Playing To Win

Payoffs

How much does a winning exacta pay?

The exacta prices are determined by the betting pool, but here are some guidelines:

• The more horses in the race, the more difficult the exacta is to predict and the better the payoff. 
• The relative prices of the first and second horses.  If they are favorites or low-priced contenders, the exacta will be more logical and there will be more winners thus reducing the winning payoff. 
• If the two exacta horses are of greatly different odds, such as 3-1 and 12-1, the exacta will pay much more with the longer priced horse winning.  This is because that combination is was seen as less likely with fewer winning combinations. 

The Exacta payoff grid

The exacta grid below shows payoffs for an actual race.  The grid is read with the first place horses listed in vertical columns and the second place finisher listed in rows.  Notice how the lowest priced exacta of $15, highlighted in yellow, is the combination of 5-1.  Looking at the win odds at the left, the #5 is the lowest-priced horse at 2-1, and the #1 is the second-lowest priced horse at 3-1.  The highest paying exacta is the 3-6, which is paying $150 and highlighted in green.

			First Place Horse
#	Win odds	2nd place	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	3	1	-	91	119	81	15	76
2	8	2	97	-	137	55	27	104
3	12	3	105	101	-	81	62	134
4	4	4	75	52	96	-	18	52
5	2	5	20	44	91	24	-	32
6	6	6	78	139	150	48	24	-

Charts

Here are a couple charts to see how the number of possible combinations goes up with the more horses in the race:

This chart lists the number of possible combinations in a six-horse race:

Possible 1st-2nd combinations in a six-horse race

1-2   2-1   3-1   4-1   5-1   6-1 1-3   2-3   3-2   4-2   5-2   6-2 1-4   2-4   3-4   4-3   5-3   6-3 1-5   2-5   3-5   4-5   5-4   6-4 1-6   2-6   3-6   4-6   5-6   6-5 Total possible outcomes = 30

This chart lists the number of possible exacta combinations depending on the number of runners:

Number of horses in race	Possible exacta combinations
4	12
5	20
6	30
7	42
8	56
9	72
10	90
11	110
12	132

For more on Exactas see 312-Advanced Betting: Exactas.

Exacta Topics

• Exactas Intro
• Typical Strategies
• Exacta Box & Wheel
• Exacta Payoffs

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