RacingBetter News
	Wednesday 20th April 2022

Betting On Horse Racing: What Are the Safest and Most Profitable Bets?

When it comes to betting on horse races, the most popular choice is to place a wager on the winner. It's straightforward, easy to understand, and requires little thought or analysis.

But that doesn't mean it's the best choice. In fact, there are several other types of bets that might be much more profitable than betting on a simple win. If you're looking for even safer bets, there are some bets where you could get back a portion of your money, even if your horse loses!

To help you get the most bang for your buck (or coin), we've looked at all of the different types of bets (other than win bets) out there and found what we think is the safest and most profitable option. We'll explain our pick for you in this article.

Trifecta Wagers

One of the most popular bets in horse racing is trifecta wagers. A trifecta wager is when you make three predictions regarding the race before it starts: who will win, who will come in second, and who will come in third.
You win if you bet on this, and all three of your predictions are correct. The average payout for this wager is often $7,000, but more generous sites like the DeFi betting offer better payouts, especially during major tournaments.

Trifecta wagers can be very profitable because you have to make three predictions before the race starts. However, it can be difficult to predict who will win, come in second, or come in third. Therefore, this bet can be risky as well.

Place and Show Bets

A place bet is betting on a horse to finish first or second in the race. The odds here are less than they would be if you bet on the horse to win, but that's because your chances of winning are much higher.

If you think a horse has a good chance of getting second place (what's known as "placing") and want to get a slightly better payout than if you bet on that horse to win, this is the bet for you!

A show bet is betting on a horse to finish in one of the top three places in the race. This is an excellent option if you aren't sure how well your horse will do but want to stay safe and bet on a horse with at least an OK chance of finishing high up in the race.

With place and show bets, you are betting that your horse will finish first or second (place) or first, second, or third (show). These are not as likely to pay off as a win bet, but they're also less risky—so if you're looking for a safer bet that still has some profit potential, these might be a good choice.

Exacta Wagers

When you strike an exact wager, you’re betting on two horses from a race. Your chosen horses must finish first and second to win this type of bet. You can either use the box option or the key option.

The box option allows you to choose more than one horse to finish first and second, while the key option requires you to choose one horse to finish first and other horses to finish second. Exacta wagers are not as popular as superfecta wagers because they have lower payouts.

Superfecta Wagers

Superfecta wagers are one of the most difficult types of wagers to win, but they can also offer a potential payouts rate that can be as high as 300-to-1.

In superfecta wagers, you'll need to pick four different horses in the correct order that they'll finish in a race. It may seem like a long shot gamble, but if you're careful and pick the right horses and study the odds, this could be a great way to make some big money.

Daily Double Wagers

Daily double wagers are a better bet if you're looking to make money with horse racing betting. In order to win a daily double wager, you must correctly predict the winner of two different races--but you don't need them to finish in any particular order.

This is much less of an exact science than superfecta wagers are, so it's easier for you to win these bets. That said, the payoff is also smaller than it would be with superfecta wagers.

Pick 3 and Pick 4 Wagers

Pick 3 and Pick 4 wagers are based on the results of three or four races, respectively. Betting a Pick 3 and winning requires correctly selecting the winners of three consecutive races.

Similarly, a Pick 4 wager requires correctly selecting the winners of four consecutive races. Payoffs for both wagers are calculated by multiplying the odds for each horse selected in the wager to determine the total payoff for a ticket.

These wagers are more difficult to win than single-race bets because you have to get multiple winners right in a row, but the payouts can be pretty large as well.

If your picks come through, you will receive a share of the total pool (also known as the "handle") that was collected during those races from all winning tickets sold, minus track take and taxes.

Which one is the safest and most profitable horse racing bet?

It's easy to think that win bets are the safest and most profitable wagers in horse racing, but this is actually incorrect. While it's true that win bets are probably the most popular—and definitely the easiest to understand—they're actually also one of the riskiest!

The reason is simple: you have to have your horse not just finish first but finish first by a margin of at least one length. If your horse finishes first by less than one length, they have lost for you.

With place bets, on the other hand, your horse only needs to finish first or second for you to be paid out. And exacta, trifecta, and superfecta wagers reward you with more money if you can predict multiple horses finishing in the top placements.

With daily double and pick 3 and pick 4 wagers, even more opportunities open up for you to win by making multiple predictions.

How do you know the best horse racing bet for you?

When making bets in horse racing, there are many different types of bets you can make. How do you know which one is best for you? Well, that depends on a couple of things.

First, it depends on how much risk you're willing to take. If you want your bet to be as safe as possible but still win money, you should go with a place or show bet.

These bets have the lowest payout, but they also have the highest chance of winning. But if you want an enormous payoff, even if there's a considerable risk, try an exacta wager!

Second, it depends on how much time and effort you want to put in. If you don't want to plan out your bet that much and want to go with something simple and easy, then try a daily double wager!

On the other hand, if you’re going to plan out your bet carefully and take the time to do so, try a pick 3 or pick 4 wagers (but be prepared for some complex strategy).

Lastly, it is worth noting that making a well-informed bet can improve your odds of coming out ahead regardless of the bet you pick.