Exotic Bets: What They are and How to Find Them

The online sports gambling industry is awash with fascinating bets, interesting markets, and exciting options. Keeping up with the options, understanding the jargon, and making sense of the odds can be challenging, especially for new bettors. Thankfully, Whop is here to demystify sports betting.

In this article, we focus on exotic bets. It’s a unique name that suggests an exciting way to gamble. But what exactly are exotic bets, where can you find them, and how do they work?

Keep reading to find out.

What are Exotic Bets?

Exotic bets - as the name suggests - are wagers that go off the beaten track. Instead of keeping it simple by gambling on the winner of a game or the total points, exotic bets allow you to approach a fixture from some fascinating angles. If you are gambling on horse racing, for example, you’d look beyond the race winner and attempt to predict multiple finishing positions, such as the first three. 

Although landing a winner from the exotic bets is much more challenging than more common markets like moneyline, the odds and potential winnings are often much more attractive and worth the added risk. If you have grown tired of the popular markets, exotic bets can help add an extra edge of excitement and drama to a sports fixture.

Are Exotic Bets Only Used in Horse Racing?

When searching for exotic bets, you’ll likely find most in the horse racing section of an online sportsbook. Although horse racing has the most exotic bets and is a sport popular with gamblers who enjoy these markets, exotic bets are not exclusive to horse racing. You can play exotic bets on several eye-catching sports. Gamble at a major sportsbook app and you’ll likely find exotic bets available in every sports tab.

Types of Exotic Bets

Here are some of the most popular options you’ll find today when browsing your favorite online sportsbook apps. Others are available, but these are the most common and popular.

Quinella

One of the simpler options available to lovers of exotic bets, a Quinella challenges gamblers to predict the first two finishers in a horse race. Importantly, the finishing order doesn’t matter to your bet, and you’ll land a profit if you predict first and second place or second and first place. It’s also known in gambling circles as a reverse forecast, and it is popular in horse and greyhound racing.

Exactas

Another popular and exciting exotic bet is the exacta, which is, again, most commonly used in horse racing and greyhound racing. Similar to a Quinella, you must select two runners to finish in the first two, but with an exacta - as the name suggests - your picks must be exact. To land this bet, you must correctly call the winner and runner-up, needing both to land your bet and secure a profit.

Trifectas

Moving to the trifecta, this is another exotic bet market you’re most likely to encounter when following horse racing. We move up a notch in terms of difficulty with trifecta players correctly predicting the first three in a race and in the correct order. You must call the winner, runner-up, and third, needing the correct 1-2-3 to land your profits. Please keep in mind trifectas aren’t available on every race, as there must be a minimum number of runners for the bookmaker to offer this market.

Superfectas

A real challenge for online gamblers, Superfectas come with huge rewards if you land the right combination. Here, you must predict the first four runners to cross the line, and they must be in the correct order. If you predict the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places, you’ll land your Superfecta and rake in a potentially huge sum. This is a market that is best suited to experienced gamblers and horse racing fanatics.

Daily Double

We now have an exotic bet that focuses on two races, rather than those above that all target one race or event. Daily Double players must correctly call the winner of two races back-to-back. This market is commonly available on the first two or last two races at a meeting and is similar to a usual horse racing double, but often comes with enhanced odds attached.

Pick 3s and Pick 4

Continuing with the concept of a Daily Double, the Pick 3s and Pick 4 make life more difficult for backers but offer much higher potential profits. When playing a Pick 3, you must correctly predict the winner of three consecutive races, while a Pick 4 tasks you with calling four winners on the spin. Landing these types of bets is rare but certainly not impossible for avid horse racing fans and those who do their research.

How Do Odds Work With Exotic Bets?

It’s interesting to learn that the odds attached to most exotic bets aren’t fixed by traders working at online sportsbooks. Instead, returns are calculated by a pool of funds, also known in the horse racing industry as the pari-mutuel. 

The stakes placed on exotic bets are pooled, with the sum split between the winners. That means the fewer winners in a bet, the higher the returns. The track or house will take a cut for running the pool, and your chosen bookmaker advertises the percentage.

Let’s use a Superfecta as an example of how odds work with exotic bets. Because of the difficulty of landing a Superfecta, the odds are often high; there’s a fewer number of winners than more common bets like a Quinella. If your bet lands, you’ll then receive a good share of a large pot, leading to a handsome payout.

How to Place Exotic Bets

Now you understand exotic bets, what they are, and how to find them. Let’s run you through how to place an exotic bet. Thankfully, striking a bet is every bit as simple as wagering on the moneyline or another popular option.

• Decide on the exotic bet you wish to place.
• Register or log in to your online gambling account.
• Select the type of bet and the race number of each selection.
• Input a stake for the overall bet or each leg and check the total.

Example:

$5 Exacta on numbers one and two in the opening race of a meeting. If they finish in that order, your bet is a winner, and you will receive your share of the final pool. If your picks don’t finish in that order, the bookmaker keeps your stake.

Pros and Cons of Exotic Betting

Exotic bets can be complex but offer the potential for big profits. However, the key word here is potential - as with all forms of gambling, every bet comes with a risk of losing more than you win.

Pros:

• High Payouts
• Excitement
• Variety

Cons:

• Higher Risk
• Complexity
• Cost

Increase Your Chances of Success With Whop

If you want to get ahead in the game, then you need to have as much knowledge and insight as possible so that you can place well-informed, educated bets. However, with some many different types of popular sports, ways to bet, and factors that can influence odds, it is impossible to be aware of everything by yourself.

That's why many serious bettors choose to join a sports picks community. Such communities are run by experienced bettors and cappers who have their finger on the pulse and share their advice, education, and picks, with their community. Whop is home to hundreds of these communities, with free and paid options, from generalized sports betting groups to niche focuses.

Explore Whop today, level up your sports betting knowledge, and become a better bettor.