How to bet Win, Place, and Show in horse racing

The simplest wagers you can make in horse racing are Win, Place, and Show bets. For many years, they were the only type of wagers you could make at the race track. Win, Place, and Show are very often where beginners learn how to wager on the races. We’ll discuss the fundamentals of each type of wager below.

Win bets are the toughest to hit of the three, but pay the most

A win wager is exactly as it sounds – you’re wagering on a given horse to win the race in question. Your horse could finish second by a nose (the closest possible finish in horse racing), and you would still lose your win wager.

Win odds are often displayed on track feeds next to a horse’s number.

In this example, the No. 4 horse is the 8-5 favorite (denoted in yellow font), meaning a bettor would have to risk $5 to make an $8 profit (return of $13). The longest shot on the board in this race is the No. 5, at 16-1. This means a bettor would make $32 in profit for every $2 he or she wagered on this horse, if it wins the race.

Place bets balance risk and reward

A bettor has made a successful place wager when his or her horse has finished either first or second in the race in question. Place typically pays one-half or less of what a win wager would yield, but can vary wildly depending on the number of runners in a race, or the presence of a heavy favorite.

Probable payoffs for place are typically not displayed on track feeds like win bets are, but bettors have access to the place pool (amount of money handled on that given wager for all horses in the race combined) information at the track and on ADW (Advance Deposit Wagering) accounts. If one horse in a six-horse field has taken half of the money in the place pool, it’s safe to say that a place wager on that horse won’t yield much. And if that horse fails to finish first or second, place payoffs will likely be inflated on those that cash.

Show bets offer lower risk than win and place, but the lowest payoffs

A show wager requires a horse to finish either first, second, or third in a given race in order to cash. Show bets generally pay even less than a place bet, so larger stakes are usually required in order to turn a decent profit on them.

Occasionally, show betting will not be offered on races that have only four, five, or even six runners in the field. This is because tracks must offer a minimum payout of $2.10 for every $2 wagered on all bets, including Show. Horses that are heavy favorites can attract upwards of 80% of the show bets on a given race, usually from so-called “bridge-jumpers” (because if they lose, they’ll jump off a bridge, proverbially) that are perhaps looking to turn $20,000 into $21,000. This course of action is not recommended for beginners.