What is a Trixie bet?

Betting continues to grow as a popular way to interact with sporting events, and as you get more involved with betting sites and sports betting in general, you begin to come across an increasingly complicated range of betting terminology.

From accas to Heinz bets, there’s a broad range of betting types to get used to – and a good early starter outside of the traditional methods is the Trixie bet.

A Trixie bet is a spin-off of an accumulator, whereby punters make three selections, such as backing three horses in three separate races and placing them into a Trixie, which is made up of four bets – three doubles and a treble.

Our Trixie bet explained article runs through all you need to know about this combination bet type, including how these bets work, the pros and cons of this type of betting and a Trixie bet example.

So, what’s a Trixie bet?

A Trixie bet is a type of cover bet – a term used to refer to bets that ‘cover’ more angles in terms of potential wins and losses. Rather than a traditional acca, in which the punter loses if one leg of the acca doesn’t land, a cover bet includes several different bets that are essentially independent of each other.

In a Trixie bet, the punter makes three selections, and these are combined into four bets – three doubles and a treble, without any singles.

The doubles consist of all possible double combinations of the three selections winning, while the treble is a bet on all of your selections winning.

Firstly, the bettor makes the three selections. These could be the three winners of three different horse races, or the three winners of three different Premier League matches and so on.

These selections will show up on the bet slip, and there will be a tab showing the various multiples that the punter can select. Simply choose Trixie bet to get started on this type of wager, but be aware that your stake will be multiplied by four to cover the four bets. For example, wagering £1 on each part of a Trixie will cost a bettor £4 in total.

For trebles, you’re betting on all three selections winning, while with doubles, you’re betting on the three different combinations of two of the outcomes coming true.

The event then takes place, with your bets hopefully winning individually and combining to cover the doubles and trebles. For example, the first selection may be a winner at odds of 4/1, with the second at 5/1. To figure out winnings, multiply the two odds together (as decimals) and multiply that by the stake.

In this case, if the above double came in, you’d win 5 x 6 x 1 = £30.

At least two selections must win for a return, but all three selections are needed for the maximum payout.

Now that you’ve had a Trixie bet explained, let’s have a look at the pros and cons of this type of bet. The main benefit of a Trixie bet is that it gives customers a better chance of a return compared to a traditional accumulator, and the chance at higher potential winnings.

If one leg of your bet loses, you can still turn a profit if the two other legs win.

In terms of downsides, a Trixie bet has a higher cost, as it consists of four total bets.

For a simple Trixie bet example, say you had made three selections each with separate odds of 4/1 - these could be horses, football teams, rugby teams, and so on.

Say you had selected Fulham to beat Manchester United, Wolves to beat Arsenal and Chelsea to beat Manchester City – all priced individually at 4/1.

You then place a Trixie bet, meaning you have four bets. These bets are as follows:

If you win the doubles, you calculate odds as mentioned above (multiplying decimal odds by the stake). So if you staked £1 on each leg of a Trixie bet, the sum would be 5 x 5 x 1 = £25. That would be the payout for all three doubles.

The treble follows the same formula: 5 x 5 x 5 x 1 = £125 won on the treble, plus the three £25 returns made on the doubles, for a total of £200 in winnings if you won all the legs.

A common alternative to a Trixie bet is a Patent bet.

The main difference between these two cover bets is that a Patent bet includes three singles in addition to the four bets found in a Trixie. In the above example, a Patent bet would also include three individual bets on Fulham to beat Man United, Wolves to beat Arsenal and Chelsea to beat Man City, and you’d win £4 on each one that won.

The increased number of bets makes it slightly easier to win one or more legs on a Patent bet, but this does mean that the overall stake is higher – there are seven bets overall, so the initial stake is multiplied by seven to get the total.

Trixie bets are most popular on horse racing betting sites and football betting sites due to the increased chances of a return in comparison with a standard treble and the higher potential returns.

But what is a Trixie bet in horse racing? It works similarly to our football example, except your selections would be three different horses across three separate races. The doubles would be each possible combination of two winners, and the treble is simply a combined bet on all three of them winning. Returns are calculated in the same way too.

The best way to calculate your potential winnings is to use a Trixie bet calculator – these are offered by established and new betting sites and can help punters understand the methodology and workings used by bookmakers to determine winnings.

With a Trixie bet consisting of three selections, make sure to spend plenty of time doing research on horses or teams before placing a bet.

For racing, make sure to check out the recent form of the horse, jockey and trainer. Read up on how they perform on the type of ground they’ll be racing on that day and if they’ve previously run at the track in question.

In addition, look for ways to maximise profits or minimise initial stakes when placing a Trixie bet. Bookies sometimes offer this type of bet for use in combination promotions and offers such as free bets, enhanced odds and other specials.

Remember to gamble responsibly. Betting is a form of entertainment, never a surefire way to make money, and punters should never stake more than they can afford to lose.

Before embarking on a Trixie bet or another type of specialised combination wager, make sure you fully understand how the bet works and consider whether this ia the right type of bet for you.

Remember to make use of safer gambling tools on betting sites and betting apps. These may include deposit limits, loss limits, reality checks and self-exclusion tools.

Should you wish to seek help for gambling-related issues, there are several charities and healthcare providers who offer support and information:

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