3-Way Handicap Example Horse Racing
Many horseplayers find betting on three-way handicaps to be one of the most challenging—and rewarding—ways to wager on races. A three-way handicap is a bet where the player tries to pick the horse that will finish first, second, or third, and the payoff is determined by how many horses the player has selected correctly. In this article, we’ll show you how to calculate a 3-way handicap example.
3-Way Handicap Example Horse Racing Guide
Method 1: Determine Your Win Horse’s Payoff Potential
The first thing you need to do is determine your win horse’s payoff potential. To do this, add together the win odds for all three horses in the race. This will give you an idea of how much money you can expect to win if your horse finishes in first place. If your horse’s win odds are 2/1, for example, you can expect to win $2 for every $1 you bet
Now, divide the win odds for each horse by the sum of the three horses’ win odds. This will give you each horse’s probability of winning. For example, if the sum of the three horses’ win odds is 12 (2/1 + 4/1 + 6/1), then the probability of each horse winning would be 2/12 (16%), 4/12 (33%), and 6/12 (50%)
Next, multiply each horse’s probability of winning by 100 to get their percentage chance of winning. In our example, this would give us 16%, 33%, and 50% respectively
Finally, divide each horse’s percentage chance of winning by 3 to get their share of the total prize pool. So, in our example, this would give us 5.3%, 11%, and 16.7%
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This tells us that if we bet on the 2/1 horse and it wins, we can expect to receive 5.3% of the total prize pool; if our 4/1 horse finishes second, we’ll receive 11% of the prize pool; and if our 6/1 horse comes in third place, we’ll get 16.7% of the prize pool
3-Way Handicap Example Horse Racing Conclusion
With a little bit of math, calculating a 3-way handicap example is not as difficult as it may seem at first glance. By using the method outlined above, you can determine your expected payout for any given race. And with practice, you’ll be able to do it without even having to think about it!
