A straight bet refers to three types of wagers: Win, Place and show.
A win bet means your horse must cross the finish line first. One advantage of betting to win is that you can see the win odds on your horse just by looking at the television screen or the the tote board, which is the big information board located in the infield of the track.Using the win odds you can determine the payoff of your horse if he wins the race. For example if the win odds on your horse is 9-2 you know he will pay between $11 and $11.80 for every $2 dollar wagered. It cannot pay more then $11.80 because if it paid $12 the win odds would be 5-1. Click here to see win odds and payoffs
A place bet means your horse can win or finish second and you still collect. To figure you place bet payoffs you start by taking the total amount bet to place and subtract 15%. That is the track take out that and they take that money right off the top. This information is called the pool and can also be found on the tote board and the television screen. From that total, subtract the place money wagered on your horse and the highest amount of place money bet on another horse to get the profit from the place pool. Split the profit amount between the two place horses. Divide that amount by the number of $2 bets on your horse. Add $2 and you get your estimated place price.
A show bet means your horse can finish first, second or third and you still collect. To figure your show payoff follow the same steps and the place payoffs except you subtract the show money wagered on your horses and the two highest amounts of show money bet on other horses. Then divide the profits by three-not two horses. Remember place and show payouts are affected by the odds of the winning horse, which is something you can't control. Your horses shares the place and show pools with the winner, so you're better off if the winner is a long shot and not the favorite.
Betting across the board is a term that means you bet the same amount to win, place and show. If you bet $2 dollars across the board it will cost you $6 because you are making three seperate wagers: $2 to win, $2 to place and $2 to show.
Win odds and payoffs
| ODDS |
PAYS |
|
ODDS |
PAYS |
|
ODDS |
PAYS |
| 1-5 |
$2.40 |
|
8-5 |
$5.20 |
|
6-1 |
$14.00 |
| 2-5 |
$2.80 |
|
9-5 |
$5.60 |
|
7-1 |
$16.00 |
| 1-2 |
$3.00 |
|
2-1 |
$6.00 |
|
6-1 |
$18.00 |
| 3-5 |
$3.20 |
|
5-2 |
$7.00 |
|
9-1 |
$20.00 |
| 4-5 |
$3.60 |
|
3-1 |
$8.00 |
|
10-1 |
$22.00 |
| 1-1 |
$4.00 |
|
7-2 |
$9.00 |
|
15-1 |
$32.00 |
| 6-5 |
$4.40 |
|
4-1 |
$10.00 |
|
20-1 |
$42.00 |
| 7-5 |
$4.80 |
|
9-2 |
$11.00 |
|
30-1 |
$62.00 |
| 3-2 |
$5.00 |
|
5-1 |
$12.00 |
|
50-1 |
$102.00 |
