An exotic bet is a racing bet that needs more than one result to go your way: several runners finishing in set places in one race, as in a trifecta, or your runners winning several races, as in a quaddie. Each one has far more possible results than a win bet, so a winning combination is much harder to land and usually pays a larger dividend.
Nearly every exotic is a tote bet, paid a dividend declared after the race, and most are sized with flexi. Betting on horse racing sets the exotics beside the simpler bets.
The exotic family and where each one is explained
Some lists keep exotics to bets on one race and call doubles, quaddies and the Big 6 multi-race bets; the wider sense below covers both. The definitions follow the tote rules Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted, as gazetted on 3 August 2010.
| Exotic | What has to happen | Explained in |
|---|---|---|
| Quinella | First and second, either order | Quinella betting |
| Exacta | First and second, your order | Exacta betting |
| Duet | Two of the first three, either order, with 8 or more runners | Duet bet |
| Trifecta | First, second and third, your order | Trifecta betting |
| First four | First to fourth, your order | First four betting |
| Running or daily double | Winners of two races at one meeting | Running and daily doubles |
| Quaddie | Winners of four nominated races at one meeting | Quaddie betting |
| Big 6 | Winners of six nominated races | Big 6 bet |
Covering every order of a group of runners is a boxed bet, and horse racing bet types puts every racing bet in one table.
Why most exotics are pool bets
A trifecta on a 10-runner race has 10 x 9 x 8 = 720 possible orders, and a first four has 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 = 5,040. No bookmaker has to price each of those orders: one pool settles them all. After commission, the money is shared among the units on the order that comes in, paid per $1 with the stake included, as tote betting explains.
A combination with more money on it pays less. Under the 2010 rules a trifecta, first four, quaddie or Big 6 pool that no ticket lands can be carried into a later pool of the same type as a jackpot (rule 13.2). A quinella, exacta, duet or double with no winning ticket is paid to set alternative combinations instead, or refunded (rule 13.9). A scratched pick is refunded in a single-race exotic but moved to a substitute in a running or daily double, quaddie or Big 6, as exotic scratching rules explains.
Flexi, the usual way to size an exotic
Flexi lets you choose the outlay, and a winning ticket collects the same share of the dividend that it paid of the full cost: flexi % = outlay / combinations x 100. Three illustrative $5 trifecta tickets, with a dividend of $480.00 per $1:
| Ticket | Combinations | Flexi | Return if it lands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runner 6 first, Runner 2 second, any of five others third | 1 x 1 x 5 = 5 | 100% | $480.00 |
| Box of four runners | 4 x 3 x 2 = 24 | 20.83% | $480.00 x 5 / 24 = $100.00 |
| Box of five runners | 5 x 4 x 3 = 60 | 8.33% | $480.00 x 5 / 60 = $40.00 |
The five-runner box lands on 60 orders but collects a twelfth of what the first ticket would. A landed ticket can still lose money: at an illustrative $19.20 dividend, the four-runner box returns $19.20 x 5 / 24 = $4.00 on its $5 outlay. Racing NSW's reference manual lists flexi on trifectas, first fours, quaddies, the Big 6, quinellas, exactas, duets and doubles, and flexi betting covers minimums and rounding. The flexi calculator counts quinella, exacta, trifecta and first four tickets.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Flexi changes the outlay, not the chance of landing, and a ticket that lands on a heavily backed combination can return less than it cost. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Checking the runners before you build a ticket
An exotic dividend cannot be compared before the race, but the fixed win prices of the runners you are combining can: the Terminal lines up prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports side by side, with exchange back and lay prices and price history beside them. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Knowing how the market rates each runner does not make a combination more likely, and an exotic's main dividend needs every runner on it to finish where it must. See responsible gambling for limits and support.