Most people like exotic bets: quinielas, trifectas and doubles are probably the most popular bets at the dog track. Unlike the simpler win, place and show bets though, exotic bets are much harder to hit. Have you ever thought about the possible combinations exotic bets can have?
For instance, if you bet a dog to win, you have 1 out of 8 shots of hitting it, because there are 8 dogs in a race. Most bettors find it hard enough to do that with any consistency. But what if you bet a quiniela? Well, there are 28 possible quiniela combinations in an 8 dog race. (Some tracks have exactas, wherein there are 56 combinations.)
Then we go up a steep curve to trifectas which have 336 possible ways of coming in. Is it any wonder that they pay so much more? And is it a big surprise that they’re so much harder to hit?
So, what’s the best way to back up these bets that have so many possible combinations? With boxes. Think about it. If you like the 8 to win, but you think the 1 might possibly beat it at the wire, what do you bet? Of course, you bet a 1/8 quiniela, because it can come in either way and still payoff.
So, if you want to bet exactas or trifectas, it only makes sense to box them, so that they, too, can come in either way. It’s really worth the extra money, although so many bettors are too cheap to do it. They bet a straight exacta or trifecta and the dogs come in but not in that order. You probably know how bad that feels.
The same reasoning makes it good sense to pick three dogs for the quiniela and box them, rather than just bet two. So many times, there’s that one dog that gets in between your two quiniela picks and you end up having the first and third dog.
Even if you really like two dogs for first and second, you’d be surprised how often it pays to find one more dog to add and make it a 3-dog quiniela box. Yes, it’s $4 more, but in my experience, backing up your quiniela, trifecta and exacta bets with that one more dog or that box instead of a straight bet is just common sense. What’s more, it can make all the difference between going home with more money you came with or going home with less.
