How to bet on horses: a beginner's guide to your first racing bet

How to bet on horses in eight steps

Betting on a horse comes down to choosing a runner, a bet type and a price, then confirming the slip. Here is the full process for a first bet.

1. Check you are 18 or over. The TAB says it is illegal for anyone under 18 to open an account or gamble with Tabcorp, and it will not pay a dividend to a minor, even one collecting for an adult.
2. Use a licensed Australian provider. Online racing bets can only be offered legally by a bookmaker or TAB licensed in an Australian state or territory. ACMA warns that if you gamble online with a company that operates illegally, you risk losing your money.
3. Fund it without credit. Online and phone wagering providers have not been allowed to accept credit cards, credit products or crypto since 11 June 2024.
4. Set your budget first. Decide what you are happy to lose for the day and split it across the races you want to bet on.
5. Pick a race and count the starters. The number of runners decides how many places are paid, which changes what a place bet is worth.
6. Choose a bet type. For a first bet, stick to win, place or each way.
7. Choose fixed odds or tote. On the TAB, you do this by tapping the runner's price in the Fixed column or the Tote column.
8. Enter your stake, check the slip and confirm. The TAB warns that once you tap Confirm Bet, the bet cannot be cancelled.

Win, place and each way: what they pay

These three bets cover one runner each, and they are where every beginner should start. Here is what $10 bets return on a runner priced $5.00 to win and $1.90 to place, plus an each way bet on a longer-priced runner.

The each way line is two $4 bets: one to win, one to place. If the runner wins, both pay ($44 + $12.80); if it only places, you get the place half back. The each way calculator runs these numbers for any price.

How many places are paid

The TAB pays place dividends by the number of starters. With 8 or more starters it pays three places. With 5 to 7 starters there is no third dividend, so only 1st and 2nd pay. With 16 or more starters it pays a fourth place dividend. With 4 or fewer starters, place bets are refunded.

Watch for late scratchings. A field that drops from 8 starters to 7 loses its third place dividend, and a place bet on a horse that runs third then collects nothing.

Fixed odds or the tote

A fixed price is locked in when your bet is accepted. A tote bet goes into a pool, the operator takes its commission, and what is left is shared among the winning tickets.

Here is how a tote win dividend comes together. Say $40,000 is bet in the win pool and the TAB's win commission of 14.50% comes out, leaving $34,200. If $9,000 of the pool was on the winner, the dividend is $34,200 / $9,000 = $3.80 for every $1. Read our guide to tote vs fixed odds for when each one tends to pay more, and how to read odds for what the prices on the screen mean.

What the tote keeps from each pool

Every tote pool has its own commission, and exotics cost more than win and place. These are the TAB rates published for its NSW, VIC and QLD pools and ONE POOL, the national pool it introduced on 22 September 2026.

In general, the harder the bet, the bigger the cut. That does not make exotics a bad bet, but it does mean a beginner's dollar goes further on win and place.

Pundit tip: for your first few race days, bet win or each way only and keep a note of every bet and result. You will learn more about prices from twenty small bets you tracked than from one big exotic.

Exotics, once you are ready

Exotics ask you to name more than one placegetter: a quinella (first two, any order), an exacta (first two, exact order), a duet (any two of the first three), a trifecta and a first four. You can box runners to cover every order and use flexi betting to spend less than a full unit. On the TAB, the minimum flexi investment is 50 cents in 50 cent steps, and your share of the dividend must be at least 1%. The flexi betting guide and the exacta calculator show what a box costs before you bet.

Scratchings and dead heats

The TAB refunds win and place bets on a scratched runner. In a box or other multi-combination exotic, only the combinations that include the scratched runner are refunded and the rest stay live. Fixed odds futures bets taken before the final field are "All In" and are not refunded if your horse is scratched; bets taken on the final field are refunded in full. A late scratching also shortens what fixed odds bets on the rest of the field pay: see scratching deductions and run the numbers with the deductions calculator.

In a dead heat for first on the tote, the win pool is split between the two winners. A dead heat for third in a race paying three places means four place dividends are paid. Fixed odds bets split the payout instead: our guide to dead heat rules and the dead heat calculator show the maths.

Horse racing betting terms

Big race days follow the same rules with bigger fields. Our Melbourne Cup betting guide shows how a 24 runner field changes the maths. The dogs and the trots use the same bet types with their own rules: see greyhound betting and harness racing betting.

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