How to bet on horses – Exotic Wagering – SuperfectaWagering Strategies
Superfecta betting is for those who love to play the high-risk high-return game. The payoffs can be monstrous. It is not uncommon to see a $1 superfecta ticket payup to $10,000 and superfectas paying at least $20,000 occur often enough to make it worth taking a shot.
Superfecta betting requires you to pick the first four finishers in a race in exact order – a very difficult task. But while structuring this type of bet may appear daunting at first, it can be very lucrative for those willing to put in the extra work. Finding value in superfecta races is important, but structuring a superfecta wager to include your value plays with all possible combinations is even more important.
The most common superfecta wagers involve boxes and wheels with multiple combinations of horses at a cost of $1 per combination. The minimum amount you can spend on a straight superfecta wager is $2. A $2 straight superfecta 2-3-5-6 would pay off if the first four finishers in the race were 2-3-5-6 in that exact order.
A $1 superfecta box of four horses costs $24, or $1 per combination, and requires that your four selections finish in the top four positions in any order. For example, a $1 superfecta box 2-3-5-6 would be a winning ticket if horses 2,3, 5 and 6 finished in the top four positions in any order.
The above wager would appear on paper as: $1 superfecta box 2,3,5,6 = $24
A $1 superfecta wheel involves your key horse(s) played in various positions with other combinations of horses. For example, a $1 superfecta wheel keying horse 2 to win with 3,5,6 to finish second, 3,5,6 to finish third and 3,5,6 to finish fourth would cost $1 per combination, or $6. This ticket would be a winner if horse 2 won with either of 3,5 or 6 finishing second, 3,5, or 6 finishing third and 3,5 or 6 finishing fourth.
The above wager on paper would appear as:
$1 superfecta wheel 2 with 3,5,6 with 3,5,6 with 3,5,6 = $6
While superfecta wagers can be expensive due to the astronomical number of playable combinations, many tracks now offer $0.10 and $0.20 superfecta wagers. This gives the average bettor a chance to swing for the fences and go after huge payoffs with large boxes and wheels, at one tenth or one fifth of the traditional cost of a $1 combination.
A $1 superfecta box of five horses would cost $120, but the same superfecta wager at $0.10 per combination costs only $12 – well within the range of any bettor. Another bonus to these lower-priced superfecta wagers is the fact that if you are the only winning ticket holder, you still collect the whole superfecta pool, not just one tenth of the pool.
You will find longshots in almost every superfecta somewhere in the first four finishers, and these long shots trigger huge payoffs, but even medium priced horses finishing in the first four can produce outstanding results. Longshots on top of favorites can also produce lucrative scores.
One strategy used by sharp superfecta players looking for a big score is to look for races where the favorites are weak, find the three horses whose odds represent the best value in the race, and then wheeling those three horses to the board in the superfecta.
For example let’s say that in a 10-horse field, you decide that horses 2 (3-1), 3 (6-1) and 5 (10-1) represent the best value plays in a race where the favorites look weak. Other than 2,3 and 5, the remainder of the field looks inseparable– meaning any of the remaining horses could finish in the top four. In this case, in order to cover all possible combinations with your three horses in the superfecta, you would structure your superfecta wager as follows.
$1 superfecta wheel 2,3,5 with 2,3,5 with 2,3,5 with All = $42
$1 superfecta wheel 2,3,5 with 2,3,5 with All with 2,3,5 = $42
$1 superfecta wheel 2,3,5 with All with 2,3,5 with 2,3,5 = $42
$1 superfecta wheel All with 2,3,5 with 2,3,5 with 2,3,5 = $42
The above wager covers 168 possible combinations at reasonable cost, includes all your top value horses and will probably provide a highly profitable payoff even if the favorite does happen to win – as long as your three main selections finish in the top four. If a longshot happens to finish in the money or better still, win the race, with your three selections finishing in the money, you are looking at a boxcar payoff.
A $0.10 superfecta wheel using the above combinations would cost only $16.80.
A $0.20 superfecta wheel using the above combinations would cost $33.60.
There are too many superfecta combinations to illustrate here, but finding good value and structuring your superfectawagers to include your value horses in all four positions can give you an edge on the myriad of superfecta bettors who do not spend the time to structure their tickets properly and instead bet wild combinations of illogical numbers.
Also keep in mind that while rare, there are occasions at smaller tracks offering minimum superfecta wagers of $1, where no one will have selected the winning combination of horses. In this case, the superfecta pays off to the next closest combination – or to those who have the top three finishers with any horse in the fourth position. In this scenario, the value of playing superfecta tickets such as the $168 wheel listed above might produce the only winning ticket, especially if a longshot finishes in the all leg.
Below are the basic costs for simple $1 superfectaboxes and wheels. Keep in mind however, that in order to gain an edge on your fellow superfecta bettors, you should use your imagination and experiment with more complicated multiple horse wheels and combinations that take advantage of your value plays– this will give you a big edge on your fellow bettors when playing the superfecta.
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