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marie claire's Melbourne Cup Betting Cheat Sheet

Jessica Gomes at Derby Day. Photo: Getty Images

WIN
If you think you know who’s going to win the Melbourne Cup by all means place a win only bet. This means if your horse comes in 1st you get the win dividend multiplied by how much you’ve bet. Example: If the win dividend is paying $8 and you placed $5 to win, you will receive $40. Easy!

PLACE
If you pick a horse to come a place, it means your horse can come in 1st, 2nd or 3rd and you’ll win the Place dividend multiplied by how much you’ve bet. Note the dividend for a place is usually much lower than for a win. Also, even if you’re horse comes 1st you’ll still only win the place dividend.

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EACH WAY
An each-way bet is a way to hedge your bets. As with a Place bet you’ll receive a dividend if the horse comes in 1st, 2nd or 3rd, but if it comes in 1st you’ll win both the Win dividend and Place dividend. For example: If you place $5 each-way ($10 total bet) and your horse wins, you will receive $5 x win dividend + $5 x place dividend. If it comes 2nd or 3rd you’ll receive $5 x place dividend.

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, or like me just can’t make up your mind, you can try a Quinella, Exacta or Trifecta bet.

TRIFECTA
When you place a Trifecta you need to select (at least) 3 horses to come in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. With a standard Trifecta will need to decide which horse comes 1st, 2nd and 3rd. If you ‘box’ your Trifecta, this means the horses can come in any order and you will still win. (Note: The cost of boxing three horses will cost you six times the cost of a standard trifecta.)

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You can also ‘box’ more than three horses to increase your chances of winning, but each extra horse will increase the cost of the bet, but not your winnings.

QUINELLA & EXACTA
These bets expect you to pick the horses that will cross the line 1st and 2nd. With the Exacta you will need to pick the correct order. With the Quinella they just need to be the first 2 horses over the line. As with a Trifecta you can also ‘box’ a number of runners in your Quinella for more chances to win.

If all of this is too confusing, try my favourite, a Mystery Boxed Trifecta. It’ll cost you $3 and you will get three randomly selected runners, which can come in in any order. If you win you’ll get 50% of the trifecta dividend.

Remember winning isn’t a sure thing, but having a flutter should be fun - never wager more than you can afford to lose.

Always gamble responsibly, if you or someone you know has a problem call 1800 858 858 or visit Gambling Help Online for help and more information.

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