Wagers can be placed with a live mutuel clerk, or at one of our wagering terminals - usually referred to as a "SAM" or "TOTE" machine. You can place your bet with SAM simply by using a winning ticket or wagering voucher. The straightforward, touch screen kiosk system will guide you through the process in an easy, step by step, format. Once you have completed all of your wagers, touch the FINISH button to receive the remainder of your cash voucher. Any voucher or winning ticket may redeemed for the cash amount at any live mutuel window.

It's easy to place a bet, just tell the clerk:

1. The track name and race number,
Example: Hawthorne - Race 7

2. The dollar amount you want to wager
Example: $5.00

3. The type of bet you're making
Example: To Win

4. The horse's program number.
Example: On #4

The Basic Bets
Win, Place, and Show
The three basic bets are Win, Place and Show. You collect if the horse you bet on to Win comes in first. If you wager to Place, your horse must come in first or second to collect. If you wager to Show, you collect if you horse comes in first, second or third.

Example : Hawthorne Race 2
$2 Win (Place or Show), #7

Win bets payback more than Place & Show Bets in almost all situations.

The Daily Double
To collect on the Daily Double, choose the winning horses in the two designated Daily Double races. Your bet must be placed before post time of the first race of the double.

Example: Balmoral Race 1
$2 Daily Double, #2, 5

The Exacta
In an exacta race, you win by picking, the first two horses to finish the race in exact order. If you pick horses #5 and #7 in an Exacta, they must finish in that exact order.

Example: Maywood Race 1
$2 Exacta, #5, 7

The Trifecta
You can win a Trifecta by picking in exact order the first, second and third horses to finish in a specific race.

Example: Hawthorne Race 2
$2 Trifecta, #5, 2, 7

Superfecta
If you think winning a Trifecta is fun, you should try a Superfecta. Superfecta payoffs generally run into the thousands and can make a day at OTB very exciting. This wager is a lot like a Trifecta but instead of picking the first three finishers you have to pick the first four finishers in order to cash in.

Example: Balmoral Park, Race10
$2 Superfecta 3,5,7,9

Increase your chances to win! Across The Board Combination

If you play a horse - "Across the Board," you bet the horse three ways - to Win, Place and Show. If the horse comes in first, you get payoffs for all three positions. If the horse comes in second, you collect Place and Show money, and if your horse comes in third, you collect Show money.

Example: Balmoral Race 1
$2 Across the Board, #3

This bet would cost $6, and you would have three opportunities to collect because it's the same as saying "$2 to Win, $2 to Place, and $2 to Show on horse number 3 at Balmoral on Race #1."

Pick 3 - Pick 4
These wagers provide a challenge, but if you can pick winners over a series of races, you could be rewarded quite handsomely. In the Pick Three, bettors must select three consecutive winners in order to cash their ticket. In the Pick Four, fans must correctly determine the winners of four straight races. Pick Three and Pick Four combinations are only accepted in races that is designated as the first leg of the each bet.

Example: Hawthorne, Race #3
$2 Pick 3 - 3, 5, 7

Pick 6
The Pick Six is the ultimate challenge for the horse racing handicapper. Bettors are asked to correctly select the winners of six consecutive races - a daunting task to say the least. If no one correctly nails all six winners, the majority of the money bet on the
Pick Six that day will be carried over to the next live program at the designated track. The carryover pool will continue to grow until at least one person has a perfect ticket. Payoffs can reach hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars! On days where the Pick Six is not hit, a consolation payoff will be returned to the bettors who have the most correct numbers on their ticket.

Boxing Your Numbers
You can increase your chances of winning by "boxing" your number combinations. Lottery players often box their numbers, and horseplayers are offered the same opportunity. If you play a $1 exacta box using the numbers 3-4-5, the ticket will cost you $6, and as long as two of the three numbers finish first and second in any combination, you are a winner (3-4, 3-5, 4-3, 4-5, 5-3 or 5-4). Same goes for the trifecta. If you play a $1 trifecta box using the numbers 3-4-5, the ticket will cost you $6, and as long as the three horses finish first, second and third in any combination, you are a winner).

Keying and Wheeling Your Numbers
If you like one particular horse, but your not sure who else to play in your gimmicks, you can key or wheel your bets. Say you like #4 to win a particular race. You can KEY #4 on top of an exacta, trifecta or superfecta, or in the first leg of a daily double, pick three or pick four, and use multiple horses to complete each wager. In such a case, the #4 must win, and the horses you have used in the other parts of the wager must be correct in order for you to cash. If you keyed #4 with 3-5-6 in the exacta, and the race finishes 4-3, 4-5, or 4-6 - you are a winner! "Wheeling" a horse allows you to take a key horse and use him/her with every other horse in the race, or in the case of a daily double, every horse in the next race.

What the Odds Mean
(Based on a $2 Wager to Win)
Approximate Payouts

1-9 pays $2.20 8-5 pays $5.20
1-5 pays $2.40 9-5 pays $5.60
2-5 pays $2.80 2-1 pays $6.00
3-5 pays $3.20 5-2 pays $7.00
4-5 pays $3.60 3-1 pays $8.00
1-1 pays $4.00 7-2 pays $9.00
6-5 pays $4.40 4-1 pays $10.00
7-5 pays $4.80 9-2 pays $11.00
3-2 pays $5.00 5-1 pays $12.00