When I got out of the pokey, Hot Horse Henry gave me a piece of paper, a pair of tennies, and said, "When you figure out which horse you’re going to bet on, you still need to figure out how to bet and what the odds mean. Here’s a crib sheet for you, honey."

Here’s what the paper said:

If you wager $2 for a horse to win and odds are listed as 5 to 1, that means you would collect $12. Poor math you say? For every dollar you bet, you get five back, plus your original wager of $2.

Here’s a list of common betting terms:

Win – The horse you choose comes in first.

Place – The horse you choose comes in second.

Show –The horse you choose comes in third.

Daily Double – A wager that requires you select the winners in two consecutive races. Bigger risk and bigger rewards.

Exacta – Requires that you select both first- and second-place winners in a race and they must finish in that order. Again, greater return for the wager. A variation called Quinella does not require that the horses finish in the exact order you select, but the wager return is half.

Trifecta – Requires that you select the first-, second-, and third-place winners and they must finish in that order.

Pick 3 – Also called Daily Triple, requires you pick consecutive winners in three designated races.

Pick 6 – Same as Pick 3, with six races.

Pick 9 – Ditto for nine races, however some tracks have mandatory payouts when the pool reaches a certain level and you could win big before all nine races have concluded.

Place Pick 9 – This is a variation on Pick 9 which gives a lower payout if your horse gets either win or place position. It’s sometimes referred to as "Bet a Buck."

Superfecta – A very difficult selection. You must select four horses in a designated race to win in exact order of finish.