What is a Trixie Bet?
A Trixie bet involves four combination bets on three selections: three full-cover doubles and one treble. Two of the selections must win to secure a return.
This article explains how and when to place Trixies.
Note: This article uses British pounds (£) and fractional odds (e.g., 5/1). Decimal odds (e.g., 6.00) are also referenced for clarity. Depending on your region or sportsbook, you may see American odds (e.g., +500). The same betting principles apply no matter the odds format or currency.
How Does a Trixie Bet Work?
Because there are four components in a Trixie bet, the total cost is four times your unit stake, so a £10 Trixie would cost £40.
Here are the four bets that make up a Trixie:
- Three cross-doubles (1&2 + 1&3 + 2&3)
- One treble (1 + 2 + 3)
Example of a Trixie Bet
To fully grasp how a Trixie works, let's take a look at a real-life example:
- Selection 1: Stolen Silver (2.30 Chepstow) – 4/1
- Selection 2: Universal Folly (2.45 Hexham) – 3/1
- Selection 3: Fair Angellica (4.25 Newmarket) – 15/2
In this example, all three selections won their respective races, meaning a £10 Trixie bet costing £40 would have returned £2,602.
Let's break down how this is calculated:
Note: We've used decimal odds here to simplify the calculations.
- Stolen Silver/Universal Folly - £200.00 (£10 x 5.0 x 4.0)
- Stolen Silver/Fair Angelica - £425.00 (£10 x 5.0 x 8.5)
- Universal Folly/Fair Angelica - £340.00 (£10 x 4.0 x 8.5)
Doubles Total: £965 (£200 + £425 + £340)
Total: £2,665.00 (£965 + £1700)
What Sports Can I Place Trixies on?
A Trixie bet is most commonly associated with horse racing, but it can be used in any sport that features multiple events. They work well for tennis and rugby bets and can also be a great way to combine shorter-priced selections at top football (soccer) betting sites.
You don’t even have to stick to sporting events. If you want one of your selections to be the winner of Strictly Come Dancing or even the next Prime Minister, you can use a Trixie bet.
Let’s look at another example of a Trixie bet based on three football matches.
- Selection 1: Arsenal to beat Manchester City – 15/8 (WON)
- Selection 2: Lazio to beat Atalanta – 15/8 (WON)
- Selection 3: Barcelona to win at Granada – 2/5 (LOST)
In this example, two of the three selections won, meaning a £10 Trixie bet (costing £40 in total) would have returned £82.94.
- Arsenal/Lazio: £82.94 (£10 x 2.88 x 2.88)
How Does Each-Way Trixie Betting Work?
With each-way Trixie bets on horse racing, you can earn a return even if none of your selections win, as long as they place, meaning they finish in one of the top few positions, usually the top two, three, or four, depending on the number of runners in the race.
If you combine each-way selections in a Trixie, then you will double its cost: A £5 Trixie on three win-only bets, for example, would cost £20. In contrast, a £5 Trixie bet on three each-way selections would cost £40.
Regarding the place payout of your each-way selection, industry standards dictate that you will generally be paid at 1/5 of the odds. However, you typically get 1/4 odds on races with 4-7 runners and some more prestigious handicap races.
Trixie Bet vs. Patent
The main difference between these two bet types is that a Patent includes three singles, three doubles, and a treble.
With this in mind, a total Patent stake would be seven times your unit stake, while a Trixie is just four times the unit stake.
The advantage of the Patent is that even if you have just one winner, you will still earn a return, unlike a Trixie bet, which requires two correct selections to secure any return.
