Pick 3 Horse Racing Bet

The Pick 3 horse racing bet picks up where the daily double wager leaves off. While a daily double involves picking the winners of two consecutive races, the pick three goes one step further and has the bettor predict the winners of three consecutive races.

The increased difficulty of the Pick 3 relative to the daily double means bettors can aim for larger payouts. In terms of difficulty, the Pick 3 is comparable to a trifecta bet. Both bets require the bettor to predict the finishing positions of three horses, but the Pick 3 spreads it out across three separate races and is limited to picking first place finishers.

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How Pick 3 Horse Racing Bets Work

To win a payout with a Pick 3 wager, the bettor must accurately predict all three race winners:

• Which horse will win Race 1
• Which horse will win Race 2
• Which horse will win Race 3

Many race tracks offer an “Early Pick 3” and a “Late Pick 3” spanning the first three races of the day and the last three races of the day, respectively. Some tracks also offer rolling Pick 3 bets that cover every three-race stretch throughout the day.

Each Pick 3 bet operates in an independent betting pool, which is important because it means bettors are subjected to the track takeout just once. By comparison, someone placing a simple win bet on each of three separate races would be subjected to the takeout three times. As a result, the Pick 3 bet offers significant value over placing three individual win bets across different races.

How to Place A Pick 3 Horse Bet Online

Placing a Pick 3 horse bet online is pretty straightforward.

Once you find a track that offers Pick 3 bets (more on that below), you’ll find it easy to place the wager. The first step is to use the wagering menu to select Pick 3 from among the list of available bets. After you select the Pick 3 option, your racebook will slightly adjust the interface so you can select horses from each race.

In this example, the interface uses a simple tab system to facilitate picking horses in three separate races. All you need to do is pick a horse in Race 1, select the “R2” tab to pick a horse in Race 2, and then select the “R3” tab to pick a horse in Race 3. When you’re satisfied with your selections and wagering amount, you can hit the “submit” or “place bet” button to place your wager.

How to Find Pick 3 Horse Racing Bets

The only potential sticking point for newbies is finding a racetrack that a) offers Pick 3 wagers and b) still has at least three races remaining on the card. However, that’s an easily resolvable issue because most horse racing betting sites provide all the information bettors need to quickly find tracks likely to have open Pick 3 wagers.

Most online racebooks show a list of upcoming races to bettors immediately after logging in. Among other pieces of information, that list usually includes the race number and the track’s host country.

Bettors will most often find the Pick 3 at US tracks, so starting with US tracks will help narrow down the list of racetracks likely to have open Pick 3 wagers. In addition, the race number provides a hint of how late into the day it is for that track. If it’s a race number like 10, 11, or 12, it’s less likely that track will have any Pick 3 betting options available.

For example, the first race in the following screenshot is at a UK track and is race number seven – both are not great indicators it will have any Pick 3 betting options. Instead, the races at Saratoga, Monticello, and Parx offer better prospects because they’re all at US tracks and are just starting the day with Race 1.

Of the five tracks in the above screenshot, Parx Racing was the only one with open Pick 3 bets. This approach isn’t perfect, but it beats aimlessly browsing a horse racing betting site or app.

Advanced Pick 3 Betting Options

A straight Pick 3 bet involves picking exactly three horses, one for each race. Alternatively, bettors can place more advanced Pick 3 bets with multiple selections for one or more leg.

For example, imagine a bettor who has little insight into the outcome of the first race but is confident Horse #3 will win the second and Horse #4 will win the third. The bettor in this example could place a Pick 3 covering the following outcomes:

$2 Pick 3: ALL, 3, 4

This bet wins if any horse wins the first race, #3 wins the second, and #4 wins the third. If there are seven runners in the first race, the bet would cost $14.

Bettors can calculate the cost of any Pick 3 wager by multiplying the number of selections in each leg by the base wager price using this formula:

H x H x H x P

• H = Number of selections in each leg
• P = Base wager amount

Plugging in the above wager into this formula would look like this:

• 7 x 1 x 1 x $2 = $14

Bettors can also select multiple horses in every leg if they wish, but they need to keep an eye on the costs. Pick 3 bets can pay well, but they rarely produce lottery-tier payouts, so bettors must ensure they manage costs.

If the bettor has three horses in mind for each race, he can cover all possible combinations with a wager that includes every promising runner:

$2 Pick 3: 123 / 456 / 789

This bet would cost $54 and win if horse 1, 2, or 3 wins the first race, horse 4, 5, or 6 wins the second, and horse 7, 8, or 9 wins the third.

Something else worth keeping in mind when making multiple selections is to note the potential payouts. Pick 3 bets provide the most value for bettors who can find short-priced favorites that show a potential for being upset by a longer-shot horse. If a bettor makes too many selections and two or more pre-race favorites win, the payout is unlikely to generate much profit.

Pick 3 Horse Racing Bets FAQ