Being a successful horse racing bettor means that you need to be making profitable bets. Some horse racing bets pay more than others. We have put together a guide to help you understand which horse bet pays the most. We will also try to help you understand a little about value and why it is so important to maximize it in your horse racing bets.
Betting a Little to Win a Lot
Before we take a look at some examples of horse racing bets that pay out large sums of money, we want to let you in on a bettor’s secret. The best horse racing bettors are those who bet a little bit of money to win a lot.
Risk versus reward is a concept that is known to every gambler. It is also a concept in business. Winners, whether it be in the stock market or horse racing, are making investments that are designed to consider risk versus reward. Only after such a consideration is made will the professional allow themselves to take action with an investment.
Winners at horse racing are looking to achieve the maximum return for the minimum investment. To do that, you have to pick the bets that are inexpensive to make yet have a potential for a large return.
It is doubtful that betting only to win will get you the kind of return that you dream about. At odds of 3-1 on average you would need to risk $100 to make $300. Not bad, but we’re talking about bets that will allow you to risk much less than that for the chance to win thousands or even hundreds of thousands. There is even a bet on our list that could net you $1 million dollars or more for a $2 wager.
Without further discussion, let’s dive into which horse bet pays the most. Here’s a look at the five most profitable horse racing wagers.
The Pick 6 Bet
The Pick 6 has been called the horse racing version of the lottery, and with good reason. This bet requires the bettor to select the winners of six consecutive races. The minimum bet at most race tracks for the Pick 6 is $2, but the reward can be more than $1 million dollars.
A Pick 6 bet is so hard to hit that there is a carryover. A carryover happens when no one wins the bet on a given race day. The race track then carries the betting pool, minus any takeout, to the next betting day. This happens until someone eventually wins the bet.
There have been Pick 6 carryovers at American race tracks that have gone over $1 million dollars. A favorite time for many people to play this bet is on the last day of a race meet when all carryovers must be paid out. This means that the bet will be won regardless, even if only five of the winning horses are chosen.
The Twin Trifecta Bet
This bet has actually all but disappeared from American horse racing. You can still find it available at some UK race tracks where it has been re-tooled as an exotic wager with other bets thrown in. The original Twin Trifecta was popular at eastern race tracks many years ago, and it was a favorite of horse handicapper Andrew Beyer.
In the Twin Trifecta a player had to start with winning a regular trifecta bet in a certain race. For every winning ticket the player held in the first event, an equal number of wagers could be made on another trifecta in a separate race. If the player won this trifecta, the Twin Trifecta jackpot was paid out.
Like the Pick 6 wager, the Twin Trifecta had a carryover feature that allowed the bet to build over time. It could reach tens of thousands of dollars. Today, players don’t consider hitting a trifecta that hard. At the time, the race tracks that offered the bet would make sure it involved the most contentious races on the card.
The $0.10 Superfecta Bet
A superfecta is a bet that requires players to pick the first four finishers of a horse race in exact order. For many years this bet required a minimum wager of $2. That was eventually reduced to $1, and then it was lowered even farther to $0.10.
There have been cases where bettors have won well over $1,000 when betting a $0.10 superfecta. This has actually angered some old school bettors who hail from an era when the $2 bet was standard.
Sadly, the inexpensive nature of this bet have made it a favorite of horse racing bettors who like to approach it like a lottery ticket. They use the Quick Pick feature at an online racebook to pick the horses they will use without any handicapping.
Bets With Carryover Pools
Which horse bet pays the most? It is likely going to be a bet with a carryover. This includes the Pick 6, Super High 5, and other horse racing bets that have a level of difficulty that is much greater than other types of bets.
Bets which are won on a daily basis do not qualify for a carryover wager. The best time to play a carryover bet is when the pools at the race track have become very high. Many Pick 6 players do not even get involved in a bet until the pool is over $100,000.
At this point the bet will attract the whales and syndicates that only come out when the water is warm. They will pool their money together and try to hit the bet. Sometimes they are able to cover thousands of combinations with wagers that can exceed $10,000.
Special Horse Betting Pools
On the biggest days in horse racing tracks will sometimes offer special betting pools and events that have the potential to pay out large sums of money. An example would be the Kentucky Derby or the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.
On these days you can expect to see Pick 3, Pick 4 (Strategies for pick 4 betting), and Pick 6 wagers that involve the most difficult races on the card. Some of the bets can be made for as little as $1, and you can find them at your favorite online racebook.
Are you ready to start betting the horse racing wagers that pay the most? If so, check out our list of recommended online racbooks. Most of them will give you a nice bonus when you sign up, such as AmWager.
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