Horseracing is fun and exciting—especially when you have action on the race. Many have called horseracing the sport of Kings, but you don’t need a king’s wealth to enjoy and profit from betting on the thoroughbreds. Before wagering on horseracing, you should know some simple terms and betting types. In this article, we are going to start out your horseracing betting education by going over the basics. In future articles, we will continue to evolve and help you grow as a bettor.

Let’s get started.

Win: As the name implies, a win is when a horse crosses the finish line first. When you place a WIN wager on a horse, that horse must win the race.

Place: To place is to come in second. This is the second of the three main types of wagering on a horse race. If you wager on a horse to PLACE, that horse can come in first or second.

Show: This is the last money spot in a horserace. When you bet on a horse to SHOW, the horse must come in first, second or third. You can also bet a horse to WPS (win, place and show). If the horse wins the race outright, you would get paid on all three wagers. The payout on a SHOW wager is normally low, because there is less risk.

Daily Double: If you want to up your payday, try playing the daily double. To play the daily double, you need to pick the winner of two consecutive horse races. If you are going to play the early daily double, you need to pick the winner of the first two races. The late daily double, as you might expect, is when you pick the winners on the last two races.

Quinella: Think you know which two horses are going to finish first and second? If so, try betting a Quinella. The order the horses finish in does not matter with a Quinella. If both your horses finish first and second (win and place), you win!

Exacta: If you are dead certain on the order in which the first two horses will finish in, try betting an Exacta. The order matters with this bet, but the pay is higher than a Quinella. For example, if you like the 4 horse and 5 horse and bet a 4-5 Exacta, the 4 horse must win and the 5 horse must place.

Trifecta: There is nothing more exciting than hitting a Trifecta. Generally, Trifecta wagers pay off very nicely. When you bet a Trifecta, you are predicting the exact WPS order the horses will finish in. For example, if you bet a 1-4-8 Trifecta, the 1 horse needs to Win, the 4 horse needs to Place and the 8 horse needs to Show. Any other order and you would lose. The payoff on the Trifecta depends on the combined odds of the horses as they went off.

Pick 3 (or 4,6,9): This bet is pretty straightforward. You simply bet on the winner of the number of consecutive races desired. For example, if you played a pick 3, you would pick winners in three consecutive races. Sometimes the races won’t technically be consecutively run as some races might be off the board.

You have just learned some of the basic bets in horseracing. In future articles, we will go over more complicated and advanced issues. There’s no other sport where a bettor wagering just $1 can walk away with a small fortune. There are many racetracks around the country and they run at different times of the year. Like any other sport, it’s important to know your stuff before betting and to always get value on your bets.