WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN EXACTA AND EXACTA BOX?
--If you play "$1.00 Exacta 3-6", obviously, your ticket costs one dollar only. 
--After the race is completed, you're a winner IF AND ONLY IF horse #3 wins the race and horse #6 comes in second position. 
--If these horses came in reverse order: Let's suppose that horse #6 won the race and horse #3 came in second position.  Then, you DON'T have a winning ticket.  To be a winner, you would have had to buy a separate ticket "$1.00 Exacta 6-3".
--Instead, if you play "$1.00 Exacta Box 3-6", your ticket costs two dollars and you would be covered both front and back!
--You would be a winner whether horse #3 won the race and horse #6 came in second position, or if horse #6 won the race and horse #3 came in second position.
--In summary, a "box" bet covers BOTH combinations...front AND back...3-6 and 6-3.  After all, you paid $2.00 for both of these tickets: $1.00 for 3-6 and $1.00 for 6-3.
--On your ticket, 'Exacta box' or 'EXB' will be listed.

WHEN SHOULD I PLAY AN "EXACTA" BET VERSUS AN "EXACTA BOX" BET?

​EXACTA bet:
--If you love a certain horse, you should play an exacta bet.
--The first horse that you select MUST win the race.  The second horse that you select MUST come in second position.
--So, an exacta bet means that the two horses that you select for first and second positions MUST come in the EXACT ORDER.
--Example:
--You like horse #5, and you think that horse #5 is going to win.  You also think that horse #2 is going to come in second position. 
--If you play "$1.00 Exacta 5-2", you're a winner if horse #5 wins the race AND horse #2 comes in second.

​EXACTA BOX bet:
--In the above example, you think that horse #5 is going to win.  "But", if you're not sure which horse is going to win and which horse is going to come in second position, then you SHOULD play Exacta box bet!
--If you play "$1.00 Exacta Box 2-5", it costs $2.00.
--Basically, it's a combined bet:  $1.00 Exacta 2-5 AND $1.00 Exacta 5-2
--You're a winner either way: If horse #2 wins the race and horse #5 comes in second position, OR If horse #5 wins the race and horse #2 comes in second position. 
--This is a very simple example that involves playing exacta box using two horses only.
--In my book, I explain and provide a ton of examples of how much it costs to play 3-horses Exacta boxed, 4-horses Exacta boxed, 5-horses Exacta boxed, etc. 

CAN I USE THREE OR MORE HORSES TO PLAY EXACTA BOX BET?
Yes! 
--For example, you may play "$1.00 Exacta Box 3-6-8".
--As long as any two of these three horses (#3, #6, and #8) come in the top two positions, you're a winner!
​--For a $1.00 bet, this ticket costs $6.00, and you get half the winning payoff amount.
--If you want the full payoff amount, play $2.00 Exacta box using any 3 horse numbers.
--The winning payoff amount depends on...if favorites, long shots, or a mix of both came in the top two positions.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A QUINELLA BET AND AN EXACTA BET?
--Let's suppose that you love horse #2 AND horse #5.  You want to play your bet SO THAT you're a winner whether horse #2 wins the race and horse #5 comes in the second position or horse #5 wins the race and horse #2 comes in the second position.
--If you play an exacta bet, then, you would have to play "$1.00 Exacta Box 2-5".  This bet costs $2.00 and you're a winner if horse #2 and horse #5 come in the top two positions in either order. 
--The BIG difference is that Quinella covers the SAME BET AS ABOVE, but it costs only HALF the amount.  i.e., the bet costs $1.00 only; not $2.00 dollars.  However, the winning payoff amount for a Quinella bet usually ranges about two-thirds of an Exacta bet amount.
--Example: If you play "$1.00 Quinella 2-5", you're a winner...IF horse #2 and horse #5 come in the top two positions in either order.

Another important factor to consider -- In most cases:
--Exacta bets are available (to bet) in every race.
--Quinella bets are available (to bet) in couple races only; usually, in the second and fourth races.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO PLAY A SUPERFECTA BET?
--Even though a superfecta bet costs only ten cents, it's a much more complicated bet than what you think it is.
--The BEST answer is:  Play a "Superfecta Box" bet.
--As you know from above, a box bet means that the horses that you select may come in ANY order!
--If you played a straight bet "$0.10 Superfecta 1-9-8-5", then, all these four horses must come in the EXACT order (i.e., Horse #1 MUST win the race, horse #9 MUST come in second position, horse #8 MUST come in third position, and horse #5 MUST come in fourth position).  This bet costs ten cents only.
--What's tricky is that there are actually 23 'other' combinations of these numbers that exist! Some of them are: 1-9-5-8, 1-8-9-5, 1-8-5-9, 1-5-8-9, 1-5-9-8, 9-1-8-5, 9-1-5-8, 9-5-1-8, and 9-5-8-1.  So, if any of the other 23 combinations come in, you're not a winner.
--To cover "all" 24 horse number combinations, you should play "$0.10 Superfecta Box 1-9-8-5".  This box bet costs $2.40 only. 
--In summary, whichever four horse numbers that you select, you're a winner as long as ALL four of your horse numbers come in the top 4 positions!

if you ALMOST won, then you're "CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR!"

Nice matching hat!