Sometimes it can be advantageous to make smaller wagers at the racetrack. Flexi Betting is an exciting option that allows bettors to make percentage bets on horse races in Australia. This permits a bettor to participate on a smaller scale in bets that may have been beyond their bankroll. In United States horse racing the comparable bet is a reduced wager on exotic bets like the Pick Six. Winning bettors are given a percentage of the pool based on the size of their Flexi Bet.

What is Flexi Betting?

A Flexi Bet at Australian racetracks is a bet which is made at a percentage of the full wager. For example, let’s say that the standard bet for an exotic bet like a trifecta or a quinella is $1. A player may make a Flexi Bet for 20% or 50% of that amount. At 20%, the base cost of the wager would be a mere $0.20.

In the United States, the standard cost of a Pick Six ticket is $2.00. In order to encourage more bettors to participate in the wager, racetracks began to offer $1.00 Pick Six tickets. The superfecta was also a $2.00 bet until some tracks began offering it for as little as $0.10. In the case of the Superfecta, lowering the unit cost increased the overall pools because more players participated.

Like any gambling enterprise, racetracks must find a way to keep bettors engaged in the process. They must introduce new bets and develop exotic wagers which offer the promise of a large payday for a very small investment. This is why Flexi Betting was created.

How to Flexi Bet

The Flexi Bet is unique to Australian horse racing. If you want to make this wager you will need to have a racebook account which permits wagering on Australian racing. The only other way to make the bet is to attend the races Down Under in person. That’s not a bad idea if you can afford it. The racetracks in this country are some of the most attractive ever built.

But for the racebook bettor the first step is to determine which bets are offered as a Flexi Bet. The quinella, trifecta, first four, quaddie, and Big 6 are all offered in Flexi Betting. You can typically make a bet for a minimum of 1% of the full bet. So, if a bet is priced at $1.00 you could Flexi Bet for a single penny. On the high end of the scale, 20% is usually the max Flexi Bet allowed.

Once you have decided which bet you would like to make and the percentage you would like to wager, the final step is to simply select the horses you wish to bet on and submit your wager. You’ll receive a confirmation from the racebook when your bet is placed.

The Advantages of Flexi Betting

The main advantage of Flexi Betting is that you will spend far less on a single ticket. Exotic bets usually pay a greater amount than straight win wagers, so you will be risking a little to win a lot. This is always a good strategy when making horse racing bets, and it’s one of the reasons exotics are so popular.

Another advantage is that spending less on each ticket allows you to play more combinations. Here’s an example. Let’s say that you want to play the Big Six which is priced at $1. You can choose to bet the $1 and receive one ticket. Or, you can use Flexi Betting and bet $0.10. For the same amount of money as the standard wager, you can purchase ten tickets. This means you can use ten different combinations of horses for a total of ten chances to win.

The Disadvantages of Flexi Betting

When it comes to this horse racing bet type, there is really only one glaring disadvantage. If you win, you will only be paid winnings commensurate with the percentage bet you made. This sounds confusing but it is actually easy to understand.

Let’s say that the Big Six pool has a total of $100,000 in it to be divided among winning bettors. If you bet a 10% Flexi bet, you will only qualify for 10% of the pool. This means that you will share in $10,000 if you win.

The prices shown on most American tote boards when a race is made official reflect the total amount of money paid out on the full bet. So, if you see the Pick Six paid out $10,000 this means that it only paid out $1,000 on a $0.10 bet. Remember that in America there is a similar bet but it is not referred to as a percentage bet. It is simply called a “Ten-Cent Super” in the case of the superfecta. Check our Bovada racebook review, Twinspires review or even our Betamerica review. All great choice if you are in the US. 5Dimes review for folks anywhere!

When to Use This Bet

The times that you will want to use this bet are when you have a limited bankroll and when you like multiple combinations of horses for the win. In the first case, using a percentage bet saves you money and lets you spread your bankroll out over the course of the racing day instead of using a big part of it on one race.

If you are having trouble narrowing down the field of competitors, a Flexi Bet can allow you to throw more darts at the bullseye. You simply reduce the amount of each ticket so that you can buy more tickets with more combinations. This type of betting in America is known as a “wheel” or “part wheel” and can be very effective in exotics like the Pick Three and Pick Four.

In a Pick Four the goal is to pick the winner of four consecutive races. You might feel good about one of the races and have a potential winner identified. But in the other three races you might be having some trouble. The solution is to wheel multiple selections with your single. You can use the single horse as a key of sorts and build inexpensive Flexi Bets all around it with multiple horses in the other races.

If you are ready to give this exciting bet a try, why not create an account with an online racebook recommended by EZ Horse Betting. It only takes a few moments to sign up and you’ll get a welcome bonus, free past performances, and access to race replays.

Here we list some of the different type of bets for Horse Racing, click on the links below to learn more.