If you had to choose one type of bet what would it be?

[bettheoverlay]

Gordon Jones asked this question on his radio show a couple of weeks ago (before he and daughter Joanne- I really miss her- abruptly departed).

Patrick chose the Pick6 and Bruce Finklestein chose win betting. I think Gordon said Pick4.

Win betting on perceived overlays has always seemed most logical to me, but it gets boring sometimes. I started to seriously play the Pick3 last year and the Pick4 this year.

Now I'm totally sold on Pick 4, especially since it is a $1 bet! I take a shot (mostly small tickets) at all those offered at major tracks and it has greatly increased my enjoyment of handicapping and wagering. Helps too that I have hit a few good ones this summer!

[alysheba88]

Trifectas. Nothing else close

[VetScratch]

Just let me bet to win on the replays... divide the rest up as you see fit.

[superfecta]

Originally posted by VetScratch
Just let me bet to win on the replays... divide the rest up as you see fit. If we bet on replays I want the superfecta,heck I want to bet the superfecta irregardless.But it depends on what you are good at hitting.PM me Aly if you care to dabble in supers,if you are good at tris on small tickets,you can probably do well betting supers.

[Valuist]

Here's the way I view them:

Pic 6-just too expensive to play realistically against the big syndicates. OUT

Pic 4-some great overlays in here, but tough beats here can be crushing mentally. If you can stomach potential long losing streaks, this one has to be up there as a best wager.

Pic 3-Back in the early 90s, the Pic 3 is like the Pic 4 now. Many crazy overlay payoffs. Then the public got smarter and started to spread out, instead of hammering a couple cold combinations. If you play multiple tracks, the Pic 3 is probably preferable over the Pic 4 because its softer on the bankroll. But like the Pic 4, tough beats are bad, but not as bad as the P4.

Daily Double--often overlooked. I love using this as a hedge if I've already hit a decent priced horse in the 1st leg of a Pic 3. Obviously not as flashy as the P3/P4 but I wish more tracks would roll them.

Exacta-another overlooked bet. One of my favorite plays is when there's 2 strong favorites. Almost always one will win and the other will crack and run off the board and a longshot inherits 2nd.

Tris-theoretically I should like the Pic 3 or Pic 4 better because the takeout is spread out over several races while it isn't w/the tri. But my two biggest scores were on trifectas, not the multi race bets. I like to either key 2 horses, or "progressively slot", using 2 horses in the win slot, 4-5 in the 2nd slot, 5-7 in the 3rd slot. Any tri that doesn't at least have one double digit price somewhere on it is a waste, IMO.

Superfectas-for some reason, I haven't played them much. They offer great value often, but again a real potential for tough beats if you have 1 thru 3 correct but blow the 4th horse. Then you're kicking yourself you could've had a big trifecta. When I do play them, I usually have 1 strong opinion on who will win, and at least two strong negative opinions on horses who are being well bet.

Win-again often overlooked, but if you like a horse at 10-1 or better, you're better off here than going into exotic bets. Its also easier to decipher value here. And you never have to worry about W2s.

Place/Show--As for place, I prefer back part-wheeling a key horse in exactas to place. About the only time I'll consider place betting is its an entry and I think both horses could possibly run 1-2. As for show, the only time I'll do it is when there's a bridgejumper scenario where you have potential for crazy payoffs if the heavy chalk is off the board.