Quinella wagering provides bettors who like to combine horses with an option other than exacta betting, at half the price. The Quinella betting is popular with many horse racing bettors simply because it costs less. Bettors are always looking for cheaper betting alternatives and the Quinella is one option. Quinella betting requires you to select the first two finishers in a race in either order. There are three different methods of betting quinellas as follows:
Straight Quinella Betting
The first method of betting quinellas is straightforward. A $2 quinella 4-5 returns the full $2 quinella payoff if the final order of finish in the race is 4-5 or 5-4.
Quinella Wheels and Part-Wheels
Quinella wheels and part-wheels allow you to wheel a horse (or more than one horse) with a number of other horses in the quinella.
Example:
If you like the 3 horse to finish first or second but cannot decide among horses 4,5,6 which one will complete the quinella you could play a $2 quinella part-wheel of 3 with 4,5,6 at a cost of $6. Essentially, you would be playing three $2 quinella tickets of 3-4, 3-5 and 3-6 which would pay off if the order of finish was 3-4, 4-3, 3-5, 5-3, 3-6 or 6-3.
A full quinella wheel would include one or more horses with all the remaining horses in a field.
For example, in an eight horse, a $2 quinella wheel 2 with ALL would include 7 combinations: 2-1, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, 2-6, 2-7 and 2-8 at a cost of $14 and would pay the full $2 quinella payoff if the order of finish was 1-2, 2-1, 2-3, 3-2, 2-4, 4-2, 2-5, 5-2, 2-6, 6-2, 2-7, 7-2, 2-8 or 8-2.
Quinella Boxes
Quinella boxes are a favorite among many players. They allow for multiple combinations on one ticket. You can combine an entire field into one quinella box if you like, although this would be a highly unprofitable wager. Many casual bettors will play three or four contenders in a quinella box when their handicapping fails to turn up a solid win play, or simply because they want to make sure they cash a ticket.
To calculate the cost of a quinella box you multiply the number of horses in the box by the number of horses in the box minus one. For example, a $2 quinella box 3,4,5 would cost (3 x 2) = $6 and include the combinations 3-4, 4-3, 3-5, 5-3, 4-5 and 5-4.
Below are the costs associated with $2 quinella boxes in fields of up to 10 horses.
$2 Quinella box of 3 horses = (3 x 2) = $6
$2 Quinella box of 4 horses = (4 x 3) = $12
$2 Quinella box of 5 horses = (5 x 4) = $20
$2 Quinella box of 6 horses = (6 x 5) = $30
$2 Quinella box of 7 horses = (7 x 6) = $42
$2 Quinella box of 8 horses = (8 x 7) = $56
$2 Quinella box of 9 horses = (9 x 8) = $72
$2 Quinella box of 10 horses = (10 x 9) = $90