Win, Place, and Show are the most basic horse bets. They are the building blocks of more complex bets like the trifecta, superfecta, quinella, or exacta. Win, Place or Show payouts depend on your horse’s odds. Likely winners payout smaller because they are less risky. Long shot horses payout larger because they are more risky.

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The following simple equation is used to calculate the potential profit of a wager with positive moneyline odds. Potential Profit = Stake x (Odds/100) Since you also get your stake back with a winning wager, this needs to be taken into account when calculating your total payout. Let’s use a couple of examples to illustrate how this works. Odds are simply the way prices and payouts are shown at a horse track. The numbers displayed as 4-7 or 2-5 tell you what you pay and how much you get back if the horse you bet on wins. The first number tells you how much you could win, the second number is the amount you bet. So, if the odds are listed as 2-1, you’ll get $2 for every $1 you bet. Payoffs represent your profit PLUS the return of the $2 you originally bet. A winner at 5-2 means that will pay $5 profit for every $2 wagered. The payoff is $7 which is the profit ($5) plus the cost of your wager ($2). Figuring the Cost of Your Online Wager.

The following video clip explains how to place these bets. Watch the entire video for other horse bets.

Win Bet
The Win bet is picking the first position horse. The bet ONLY pays if your horse finishes first.

Place Bet
The Place bet is picking the second position finisher. The bet also pays if your horse finishes first.

Show Bet
The Show bet is picking the third position finisher. The bet also pays if your horse finishes first or second.

Sample for how to place a win, place, or show bet from a horse racebook.

1. Note the horses in the race, listed on the left. The next 'ML' column lists the odds.
2. Click your mouse on the checkbox in the Win column that corresponds to your horse. In this case, the bettor has chosen Atiello with 6:1 odds to Win.
3. The same procedure applies for making Place and Show bets. Click your mouse on the checkbox corresponding to the horse and wager.
4. *** Notes: You can pick multiple horses for each bet type. These additional wagers cost more money and will decrease your winning bet’s profit. Consider an analogy to roulette: If you put a chip on every number, you’ll obviously win. However subtracting the cost of covering the board from your single number win lowers your final profit.

Win, Place, or Show Betting Payout Example

The following is a Win, Place, or Show payout chart.

In this race Jolly Roger won, followed by Right On and Three Cubed. We have the following payouts considering the definitions of Win, Place and Show bets. Note the amount is also subject to each horse’s individual odds.

This table means the following:

1. Jolly Roger pays $10.60 for the Win Bet. $8.40 for the Place bet, finishing second or first. $4.80 for the Show Bet, finishing third, second or first.
2. Right On pays $14.80 for the Place Bet, finishing second or first. $10.20 for Show bet, finishing third, second or first.
3. Three Cubed, pays $8.20 for the Show Bet, fininishing third, second or first.

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Check your horse’s odds before making any Win, Place or Show bet. If you pick a heavy favorite to win, your payout will be smaller compared to picking a long shot horse.

Payouts are figured by the amount of money in each bet’s pool. Pools are determined by the total dollar amount wagered for a particular bet, less the racebook’s service fee. This fee is similar to a sportsbook’s vigorish or juice. See the racebook’s tote board for the latest odds.

Highly favored horses to win – or 'odds on' horses – have lower payouts. When this horse wins, the entire Win pool must be divided among all winners. Winning crowd favorites tend to produce smaller profits. Gamblers choosing long shots collect more money because the odds are remote and fewer people share the winnings.

Prudent horses bettors don’t always take the crowd favorite. Over time, this strategy results in sustained losses. Instead, look for medium to long shot horses. These horses represent better value. The fewer bettors in the wagering pool, the better. That means larger payouts are divided among a smaller number of people, versus smaller payouts divided among a large number of people.

What is a Place Bet?

When you bet to place your horse must finish first or second in order for you to cash a ticket. The payoffs are understandably lower on winning place bets because the place pool (all money wagered to place on a race minus the track takeout) is split between two horses – the horse that wins the race and the horse that finishes second.

But while the payoffs are lower for place bets, there are certain situations in which place betting can be lucrative. In fact, some very intelligent gamblers make a living simply by waiting for overlays in the place pools.

Unlike win betting, in which you can see approximately what your horse will pay to win on the tote board before the race runs, determining what your horse will pay to place requires you to do some calculating based on the place pool. The total amount of money bet into the place pool on a race, and the amount bet to place on each horse, is displayed on the tote board at most modern racetracks.

While the calculations required to determine place payouts may seem like too much work for a casual bettor, a patient handicapper with reasonable skills can make a profit on place betting alone. Additionally, intelligent place betting can help you avoid occasional losing streaks experienced by even the sharpest bettors.

Calculating the Payout

A reasonably accurate method of calculating what your selection will pay to place is to add all the money bet on your choice to place, as shown on the tote board, to all the money bet on the favorite to place. Or, if your selection is the favorite, add all the money bet on the favorite to place to all the money bet on the second choice to place. You then subtract that amount from the total place pool amount and subtract a further 15 percent for track take out and breakage. The amount of money left over after these calculations is approximately what will be divided among the holders of winning place tickets. Keep in mind that if the favorite runs out of the money, the payoffs will obviously be higher, but what we want to calculate is the approximate minimum we would get back for our wager.

For example:

Total amount of money bet into the place pool = $48,000

Amount remaining after 15 percent track takeout = $40,800

Total amount bet on the favorite to place = $20,000

Total amount bet on your selection to place = $12,000

Total profit to be split equally among winning place bettors = $40,800 – ($20,000 + $12,000) = $8,800

$8,800/2 = $4,400 to be paid back to holders of place tickets on the favorite (the winner) and $4,400 to be paid back to place ticket holders on the second place finisher.

To calculate the amount the favorite will pay to place: $4,400/$20,000 = $0.22 per dollar wagered.

Rounding off the $0.22 for breakage the payout becomes $0.20 per $1 wagered.

A $2 place bet on the favorite would return approximately $2.40.

Win Place And Show

To calculate the amount your choice would pay to place: $4,400/$12,000 = $0.36 per dollar wagered.

How Does A Win Place Show Bet Payouts

Rounding of $0.36 for breakage the payout becomes $0.30 per $1 wagered.

A $2 place bet on your selection would return $2.60.

The above calculations assume that the favorite either runs first or second. If the favorite runs out of the top two spots, the place payout will be larger, simply because the money bet on the favorite to place is now available to the holders of winning place tickets.

If you really like a horse other than the favorite, and you think there is an excellent chance that the favorite can finish out of the top two spots, you may have found yourself a good opportunity to bet to place or even win-place. A solid wagering strategy, in this case, might be to bet twice as much to place as you bet to win. If your horse fails to win but still finishes second, and the favorite runs out of the top two spots, your doubled up place bet will in all likelihood produce a decent profit.

Another scenario where it pays to bet to place is when your selection, even if it happens to be the favorite, is an overlay in the place pools. For example, if 50 percent of the win pool has been bet on your selection, but only 25 percent of the place pool has been bet on your selection, you have found yourself an overlay.

In numerical terms, if $5,000 of the $10,000 win pool has been bet on your selection, that equals 50 percent of the pool. If only $1,000 of the $4,000 place pool in the same race has been bet on your selection, that equals only 25 percent of the pool, or a 100 percent overlay.

Win Place And Show Bet

In reality, finding 100 percent overlays in the place pool is a rarity, but finding overlays of between 25-35 percent is not uncommon. Waiting for and spotting these types of overlays requires great patience and a trained eye for the tote board, but they can increase your odds of making a profit and beating the 15-20 percent track takeout.

Finally, if you really like a horse at odds of better than 5-1, a win bet is probably the play. But, if your selection is 9/2 or less and the favorite is lukewarm odds of 8/5 or higher, a place bet or win-double-place bet can be a solid alternative to win betting. One that offers a good chance of making a profit while at the same time reducing your risk.

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How Does A Win Place Show Bet Payout