So Mare-Bear and I just came back from OTB where we placed duplicate bets on Belmont Stakes tomorrow. My first bet went through with no problem. An Exacta bet, $10, for War Emblem to Win and Proud Citizen to Place. It could happen, although I doubt it. I don’t think War Emblem will Win.
Up came my second slip containing more bets. I thought I was so good – marked up my sheet, took out my $30 and slipped the man the sheet and money. He took one look and peered at me over his spectacles and said, “Are you sure you wanna make this bet? It’s $120.”
$120! “Uh, no, I thought it was $30.” He quickly explained that by betting $10 Win Place Show on a horse means I’m betting $10 THREE WAYS for one horse. I picked four horses. $30 each horse, that’s $120.”
“Okay, no,” I said, “That’s not what I want.”
“So what do you want then?” he asked impatiently.
How could I say “I want to bet a total of $30 on those horses without having to actually choose where in the top three they’ll be.” I can’t say that – I’m supposed to be in-the-know, not a newbie. I’ve got Mare-Bear watching me over her shoulder, counting on me to get it right.
Spectacle-man sighs loudly behind his glass partition and tries again to explain. It wasn’t that I didn’t get it, it’s just that I’m not good at math and can’t immediately refigure to make sure I’m not spending more than $30.
When I heard a guy sigh from behind me in line I snatched back the incorrect betting slip and croaked, “Just give me this and I’ll go fix it.”
Mare-Bear and I leave the line and I try to figure out how to make the bet. We filled out the sheet and went to another window (the original window now had a long line – no really, it did). We placed our $24 bets and got it right this time. Here’s what we ended up with.
Four horses, Win Place Show, $2 each bet for a total of $6 on each horse. The horses include War Emblem (even), Proud Citizen (5-1) , Magic Weisner (30-1), and Perfect Drift (6-1). Basically, if any of those four horses ends in the top three, Mary and I will win money. Since there are only 10 horses in the field, I think we have pretty good odds of getting SOMETHING.
We’ll see. Tune in tomorrow.
I know nothing about horse betting, but I guarantee you, there’s no way that you’ll win money if any one of your four horses comes in win, place or show. Or if you do, you’ll wind up winning half as much as you wound up betting. Good luck, either way. I rooting for War Emblem.
That’s not true! *lol* War Emblem is the only risk to not get a lot of money, as it’s even money right now to win.
You have $24 on the line. I don’t know how many horses you can win on, maybe all four, but with $2 bets on each position for each horse, if the 5-1 horse finishes first you’ll receive $10 and lose the $24 your bet, which equals negative $14, if the 6-1 horse wins, you win $12, and still lose the $24, net, -$12. Only if the 30-1 horse finishes first will you win any money ($6). If any of your horses finish place or show, your pay off drops dramatically, so instead of getting $12 for the 6-1 horse, you’d probably only get $3 or $2, respectively.
If you get all three horses right, and if the 30-1 horse doesn’t finish first, you’ll probably wind up with a pay off something like this:
Win (6-1) $12
Place (30-1) $10
Show (5-1) $2
And you’ll break even.
I think the best you can do at this point is stick Mare-Bear with the other ticket, give me the $24, and I’ll buy you something sweet for your birthday with that money.
Then why did a $2 Exacta pay off $327 in Preakness? I realize now having gone to OTB again that I bet incorrectly – I should have marked my sheet with “Show” for $6 so that the horse could take any of the three places. That’s where I got confused when placing the bet. I still think they pay out more than you are suggesting though. Otherwise why do all these people bet on the horses? Either way, we still have our $10 exacta on War Emblem/Proud Citizen. If Preakness paid out $327 on a $2 exacta, then I’m sure a $10 on Belmont will pay much more, right? So I think your math is wrong, too. Glad I’m not the only one.
I just got this from Perfect Horse Racing: “Across the Board – a bet on a horse to win, place and show. If your horse wins, you collect on the win, place and show bets. If your horse comes in 2nd, you collect on the place and show bets. In 3rd, you collect on the show bet.
So there you go – I’d win more than you think.
mare bear and jaynee are gonna’ be 2 (tuo-u??) rich babes denis – and if you continue to DOUBT US LIKE YOU DO – no $’s for you baby – we are seasoned betters at OTB – heck i even wear my glasses halfway down my nose, carry a newspaper folded up and have my pants belted up around my armpits – don’t you tell me i don’t knwo what i’m betting on man …..
I admited and I’ll re-admit, I know nothing about horse betting, just didn’t seem right, but based on what you’ve found out, I’ll take it all back. Though you can still give me the money instead to guarantee yourself a b-day gift. *grin*
Ah, but I already GOT my gift from you – the tickets for “Into the Woods” – you had better not get me anything else, young man.
Oops! on the gift.
ROTFL