CONSTRUCTING A PICK 4 TICKET
Most people play Win, Place, Show bets or some venture into exacta or trifecta wagering playing birthdays, badge numbers, and addresses. However, the horizontal wager and especially the PICK 4 offers better value than the Win, Place, and Show bets, but can still incorporate those birthdays, badge numbers, and addresses.
Even better is that the PICK 4 wager only costs 50 cents. So, everyone in your group can pick a horse in the each race and combine your money and have multiple rooting interest in every race.
$10.00 Bet returns over $600.00
IS IT TOO HARD TO WIN?
Yes, picking the winner of a race is not that easy -- let alone picking 4 winners in a row. However, when you place win bets you usually limit yourself to 1 horse out of the 10 horses running.
With Pick 4 bets you can select multiple horses in a race, so you can have more than 10 percent chance of winning if there were 10 horses in the race and you picked only one horse.
IS IT COMPLICATED?
No, you just need to know some basic math to construct your ticket. In order to figure out the cost of the ticket, multiply the number of horses you have chosen in each race. In the below example, it would be
2 X 3 X 4 X 2 = 48
SO 48 MULTIPLIED BY COST OF BET 50 CENTS OR 48 X .50 = $24.00
Let's assume all races have 10 horses.
Choose the number of horses you think can win in each race.
For example:
Race 1: #'s 3, 4 = 2 horses
Race 2: #'s 1, 2, 4,7 = 3 horses
Race 3: #'s 3, 4, 10 = 3 horses
Race 4: #'s 2, 3 = 2 horses
So, in New York the Pick 4 is .50 cent minimum bet. The cost of the above ticket would be $18.00.
You just increased your chances of winning from 1 in 10, or 10 %, in each race to 20% in Race 1, 40% in Race 2, 30% in Race 3, and in Race 4 you have a 20% chance of winning. You are betting on 10 horses out of the 40 horses running in all 4 races which is 25%.
EXAMPLE OF THE TICKET:
HOW DO I MAKE A PICK PICK 4 BET?
Walk to the window and say:
TRACK: SARATOGA
AMOUNT -- 50 cent
TYPE OF BET: PICK 4
HORSES: 3,4 WITH 1, 2, 4, 7 WITH 2, 4 10, WITH 2,3
So it would sound like this: Saratoga, 50 cent PICK 4: 3,4 WITH 1, 2, 4, 7 WITH 2, 4 10, WITH 2,3
CONSTRUCTING A PICK 4 TICKET:
I usually create a chart separating the horses I like into what I call:
"A" horses - most likely to win and "B " horses -horse with a chance but usually longer odds.
| RACE | A HORSES | B HORSES | RESULTS |
| 3 | 1,2 | 3,4 | 3 B |
| 4 | 1,6 | 2,3 | 2B |
| 5 | 6,9, 10 | 1,2,4, | 10A |
| 6 | 1,5,6 | 2,3,7 | 3B |
Now I do not just include my "A" horses. Sometime I will leave out an "A" horse. As you can see in the sequence, 3 out of the 4 winners were on my "B" list.
There is no need to be as formal, but as long as each of your friends has an opinion you can wager on a PICK 4 Ticket together and maybe win some much bigger prizes.
WHAT IF WE ALL AGREE ON ONE HORSE!
If you have a single, it turns a PICK 4 into a PICK 3 because when you multiply it is multiplied by 1 for example:
3 HORSES WITH 3 HORSES WITH 2 HORSES WITH 1 HORSE = 3 X 3 X 2 X1 = $18.00 TICKET
Notice in the below ticket when I had two races with a single horse how it enabled me to spread in one of the other races:
This ticket is 1 HORSE (4) WITH 5 HORSES (2-11) WITH 2 HORSES (1 AND 8) WITH 1 HORSE (11).
1 X 5 X 2 X 1 = 10 OR $10.00
By the way, the last single was Brad Cox's11 MANDALOUN!
Don't be intimidated, try the PICK 4. After all, the bet may make your day and provide you and your friends with a great story for years to come -- and if you go 3 out of 4 you will be able to tell a "Bad Beat" story cherised by all horseplayers!
