Cashout Arcade
Menu

Arcade: carnival

Photo Finish: how it plays, odds and payouts

Photo Finish in Cashout Arcade: back a soapbox cart to win, place or an exacta in a six-cart race. 97% return, exact payout tables, up to 151.96x.

By Cashout Arcade Editorial Team Updated Facts last checked 4 min read

On this page

How Photo Finish plays

  1. Pick WIN, PLACE or EXACTA
  2. Tap a cart’s plate to stack chips
  3. Flick LOCK IN before the flag drops
  4. Cheer with your crew while they race

The rule people miss: The winner is drawn when betting closes. Cheers and crew calls are for show.

Each cart's chance to win: lane 1 30%, lane 2 24%, lane 3 17%, lane 4 13%, lane 5 10%, lane 6 6%. The whole finishing order is drawn when betting closes.

WIN pays 3.23x, 4.04x, 5.70x, 7.46x, 9.70x, 16.16x. PLACE (first or second) pays 1.75x, 2.06x, 2.75x, 3.51x, 4.48x, 7.31x. EXACTA (first and second in order) pays up to 151.96x.

Crew calls and cheers never change a result. On the live track luck perks do not apply; in a Private Sprint they do. Tap the tote board for the full tables.

Photo Finish is a race game. Six soapbox carts roll down a hill. You back one or more of them, lock in your slip, and a cart crosses the line first. There is nothing to steer or time: the whole finishing order is decided before the carts start to roll.

Coins are virtual with no cash value. The solo race is called a Private Sprint in the app. A shared live track with other players is switched off by default, so this page describes the solo race.

How a round works

  1. Pick a bet type on the tote board: WIN, PLACE or EXACTA.
  2. Tap a cart's plate to stack chips on it. A slip can hold up to 8 lines, each with its own stake.
  3. Lock in the slip. After that it cannot change.
  4. The race runs for about 16 seconds. When the carts cross, each line that hit pays at its own rate on its own stake.

The order is drawn once, one place at a time without putting carts back: first the winner, then the runner-up from the carts left, and so on. Cheers, crew calls and the wording of the finish ("by a nose", "by a wheel") never change a result.

The six carts

LaneCartChance to win
1Cherry Bomb30%
2Tangerine Flash24%
3Lemon Drop17%
4Mint Rocket13%
5Blue Comet10%
6Grape Jelly6%

What the bets pay

WIN pays if your cart finishes first. PLACE pays if it finishes first or second. Each pay is 97% divided by the chance of that bet, rounded down to four decimals.

LaneWIN paysPLACE chancePLACE pays
13.2333x55.35%1.7525x
24.0416x46.99%2.0644x
35.7058x35.17%2.7581x
47.4615x27.61%3.5127x
59.7x21.62%4.4856x
616.1666x13.26%7.3161x

EXACTA pays when your first cart wins and the second cart is runner-up. The table shows the chance and the pay for each pair (row = first, column = second).

First \ SecondLane 1Lane 2Lane 3Lane 4Lane 5Lane 6
Lane 1-10.29% / 9.4305x7.29% / 13.3137x5.57% / 17.4102x4.29% / 22.6333x2.57% / 37.7222x
Lane 29.47% / 10.2388x-5.37% / 18.0686x4.11% / 23.6282x3.16% / 30.7166x1.89% / 51.1944x
Lane 36.14% / 15.7862x4.92% / 19.7328x-2.66% / 36.4298x2.05% / 47.3588x1.23% / 78.9313x
Lane 44.48% / 21.6384x3.59% / 27.048x2.54% / 38.1855x-1.49% / 64.9153x0.90% / 108.1923x
Lane 53.33% / 29.1x2.67% / 36.375x1.89% / 51.3529x1.44% / 67.1538x-0.67% / 145.5x
Lane 61.91% / 50.6555x1.53% / 63.3194x1.09% / 89.3921x0.83% / 116.8974x0.64% / 151.9666x-

Worked example

You put 60 coins on lane 1 to WIN and 40 coins on the exacta lane 6 then lane 5. The slip is 100 coins. If lane 1 wins, the WIN line pays 60 x 3.2333, about 194 coins, and the exacta line pays nothing. If lane 6 wins with lane 5 second, the WIN line pays nothing and the exacta pays 40 x 151.9666, about 6,079 coins. If neither happens, both lines lose. Over many races both lines return 97% of their stakes, so the slip does too.

Max win and limits

The top result is the exacta of lane 6 first and lane 5 second: 151.96x that line's stake, about a 1 in 156 chance. The game-wide limits of 50,000x the bet and 250,000,000 coins per round are never reached. Volatility is high.

What matters and what does not

  • Which carts you back: changes how often you win and how much, not the 97%.
  • Hedging and mixing bet types: every line returns about 97% over time, so any slip does too, whether you cover one cart or many.
  • The race animation: for show. The order was set before the carts moved.
  • Past races: each race is drawn fresh with the same chances. A cart that has not won lately is not "due".

The idea of a bet that pays 97 coins in the long run for every 100 staked is explained in House Edge Explained: How Casinos Make Their Money. The published odds for every game are on the odds page.

Frequently asked questions

Do the carts have equal chances?

No. Lane 1 wins 30% of races, lane 2 24%, lane 3 17%, lane 4 13%, lane 5 10% and lane 6 6%. The longer the odds on a cart, the more a win pays, and every bet returns 97% over time.

Is the race on screen the real race?

The finishing order is drawn on our servers when you lock in your bet. The race you watch is an animation built to end in that order, so the lead changes and the photo finish are for show.

Can I bet on more than one cart?

Yes. A slip holds up to 8 lines, each with its own stake. Spreading chips over several carts changes how your results are spread, but not the 97% return.

What is an exacta?

A bet on two carts to finish first and second in that exact order. It is the hardest bet on the slip and the one that can pay up to 151.96x.