Given: There are Nine horses racing and I place a 10 cent wager on a combination of four horses. Say that my combination (in the correct order) was the actual result. What would the average payout be for this scenario?
I think it's a reasonable average among North American tracks, win place show wagering is usually less, around 16-18% takeout.
If you're really new you should also consider breakage.
For example if you're making a show wager you may see a payoff of $2.80 for a $2 bet. This would equate to odds of 1.40-1.
However, the actual show calculation made in the betting pools may have been anywhere from 1.40-1 to 1.49-1. The amount paid off is then REDUCED to the lowest 1/10 (and of course the track keeps this extra amount). So in the case where the true mutuel pool odds were 1.47-1, and you should be getting a show payoff of $2.94 for a $2 bet, instead you get $2.80.
Percentage-wise this is a huge loss, in addition to the 16-18% takeout. You are fighting track takeout AND breakage when you bet show (and win & place as well) and a big reason why it is so difficult to profit with these types of bets.
Last edited by Art Vandeleigh; 10-19-09 at 06:45 AM.
The easiest way to answer the original question is to go to drf.com, find a track and look at the superfecta payouts over the course of a month or so. This can be done in less than an hour.