For those looking to make their bets a little more exciting (and potentially more lucrative!), adding multiple selections into a wager is one great option. There are almost countless different types of bets, even ignoring the options for in-play, ante-post and pre-match, and the myriad markets that are available for the biggest games.
But multiples betting, where you combine two or more different, unrelated bets into one wager, remains one of the most popular ways to bet going. Here we take a look at one of the smaller multiples out there, the Trixie.
What Is a Trixie Bet?
A Trixie is a multiples bet with three selections. So, a treble then? No, because whilst a treble is one single bet, a Trixie is four bets. In one. One of which is a treble. Crystal clear right? Well, before we clear those deliberately muddied waters, let’s consider the basics.
First, as with a treble, you must make three unrelated selections. In our articles about trebles, but doubles in particular, we explain the issue of related contingencies and how selections that impact each other or are related cannot be combined in multiples bets. Trixies are probably most commonly used in horse racing betting and so, for example, predicting which horses will finish first, second and third in a race is not an accumulator with three separate legs, but a separate single bet (in this case called a tricast) with its own odds.
Whilst racing fans tend to love Trixies, as with the other bet types we have looked at, they can be made in almost any sport, event or market and indeed combined across markets and sports. Some betting sites may technically claim that you cannot place a multi-sport Trixie but you can effectively create your own Trixie at these sites by placing the relevant bets (we will explain what these are shortly). So, a Trixie is four bets in one based on three separate, unrelated selections and can be based on any sport, but how does that work in practice?
Trixies Explained
A Trixie takes three separate selections and, for the purposes of this piece, let us consider three of the key races at the Cheltenham Festival. For example, let us look back to 2021 and imagine you picked Minella Indo for the Gold Cup at 9/1, Put The Kettle On for the Champion Chase at 17/2 and Allaho at 3/1 for the Ryanair. It would have been a great bet by the way as they all won! If only we had a DeLorean.
A Trixie combines all possible multiples from these three selections and for that reason is called a full cover bet. That name is somewhat misleading in our opinion as singles are not actually included: for that you would need to place a Patent, which is an example of a full cover with singles wager. A Trixie includes the single treble that you can make with these three horses, as well as the three possible doubles. So, the table below shows what bets would be included with our example.
| Bet Type | Horses | Cumulative Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Treble | Minella Indo, Put The Kettle On and Allaho | 379/1 |
| Double | Minella Indo, Put The Kettle On | 94/1 |
| Double | Minella Indo, Allaho | 39/1 |
| Double | Put The Kettle On, Allaho | 37/1 |
A £1 Trixie means that you are placing £1 on each of the four separate bets and so this will cost £4 in total. To win all four bets, all three horses must win. Such a Trixie would deliver a massive return of £553 (£549 net win). At the other end of the spectrum, if no horses won then you would lose all four bets and be £4 down. Equally, if just one of your three picks won, you would lose all four bets as you cannot complete any of the doubles or the treble with just one winner.
If two of the three horses win you will always generate a return and with the odds in our example you would make a good net win too. With two winners, one of your doubles will be a success and whilst you would lose the other three bets, given the shortest-priced double is 37/1, you would still be very much in the black.
Of course, landing winners at any odds is not easy and certainly getting them at 9/1, 17/2 and 3/1 would be some achievement. But as said, you can make a Trixie on any market or sport you want and at any odds too. Let us imagine a separate Trixie placed by a football fan on three anytime goalscorers.
- Michail Antonio (evens)
- Mo Salah (3/5)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (4/5)
| Bet Type | Scorers | Cumulative Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Treble | Antonio/Salah/Ronaldo | 4.76/1 |
| Double | Antonio/Salah | 2.2/1 |
| Double | Antonio/Ronaldo | 2.6/1 |
| Double | Salah/Ronaldo | 1.88/1 |
Whilst winning a bet like this would be far easier, as you can see, the returns are much, much lower. If all three forwards did indeed score you would be looking at a very decent win. However, due to the short odds, if just two scored you would make a small loss overall, with winnings from your solitary winning double more than offset by your three losing bets.
How Do I Place a Trixie?
Here we are, of course, talking about making a Trixie bet online. For those brave souls entering into the real world and a shop or other sports betting venue, we would simply advise writing your selections on a slip and asking a member of staff for assistance. Now, back to the really-real world of the internet!
Placing a Trixie is easy and, as with any bet, the first thing to do is make your selections. As said, this particular type of multiples bet entails three selections. Go to each individually, selecting the sport, event, market and selection you want to include and then click to either add to bet slip or just on the odds. Once you have added all three picks to your betting slip, go to the slip itself.
Depending on which site you are using you may see the option to place a Trixie listed. If so, it may be listed among other betting options as: “Trixie (x4)”, or similar. This indicates the bet type and how many individual stakes it would entail. In this case, as we know, there are four bets, three doubles and a treble, so four stakes, meaning a £5 Trixie would cost you £20. In the stake box, whatever value you input will be multiplied by four to give the total stake required.
Most sites will also show you the potential returns but note that this will always be based on all four bets winning. If you only get two of your three picks right and thus land one winning double only, returns will depend on the odds of the legs that won.
Make Your Own Trixie
If your bookie of choice doesn’t automatically offer a Trixie, either for technological reasons or because they only cater for same-sport bets and you want to mix things up, you can effectively make your own Trixie. Almost all major UK bookmakers now automatically offer you a range of bets when you add more than one selection to your slip.
Add three selections and, even if Trixie is not listed as an available bet, you should still see an option to back the full acca (treble) and a separate box which may be marked “Doubles (x3)” or similar. If you enter, for example, £5, in each staking box, this will effectively create a Trixie with £5 on each of the standard four wagers, costing £20 overall.
If you want to finesse this approach even further, placing your four bets this way you could actually adjust the stakes slightly. The treble is less likely to win but offers more reward if it does, so you might want to place a slightly smaller stake on that.
What Sports & Markets Are Best for Trixie Betting?
As said, you can place a Trixie on more or less any sport or combination of sports you want and the same goes for markets. However, this bet lends itself very well to horse racing and whether you look to back the winner in the three big races at a particular meeting, scan the tipsters for three encouraging-sounding NAPs, or just opt for a trio of horses you especially fancy, it is a bet that can offer a lot of bang for your buck.
Another popular option when it comes to Trixies is first goalscorer football betting. For those who want to play things a tad more conservatively, anytime scorer is also a great option. The main match odds are also a very popular selection for fans of a Trixie, as are BTTS, over 2.5 goals and other similar markets.
Rugby, tennis and a whole host of other sports are great, with many fans of US sports opting for a Trixie to liven things up and keep them awake as they watch the games unfold in the early hours. Ultimately, whichever sport you know the most about is probably the best for a Trixie for you, so why not give this interesting multiple a try?
Each Way Trixie?
Whilst a Trixie strikes a good balance between risk and reward, because getting two out of three predictions right yields a return and often a net win, for those who want a little more insurance, an each way Trixie is a great bet. For fuller information on how such a bet works, read our longer explanation when we look at each way trebles in our general feature on trebles.
However, in short, as with any each way bet, your stake is doubled, so a £5 each way Trixie will cost £40 in total. Looking at each of the four bets separately, you need all of them to win to win all four win bets and all four each way ones. If two selections that make up one of your three doubles place, or one of them wins and the other places, you will get an each way return on that. Any and all of the eight bets (four to place and four to win) that include a losing selection will be losers.
An each way Trixie is typically good when at least a couple of your selections are at longer odds, so it might be a good choice for horse racing. If you back three horses for three consecutive races and all of them are priced at 12/1, paying a quarter of the odds for a place, your returns from a £5 each way Trixie (costing £40 in total) would be thus:
| Horses Win or Place | Winning Bets | Net Win |
|---|---|---|
| All Three Win | All four win bets and all four each way (treble and three doubles for each) | £13,500 |
| Any Two Win, One Loses | One double, win and place | £885 |
| Any Two Win, One Places | One win double and two place doubles | £1,365 |
| All Three Place, Or Two Place And One Wins | All four place bets (treble and three doubles) | £520 |
| Two Place And One Loses Or One Win And One Place | One place double | £40 |
You do not need to use odds as big as 12/1 to make this bet worthwhile of course. If all three picks are priced at 8/1, even the worst winning scenario listed above, where just one place bet wins, yields a small net win. However, drop to 7/1 and you need more than just one each way double to avoid a loss.
That said, if you are able to land three horses that all place, even at odds of just 2/1, your bet would still be in the black overall. Many view such a bet as a great way to wager on the horses as most punters fancy they can land at least a place at odds as low as these. Nothing is guaranteed of course, but if all three of your horses can at least claim a place, a £5 each way Trixie will deliver you a net win of £10.63. Of course, if all three win, even at just 2/1, your returns are far greater – a rather tidy £321!