"Each way" betting.

[Lamar_Mundane]

@Verboten

Sorry, a “show” is a 3rd place finish. “Placing” here means only a 2nd place finish, which is what threw me off. So an each way bet is half on a win, and half on 2nd, 3rd and possibly 4th place finish.

So, the other half of the bet there is really a hedge against a win, and here there are fixed odds for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place finish. Interesting. Does my example make more sense now? Win on across the board means (4+3+2)$5 = $45, place means (3+2)$5 = $25 and show means 2*$5 = $10.

…

See, my problem is that I know how to bet, I just don’t know how to pick the right horses.

I’m not sure you know how to bet.

In my experience, a $15 bet across the board means you are betting $5 to win, $5 to place, and $5 to show. In your example, a winning horse would return $20 ($5x4-1 odds), $15, and $10, for a total of $45.