The pick 6 bet is one
of the most difficult wagers to win. It requires
you to pick the winning horse in six consecutive
races on a single ticket. Usually the pick 6 wager
is on races #3 through race #8. It is difficult
to pick the winners in a daily double where you
pick two consecutive winners and more difficult
to pick the winners in a pick 3 where you pick three
consecutive winners. But to pick the winners in
six consecutive races requires either a vast\handicapping
ability, a large amount of luck or both. If on any
given race day (except the final day of the meet)
no one is successful at winning the pick 6, the
betting pool minus the amount used for consolation
payoffs, is carried over to the next racing day.
As the pool continues to grow more and more interest
is generated on collecting the increasing amount
of money. The pool will generally double each day
until someone is successful at picking the six winners.
The main reason the pool is able to sustain this
rapid growth rate is that as the pool increases
in size, more and more syndicates of hopeful winners
will pool their funds together so that they can
bet numerous combinations of winners on a single
ticket. Since the total number of possible winning
combinations is so large, the cost of betting even
the most likely winners of these six races can be
quite costly. The cost of the ticket is calculated
by multiplying the number of selections in each
race together, times the dollar value of the bet.
EXAMPLE: If you selected one horse
from each race the cost of a $2 bet would be (1
x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x $2) = $2. If you selected
two horses in each race the cost of a $2 bet would
be (2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x $2) = $128. For three
in each race (3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x $2) = $729.
As you can quickly see the cost of the ticket increases
rapidly with each additional horse included in the
ticket. Note, you do not have to pick the same number
of horses in each race, you can pick from one to
the total number of horses in any race. (2 x 1 x
3 x 1 x 2 x 4 x $2) = $96.
This can be a fun bet for group participation when
a group of friends go to the track. Just remember
to play this bet sensibly because it is a very difficult
bet to win.
