{{Wiktionary
The superfecta is a type of wager in USA and Canada
parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...
in which the bettor, in order to win, must pick the first four finishers of a race in the correct sequence. This is even more unlikely than a successful wager in the
trifecta
file:Trifecta.svg, Trifecta
A trifecta is a parimutuel betting, parimutuel bet placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Austra ...
, which requires correctly picking the first three finishers in order, and as such will have a correspondingly higher payoff.
Most exotic wagers in horseracing are a 1 dollar minimum. Due to the difficulty of the superfecta, some racetracks have lowered the minimum on the superfecta to 10 cents. This 10 cent bet is very popular with the fans as it permits a bettor with a small bankroll to cover many combinations and still have a chance for a large payoff.
Due to the imprecise nature of the name (as opposed to other bets such as the trifecta), superfecta bets can sometimes require selecting more than four horses. For instance, the
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
previously offered a superfecta bet on selected races requiring bettors to pick the first ''six'' finishers in the correct order, rather than four. The bet requiring the selection of four finishers in order is instead referred to by most Australian
totalisator
A tote board (or totalisator/totalizator) is a numeric or alphanumeric display used to convey information, typically at a race track (to display the odds or payoffs for each horse) or at a telethon (to display the total amount donated to the chari ...
s as a First Four bet (or in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
as a ''Quartet''). Although the first-six superfecta bet is still theoretically allowed by New South Wales regulations,New South Wale Totalisator Rules pp. 49-53. Accessed on 2007-10-29. the First Four bet has all but replaced it there.
This type of wager is called ''quadrifecta'' in Brazil and ''cuatrifecta'' in Argentina and Uruguay ("quad-fecta").