The Yankee bet, as I revealed last issue, can be enormously rewarding. I pointed out how the mighty Statsman had raked in thousands of dollars in profits from his Yankee bet selections in the past couple of years.

His performance is a matter of public record, his selections having been given on our telephone services. It's time now for YOU to start having a go at landing the Yankee.

Before I suggest the 'perming' of selections, a quick resume of what constitutes a Yankee:

It's a total of 4 selections, linked into 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a 4horse all-up accumulator. Some TABs offer a special parlay ticket for $11, so all you have to do is nominate the selections in the four races.

However, all selections must be at the same meeting.

If you adopt the 'any race' approach you'll have to back the horses individually and then reinvest. That's not too hard. Just work out your doubles and trebles in ABCD format and bet accordingly.

As an example: On the double, you would have:
AB
AC
AD
BC
BD
CD

Obviously, then, with A figuring in 3 doubles you will have 3 units to win on him. This is 1 unit for each double. So if he wins at 2/1, you have 3 units going on each of B, C and D. When B runs you have to cover 2 doubles (with C and D) so that's 2 units to bet on it. When C runs, you only have I double (with D) to cover, so the bet is 1 unit.

You do the same thing for the trebles, except that you go one step further to the third bet.

The 'perming' I suggest is for three sets of four Yankees, comprising a total of 6 selections. Try to pick them at the same track if your State TAB has a parlay ticket. This will save a deal of heartburn in having to reinvest winnings.

You select 6 horses in 6 different races and couple them in the following manner:


1st2nd3rd
Horse Aoo 
Horse Boo 
Horse Co o
Horse Do o
Horse E oo
Horse F oo

You can see that we have three sets of Yankee 4-horse parlays. They overlap. We give ourselves a very solid chance of landing some decent returns with 2 or 3 winners.

This three-pronged Yankee provides for a broad range of wins should your selections do well. If you happened to strike with all 6 winners - which you could easily do if betting for the place - you would end up with every bet landed, a whopping 18 doubles, 12 trebles and three accumulators.

Here is how to assess your likely winnings:

  • Any two winners from the combinations AB, CD or EF ... 2 doubles up.
  • Any other pair of winners ... I double up.
  • Three winners, AB, or CD, or EF with any one of the others ... 4 doubles, I treble.
  • Any other three winners ... 3 doubles.
  • Four winners, ABCD, ABEF or CDEF ... 8 doubles, 4 trebles and 1 accumulator.
  • Any other four winners ... 7 doubles, 2 trebles.
  • Any five winners ... 12 doubles, 6 trebles, I accumulator.
  • All six winners ... 18 doubles, 12 trebles, 3 accumulators.

Betting like this is really for those punters who want to have a crack at landing some big returns. To take a parlay permutation like this will set you back $33 using $1 units, or $330 using $10 units.

You can bet all for a place or all for a win. Obviously, by betting for the place you will ensure a greater flow of divvies, and depending on the divvies, they could still be very large returns.

As I pointed out last issue, you could virtually land a whole year's betting money with one Yankee bet getting home.

Much depends on your selections. Like any betting approach, a Yankee is only as good as the selections. If they are no good, it can't work. Nor can any other method.

Click here to read Part 1.

By Damian Whitchurch

PRACTICAL PUNTING - SEPTEMBER 1996