Are you ready to move on to superfecta betting? When you are starting out with horse betting, extending into the exotic wagers is a move out of the beginner’s category. If you have tried the more complicated bets like exacta and quinella, then you should be ready for superfecta. Like exacta bets, there is a lot of exactness and a box or wheel options. With a few basic tips, you will be on your way to making your own superfecta betting predictions based on handicapper information.
Making legal money with superfecta betting
Before online racebook betting became popular, all of the bets were played the same way. This style can be interpreted as betting that is not against the racetrack or the house. Instead, all of the bettors bet against each other in a pool. This legal form of horseracing is called pari-mutuel betting.
Today, you can find parimutuel horse betting at casinos, sports bars, horse tracks, and at online racebooks. Among the wagering options you can choose from is the superfecta. Known as an exotic wager, this is a little more complicated than your show, place, and win beginner’s category.
While the rules are simple enough, the main idea is that it is complicated because the ability to understand handicapping is needed in order to win. By definition, superfecta betting entails selecting the exact finishing order of four different horses. This is definitely improbable compared to the exacta two horse option. By comparison, the quinella looks like a lottery scratch off ticket compared to the roulette of the superfecta.
How well does the superfecta pay?
It is a definite reality that only those that do their homework on the horses will be able to succeed in superfecta territory. Nonetheless, if predictions are accurately cast, a superfecta pays extremely well. For example, in 2005, Giacomo won the Kentucky Derby and gave seven people the win of their dreams. The superfecta ticket was split between them giving them a portion of the $865,000 total. Note that this particular race contained two longshots.
For newcomers to horse gambling, it pays to understand what a longshot is and what they can do for your win. Of course, all betting is just a guess, but winning on a longshot is definitely a way to beef up your bet. On the other hand, you will lose a lot of money if you do not cover more bases.
The way to ensure your longshot does not cause you to lose more is to get a superfecta box or superfecta wheel. These options are what makes up a quinella bet and are also a part of an exacta. Naturally, this also means that you will pay more as you increase your combinations.
Simplicity of the superfecta box
A superfecta box and an exacta box work in similar ways. With the exacta, you are limited to two horses, but with superfecta, you are extended to four horses. Let us say, for example, you have 4 horses and you want all the bases covered. That is where the superfecta box comes in. Since you will have 4 horses that you assume will come in first to fourth place, you can get 24 combinations on that race.
If each combination is $1 that means the ticket will cost $24. While superfecta betting is high risk, betting on all the combinations in a box is the best way to ensure a payout. For five horses, you would have 60 combinations, 6 horses is 360 combinations, and 7 horses jumps to 840. Up to 12 horses on a superfecta box is 11,880. Combined with longshots, the superfecta is known for less common (but not uncommon) monstrous payouts.
Here is an example of how the superfecta box 24 combinations work for horses 3, 5, 7 and 9:
3-5-7-9; 3-5-9-7; 3-9-5-7; 3-9-7-5; 3-7-5-9; 3-7-9-5
5-9-3-7; 5-9-7-3; 5-3-9-7; 5-3-7-9; 5-7-3-9; 5-7-9-3
9-5-3-7; 9-5-7-3; 9-3-5-7; 9-3-7-5; 9-7-5-3; 9-7-3-5
7-9-5-3; 7-9-3-5; 7-5-9-3; 7-5-3-9; 7-3-9-5; 7-3-5-9
Wheel superfecta betting strategies
Variations on the superfecta wheel are the superfecta part wheel and the superfecta dime. Of course, the dime superfecta allows you to wager 10 cents on all of the combinations instead of a full dollar. Therefore, a superfecta box with 4 horses will cost $2.40 instead of $24. Unfortunately, superfecta wheels and part wheels are a little more confusing.
The wheels with superfecta start with certainty and end with uncertainty. Let us say you know which horse you think will be finishing first, but are not certain about places 2, 3, and 4. In these cases, you can save money by making a betting ticket that is not exactly a full box.
This means you can pick one horse and finishing place as a “key” and then bet on all possible combinations of the other horses. In these types of tickets, if you pay $1 per combination, you will wind up with a hefty betting ticket if you pick a lot of horses.
For example, you have six horses you want to bet on. The first horse is number 2 and the other three remaining positions of second, third, and fourth place are populated by five other horses. This contains a vast number of possible combinations bringing your $1 per combination superfecta partial wheel bet up to $60.
If you are curious about how much this type of ticket could bring you based on the betting pool, you can figure it out easily online. For more information, check out the horse racing payout calculator websites or use a superfecta calculator app.