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PICK 3 TYPICAL STRATEGIES

A fun, easy bet with good chances

The chance for a big payoff without making a huge investment can make this a very fun wager! With just $1 wager, you can pick one horse in each race for a big score. That's an admittedly tough strategy, but you can greatly increase your chances with wheels and keys without emptying your bank account.

The most basic bet

The most basic and least expensive play is a straight $1 pick three selecting just one horse in each of the three races. Let's say the pick three you are playing consists of races 3, 4, and 5, and you like the #1 horse in each of the races. You would place your bet by saying the track name, $1 pick three, beginning with race 3, numbers 1-1-1. As we said this is the least expensive play, but probably the most difficult to come away the winner because you have only selected one horse per race.

I like more than one horse in each race

The beauty of the pick three bet is that you can select as many horses as you want in each of the three races. This greatly increases your chances of winning, but also drives up the cost of the bet. Before we get into betting strategy, let's look at how to calculate the cost of the bet when multiple horses are involved. Remember, we are using a $1 base bet.

Race # Horse #'s      Cost
3 1,5,6 $3
4 2,7 $2
5 4,9,10 $3
Total cost of a $1 bet $18

In the example above, you're playing a relatively small ($18) ticket, but now instead of playing just three horses, you have seven shots to cash in. To calculate the cost of any pick three ticket, simply multiple the number of horses in each race by the amount you wish to bet. Again using our table above, the formula would look like this: 3 x 2 x 3 x $1 = $18.

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