The opportunity to wager on horse races is without a doubt what appeals most to fans of the sport, but newcomers to horse race betting are usually overwhelmed by the sheer variety of bet types they can take their pick from.
What Is a Quinella BetMaking your picks for the horse races available out there can be as straightforward as deciding about the outright winner of a race, the horses that will take first and second, or the runners that will finish in the first three positions. Extending their picks over the course of several races is also an option some punters might be keen on, especially if they have already gathered more knowledge about horse race betting.
Exotic bets are among the bet types that turn heads, and their appeal can mainly be ascribed to the thumping payouts they promise to award. Even though quinella bets are often overlooked by gambling aficionados, they have several advantages over some of the other exotic bets, which undoubtedly makes them worth considering.
What Is a Quinella Bet in Horse Racing
Considering how ample the range of bet types is, it is not surprising that sometimes, punters do not know what the best way to wager on such events is, and whether straight or exotic bets will work best for them. Quinella bets are undoubtedly a good starting point for gambling enthusiasts who are new to exotic betting because they are simple by nature.
When making a quinella bet, punters will effectively wager on the horses that will finish in the two leading positions in the race. Quinella bets are settled as winning ones as long as one of the runners gambling aficionados have picked takes the lead, while the other finishes second. Best of all, the order in which they will finish the race is irrelevant to the outcome of such bets.
Let’s see quinella bets in action, and in order to do this, we will suppose that gambling enthusiasts want to make such an exotic bet on a race with seven runners. They take their time to inspect statistics and how the runners have performed in the previous races, and come to think that horses #4 and #5 are strong favorites. Yet, they cannot determine which runner has better chances of winning the race, and in this situation, placing a quinella bet will undoubtedly do the trick.
- Horse #4 wins the race, while horse #5 finishes second
- Horse #5 wins the race, while horse #4 finishes second
As punters can see, by making a quinella bet on these two runners, they will cover the two possible outcomes in order to guarantee that if runners #4 and #5 are the first two horses to cross the finish line, their ticket will win.
It goes without saying that what excites punters most about wagering on horse races is the opportunity to win big, and this might be the reason why they are unwilling to add quinella bets to their betting portfolios. Indeed, when compared to some of the other exotic horse racing bet types, quinella bets offer less generous returns but this is not to say that gambling aficionados should avoid them at any cost. Even though the potential returns winning quinella bets offer are smaller, such bets will hit much more frequently when compared to most other multibets.
It is important to remember that each track and sports betting platform has its own rules about the available bets. Normally, most tracks and horse racing sites make it possible for gambling enthusiasts to make quinella bets for most events on the card. That being said, this bet type is usually unavailable for races in which the runners are five or less for the simple reason that the chances of making a correct pick will be too high.
Types of Horse Racing Quinella Bets
If punters want to make sure that they will be up and using quinella bets during their betting session, they should know that these exotic bets also fall into three main categories. In order to ensure that they will properly understand the options they have in front of themselves, punters should be aware that straight quinella bets are the most widely used ones,Straight Quinella but quinella box and wheel are also worth considering.
Straight Quinella Bets
Making a straight quinella bet only involves picking the horses that will take the first two places in the official order of finish, which was exactly the case with the example we provided already.
Thus, placing a $2 #1-#4 quinella bet means that horses #1 and #4 need to take the win and place positions in the official order of finish in order for punters to earn a payout.
| Bet Type | Requirements to win | Odds of winning | Cost of boxed bets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quinella bet | The horses punters have placed a bet on should come in the first and second position in the official order of finish | Average | Boxing a $2 quinella bet will cost punters $6 |
Boxed Quinella Bets Explained
Boxed quinella bets give punters more flexibility and greater chances of getting a payout because the horses they will be allowed to back will not be just two. In simple terms, punters will be allowed to cover more than two selections, and bag a payout if any two selections finish first and second.
Let’s suppose that punters have decided to box their quinella bet, and the selections they want to cover are #2, #5, and #7. In this case, placing a three-horse quinella box will cover the following outcomes:
- 2-5
- 2-7
- 5-7
Since quinella bets offer payouts even if gambling aficionados do not get the finishing order of their selections right, the outcomes they will cover if they pick the above-mentioned selections in practice will be six.
- 2-5
- 5-2
- 2-7
- 7-2
- 5-7
- 7-5
As you can see, when boxing their quinella bets, gambling aficionados will practically make a couple of straight quinella wager at the same time. If they prefer, punters can do the same thing for more horses and buy additional quinella bets. Please keep in mind that if the minimum bet requirement is $2, punters need to stake $2 more for every additional selection they decide to cover in their quinella box bet.
Assuming that punters do not go for a three-horse quinella bet but add one more selection, the cost of their exotic wager increases to $12. Thus, at some time, there will be no point in adding more selections to your quinella bet because the bet amount will increase considerably.
As gambling enthusiasts can see, the odds of losing are significantly reduced, but they should remember that their potential returns will also be brought down when compared to the ones straight quinella bets offer.
Quinella Wheels Explained
Wheeling their quinella bet is an opportunity gambling enthusiasts might wish to seize when they are confident about the winner of the race but are unsure about the second-best runner. It is a good time to go for quinella wheels when one of the horses is a strong favorite because the other selections will be combined in different ways, thus increasing punters’ chances of getting a payday. Punters need to carefully pick the horse that will be present in all their bets because whether their bet wins or loses will be determined exactly by the performance of this selection.
What they need to decide next is whether they will go for full or partial quinella wheels. Let’s suppose that the race punters want to have a flutter on has seven runners, and they are confident that horse #3 will win. Because of this, they decide to make a full wheel quinella bet. These are the outcomes such a bet will cover:
- 3-1
- 3-2
- 3-4
- 3-5
- 3-6
- 3-7
Considering that horse #3 comes in first in the race, gambling enthusiasts are guaranteed to get a payout, no matter which of the other runners will place. Yet, making this quinella bet is not a surefire way to get a payout because if the horse that was expected to take the win fails to achieve this, their ticket will lose. In this scenario, the outcomes punters will cover are six in total, which is to say that their quinella bet will cost $12 (6 x $2).
Going for partial quinella wheels is an alternative punters might be keen on using when they have no doubt about the horse to take the win but consider that some of the other selections stand a good chance to take the place.
Once again, we will suppose that horse #3 will perform best in the race, but this time, we will also add horses #4 and #5. The possible combinations will look like this:
- 3-4
- 3-5
This partial wheel quinella bet is sure to bring punters a payout no matter which two selections they have picked will take the win and place. When compared to full wheel quinella bets, their partial counterparts are more affordable, as making such a bet will cost punters $4. No matter whether punters think that partially or fully wheeling their quinella bets will work best for them, they should remember that their ability to accurately assess the performance of the runners is what matters most.
Quinella vs Exacta Horse Racing Bets
Quinella and exacta bets have certain similarities as with both exotic bet types, punters will be required to pick the top two runners in the race. Yet, the biggest difference between these wagers is that an exacta bet only pays if gambling aficionados make an accurate prediction about the runners that will finish first and second in the correct order. As we mentioned already, this is not the case with quinella bets, as all punters need to do in order to get a payout is select the right two horses, no matter whether they will finish in the order punters have chosen or not.
Let’s assume that gambling aficionados want to make a quinella bet on horses #5 and #7 to take the first two positions in the race. If we suppose that horse #7 wins the race, while horse #5 crosses the finish line second, punters’ ticket will be a winning one, and they will earn a payout. The same will be the case if horse #5 wins the race, while horse #7 becomes a runner-up. Punters will lose the staked amount in the event that horse #5 or #7 does not come in one of the top two positions or both selections come in outside the top two positions.
If we suppose that punters have picked horses #5 and #7, but they prefer to go for an exacta bet, their ticket will win only if horse #5 wins the race, while horse #7 comes in second. Punters will lose their original bet if these selections come in another order, and horse #7 wins the race, while horse #5 comes second.
The potential returns are yet another thing gambling enthusiasts should consider if they are unable to decide which bet type to give a try. Obviously, placing a winning quinella bet is not as challenging as making a winning exacta bet, which is the reason why punters should be prepared to get some exorbitant returns or at least not lower than the ones exacta bets award.
Quinella Bets Payouts
Even though gambling enthusiasts might want to dive into horse race betting knowing how much exactly they will stand the chance to win, this will not be possible with all betting system bookies rely on. As punters might already know, the returns winning horse racing bet offer depend on the betting system the sports betting site employs. When pari-mutuel betting is concerned, all quinella wagers will be put into a specifically designed pool which will then be divided between the winning tickets for that event.
On most occasions, the least amount gambling enthusiasts can put at a stake when they want to make a quinella bet is $2. Still, the chances are that punters might also come across betting sites that allow betting less than that amount per ticket, which adds to the appeal of these exotic wagers. Such opportunities are sure to grab the attention of sports bettors but what they should remember is that they will only be allowed to place their wager when its total value reaches $2.
Thus, if we suppose that the track or the horse race betting platforms offers $1 quinella bets, but the minimum bet requirement is $2, punters can go for two different combinations in order to meet that requirement. The amounts gambling aficionados will be allowed to go for might vary from one betting site to another, and for this reason, they are advised to look into this in advance.