Sports betting is unique with multiple layers that are more complex and involved than making bets while playing casino games. If you have never done horse race betting before, it’s something you should spectate for a while before you make any plans to place.
Horse race betting has two main unique types: horizontal exotic bets and vertical exotic bets. Let’s discuss the differences between all of them and what the subtypes of sports betting entail.
What Are Horizontal Exotic Bets?
Horizontal exotic bets are where you select the winners for several consecutive races in a row. There’s the Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, and Pick 6 with the Pick 3 being easier to place and less challenging to win because there are fewer possibilities of the order in which the horses will win. A Daily Double is when you select two winners of consecutive races with the number increasing as you go higher in pick order for these possible horizontal bets.
A Pick 3 Bet
Betting a Pick 3 lineup is one of the more popular ways to bet on horse races. For this bet type, you have to select a winner for each of the three races that occur in a row. This particular bet type is like how you make your bets for a three-race parlay.
The lowest wager on the horse race track that you choose is the same wager that can be bet for a Pick 3 lineup. Despite the myth, a Pick 3 does not count as 3 bets but as one. Of course, it depends on how you are betting. You can make one wager for all three winners if done on a track and the minimum wager must be made on all three races done on a sportsbook because it would be a three-legged parlay in this case.
A Pick 5 Bet
A Pick 5 encompasses selecting winners of five consecutive races rather than three. Pick 5 bets are a bit more complicated to place and win than Pick 3 bets. The winners of the five consecutive races for your Pick 5 bet must be selected before the first leg runs in the competition. While it’s harder to win a Pick 5 versus a Pick 3, even though it involves more investment, it has much bigger payouts if you can manage to land the win.
What Are Vertical Exotic Bets?
Vertical exotic bets are different from their horizontal cousins. Horizontal bets involve selecting the main winner of each race. Vertical bets involve predicting the order in which a specific amount of horses will finish in race order.
Straight exacta bets involve selecting the horses that will finish in first and second place in the correct order. A straight trifecta is when you can guess the correct sequence of which horses will place in first, second, and third places. Finally, a straight superfecta is when you predict the exact order in which the first four horses place in one specific race.
Are Horizontal or Vertical Bets Easier To Place?
Of course, with all predictions, they aren’t guaranteed wins, but you never know how a race will play out until it’s officially over. Both vertical and horizontal exotic bets have their pros and cons about how much easier they are to figure horse placement across various races.
Horizontal bets may be easier for you to place if you have been following closely the first-place winners of prior horse races lately. Vertical bets may be easier to place if you have been paying attention to the strengths and weaknesses of more of the horses in the racing lineup to more effectively select who will place in the first through fourth slots.
Lynn Martelli is an editor at Readability. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and has worked as an editor for over 10 years. Lynn has edited a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and more. In her free time, Lynn enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family and friends.
