[rdiam]

Lots of chatter recently on this board about bettors migrating to horizontal bets and away from win and vertical bets.

Remember, a horizontal bet (daily double, p3, p4, p5, p6) is nothing more than a win parlay with a single takeout (those who don't consider takeout important can stop reading here). So every time you decide to make a horizontal bet, you have an alternative option to make a win parlay.

On the surface, it would seem that the horizontal, with its single takeout, would be the preferred strategy. BUT sequence of favorites and longshots matter, and will affect how best to bet.

Generally, the horizontal bet will pay more than the parlay when the first leg of a DD or p3, or the early legs of a p4, p5, or p6 are likely to be won by someone OTHER than the top 2-3 favorites. If the early part of the sequence can be narrowed down to 2-3 horses, or even singled, you will generally be better off betting the win parlay, or even omitting this race from your sequence if betting rolling DDs or p3s.

Finally, large carryovers or guaranteed payouts of carryover pools will almost always make the horizontal bet superior to a win parlay.

Good luck.

Richard