, 6 and 8, you will win if #5 finishes FIRST and three of your other
four horses finish second, third and fourth.
Example: To make the bet, tell the clerk: "$1 Superfecta Key No.
5 on top of 2, 4, 6 and 8," and the ticket will cost $24. If five horses
were coupled with the Key horse, the cost would have been $60, etc.
Superfecta Full Wheel
You may select one or more horses to finish in any given position and
combine these selections with all possible entries in the other
positions. The number of combinations will vary according to the total
number of horses in the race.
Example: If you pick horse #6 to finish FIRST in a 12 horse field and
want to have $1 Full Wheel, tell the clerk: "$1 Superfecta
6-All-All-All." The total cost of the ticket is $990. This is another
situation where even if you win, it is likely that you will still lose
money.
| Number of horses in race: | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Cost in this Example: | $210 | $336 | $504 | $720 | $990 |
Superfecta Part Wheel
The Superfecta Part Wheel is offered at a $1 minimum bet per combination
-- $2 minimum total cost. It is now possible to make a Superfecta wager
coupling one or more horses to finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Example: You want the (#4 and #7 in the win position), the ( #1,
#4, and #7 in place position), the (#1, #2, #4, #7 and #9 in the show
position) and the (#1, #2 #4, #7, #9 and #11 in the fourth position). To
bet a $1 on Superfecta on the above example, tell the clerk: "$1
Superfecta Part Wheel (4 7) with (1, 4, 7) with (1, 2, 7, 9) with (1, 2,
7, 9, 11)." There are 36 possible combinations in the bet for a cost of
$36. To win, the (4 or 7) must finish FIRST, the (1, 4 or 7) must finish
second, the (1, 2, 4, or 7) must finish third, and the (1, 2, 4, 9, or
11) must finish fourth.
As you can quickly see, the cost of the part wheel can be much less than
the cost of the full wheel, but it requires you to be more selective and
do a better job handicapping.
