A Big 6 bet is a tote bet on the winners of six races the operator nominates. You pick one or more runners in each leg. Under the 2010 tote rules the major dividend needs a winner in every leg, and a smaller supplementary dividend pays the first five winners with a loser in the sixth. Racing NSW's reference manual says the six races can be at the same meeting or at different meetings, unlike the quaddie's four races at one meeting.
Every runner you add is multiplied across five other legs, so flexi does most of the work in sizing a ticket. Horse racing betting covers the bets around it.
Why six legs make the cost explode
combinations = runners in leg 1 x leg 2 x leg 3 x leg 4 x leg 5 x leg 6
| Runners in every leg | Combinations | Full cost at $1 | Least it can cost at 1c a combination |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 64 | $64 | $0.64 |
| 3 | 729 | $729 | $7.29 |
| 4 | 4,096 | $4,096 | $40.96 |
| 5 | 15,625 | $15,625 | $156.25 |
Going from three runners a leg to four multiplies the ticket by 4,096 / 729 = about 5.6. The last column comes from the tote rules Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted, as gazetted on 3 August 2010: a flexi bet must be at least 1c for each combination, or a higher minimum the operator sets (rule 3.5(a)). The quaddie calculator counts six-leg tickets too.
Flexi Big 6 at small outlays
Take an illustrative ticket with 1, 2, 4, 3, 2 and 5 runners in its legs:
combinations = 1 x 2 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 5 = 240, so $12 is a flexi of 12 / 240 x 100 = 5%
At an illustrative six-winner dividend of $9,860.40 per $1, the ticket returns $9,860.40 x 0.05 = $493.02. The single runner in leg 1 holds the count down: with five runners there, the same ticket is 1,200 combinations, the $12 becomes a 1% flexi, and the same dividend returns about $98.60.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A small flexi ticket needs the same winners as a full one, and a single runner in any of the first five legs ends the ticket the moment it is beaten. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
How the dividend and jackpots work
Under the 2010 rules the pool is split two ways (rule 15.1). The major dividend takes 90%, for tickets with all six winners. The supplementary takes 10%, for tickets with the winners of the first five scheduled legs and a loser in the sixth. A ticket that qualifies for both is paid only the one with more winners (rule 7.1(j)).
If no ticket holds six winners, the operator can carry that money into the major dividend of a later Big 6, in any racing code and meeting class (rules 13.2 and 15.4). The operator can instead pay it to tickets with the first five winners (rule 13.2.9). Jackpots go only to the major dividend, never the supplementary (rule 15.5). Two rules differ from the quaddie. A scratched pick moves to the runner with the most money in that leg of the Big 6 pool, not the win pool (rule 9.3(b)). With one to three legs abandoned, the whole pool goes to the major dividend (rule 15.2). Tote betting explains pools in general.
Note: Tabcorp has moved its tote pools to a single national pool (reported from October 2026), so check the operator's current Big 6 rules before you rely on the 2010 text.
The Big 6 and the US Pick 6
North American racing's nearest equivalent is the Pick 6, a bet on the winners of six consecutive races, where a pool that nobody wins can carry over to a later card. The Big 6's legs are whichever six races the operator nominates, at one meeting or several, and its 10% supplementary dividend pays five winners. Quaddie betting covers the four-leg version.
Reading six fields before you buy
The six legs can sit at different meetings, so start from the list of nominated races. The Terminal puts prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports side by side, so you can see which legs the market reads as open. The major dividend is declared after the last leg, so it cannot be compared in advance. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A carried-over jackpot makes the major dividend bigger without making six winners any easier to find, and a loser in any of the first five legs leaves the ticket with nothing. See responsible gambling for limits and support.