Having a solid win would perhaps be better but when all bets are off, it’s common to indulge to exotic bets. Exotic bets include selecting two, three, or more horses to win or show. These are truly riskier than the usual win or place bet types. However, this kind of bet often offers bettors a more substantial return. It really can help one to recognize a meaningful profit opportunity.
Because of the large amount that can be won from exotic bets, most punters would usually risk less money in order to receive a greater return. To understand it better, here’s a short note about exotic bets.
Vertical Bets
Also known as intra-race bets, vertical bets allow you to predict the top finishers in one race. You’ll immediately know the different types of vertical bets since they usually end with “-cta”. These include exacta, trifecta, and superfecta.
Exacta refers to a wager on first two finishers or horses to finish first and second in the similar race in an accurate order. There two kinds of it, namely ice cold or straight exacta where you pick one horse to finish first and another to finish second, and exacta box where you pick two or more horses to finish either first or second, mostly in no particular order. Trifecta refers to a wager on the first three to finish in first, second and third in the similar race in no accurate order.
Chances are, your key horse will run third and two of your higher odds horses will run first and second, making this bet a good choice.
Superfecta refers to a wager on the first four to finish first, second, third and fourth in an accurate order. These are generally available for only 10 cents. Although it's difficult to hit a straight superfecta bet, still, it's known to be one of those bets on the racetracks in which you can win a thousand dollar for a single buck.
Horizontal bets
Horizontal bets or multi-race bets, from the term itself, allow you to pick the winner of many straight races. These bets are also known as “Pick X”, where x stands for the number of races, for example, the Pick 3, Pick 4 or Pick 6.
Keep on mind that you should keep on checking what the minimum bet is at the track you’re playing at, especially when playing Pick 4s. A few progressive tracks have lessened the minimum on bets to as less as 50 cents. This might be a good chance for you to cut your cost and buy more combinations.
Purchasing More than one Combination
Most of the time, you might almost purchase more than one combination when doing exotic betting. For example, if you’re playing a Pick 3, you can pick two horses in each of the first two races and three horses in the third.
Say, you liked numbers 1 and 3 during the first race, numbers 1 and 4 during the second race, and numbers 5, 6 and 7 during the third race. If this is the case, you would more likely buy a ticket of “1,3/1,4/5,6,7” or “1 and 3 WITH 1 and 4 WITH 5, 6 and 7.”
Then, you’ll be having and purchasing 121 combinations, which are 1/1/5, 3/1/5, 1/1/6, 3/1/6, 1/1/7, 3/1/7, 1/4/5, 3/4/5, 1/4/6, 3/4/6, 1/4/7, 3/4/7. If each costs a buck, then you have a total of $12 dollar investment.
The good thing happens now when you win the Pick Three, wherein you might get back a $20 to a boxcar of $1000 just only for your $12. If either one of your picks in the first two legs wins, you’ll go to the third race with three “live” horses. Then, if one of them wins, you’ll the Pick Three.
Takeaway
Hedging your bets is one of those betting strategies that includes placing bets on a different result to your original bet to secure a guaranteed profit regardless of the outcome, or reduce your risk on a market.
Also, sign up in an online betting account in which you can bet Belmont Stakes conveniently. When online, you’ll typically use a betting pad where you can independently build tickets and identify what they cost, rather than inconveniencing anyone in a queue on an offline betting line.
