What is a Trixie Bet? | Trixie Betting Explained & Calculator

The trixie is a 3 selection wager consisting of 4 bets: 3 doubles and a treble.

This can be considered a treble to which three doubles have been added, the advantage being that should one selection fail to win, a return is still generated. Thus, hedging your bets can be a sound strategy in scenarios where a lower reliable return is valued more favourably than the possibility of a single significant win.

Use our trixie calculator to work out returns quickly. Try entering different odds and outcomes to test how the bet behaves before you place it.

How a Trixie Bet Works

To get your trixie betting explained simply, you have to look at how the bet is structured. When you pick three teams or horses (let's call them A, B, and C), your Trixie bet automatically generates four distinct wagers from those selections:

• Double 1: Selection A and Selection B
• Double 2: Selection A and Selection C
• Double 3: Selection B and Selection C
• Treble: Selection A, Selection B, and Selection C

As you are placing four separate bets, your unit stake is multiplied by four. For example, a £5 Trixie will cost you £20 in total (£5 on each of the three doubles and £5 on the treble). If only one of your selections wins, all four bets lose, and you receive no return. If two selections win, exactly one of your doubles will pay out. If all three selections win, you win all three doubles plus the treble, maximizing your payout.

Differences Between a Trixie and a Patent

Bettors often confuse the Trixie with a Patent, as both require exactly three selections. However, the difference comes down to the inclusion of single bets.

A Trixie consists of four bets (three doubles, one treble) and requires at least two winning selections to see a return. A Patent consists of seven bets (three singles, three doubles, and one treble). Because a Patent includes single bets on each of your three choices, you are guaranteed a return even if only one of your selections wins. The trade-off is the cost: a £5 Patent will cost you £35 in total stake, whereas a £5 Trixie only costs £20. A Trixie is ideal when you are confident that at least two of your picks will win and want to keep your overall stake lower.

Best Sports for Trixie Bets

Trixie bets can be placed on almost any market, but they are incredibly popular in horse racing and football due to the nature of the odds in those sports.

Horse Racing

In horse racing, a Trixie is frequently used by punters who have identified three strong favorites or well-priced contenders for a day's racing. Since horse racing odds are generally higher than standard football match-winner odds, landing just one double out of the three selections can often be enough to cover your total original stake and even yield a profit.

Football

In football, Trixies are perfect for weekend accumulators where you want to back three teams to win, or three matches to result in "Both Teams to Score." By using a Trixie rather than a straight treble, your weekend bet is kept alive even if one of your three teams unexpectedly draws or loses.

How to Use the AceOdds Calculator for a Trixie Bet

Figuring out exactly how to calculate a trixie bet manually can be tricky, especially when dealing with fractional odds and dead heats. The AceOdds calculator makes it effortless:

1. Select your bet type: Open the AceOdds calculator and choose "Trixie" from the primary dropdown menu.
2. Choose your odds format: Select whether you want to input your odds as Fractions, Decimals, or American.
3. Input your odds: Enter the odds for your three chosen selections into the designated boxes.
4. Enter your stake: Input your stake. Make sure you specify whether you are entering the "Stake per Bet" (your unit stake, which will be multiplied by four) or your "Total Combined Stake."
5. Set the outcomes: Toggle the status of each selection to "Winner," "Placed," or "Loser" to see how different scenarios affect your overall return and total profit.

Trixie Bet Examples

To make this completely clear, let's look at some real-world trixie bet examples. Imagine you are placing a £2 unit stake Trixie on three football matches (Total Stake = £8).

You select Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool all to win their respective matches.

Maths Breakdown:

As Liverpool lost, any bet involving Liverpool (two of the doubles and the treble) is a losing bet. You only get a return from the single double that did not include Liverpool: Arsenal and Chelsea.

To calculate your winnings for this double, you multiply the decimal odds of the winning selections by your unit stake:

• Arsenal (2/1) = 3.00 in decimal
• Chelsea (3/1) = 4.00 in decimal
• Calculation: 3.00 x 4.00 = 12.00
• 12.00 x £2.00 unit stake = £24.00 Total Return

Even though one of your teams let you down, your £8 total stake still yielded a £24 return, leaving you with a £16 net profit. If Liverpool had also won, all four bets would have paid out for a massive return.

How To Place A Trixie Bet with bet365

1. Select the relevant sport you want to bet on. For this example, we have selected Premier League darts.

2. Then, select the three darts outcomes for your betting slip. Once they are selected, the bet will first be set up as a treble. Press the ‘Show More Multiples’ arrow to unlock all the other available bets.

3. Then select the Trixie option before adding your stake amount. Now, you are ready to place your Trixie.

Reasons for making a Trixie Bet

Now that we have explained a Trixie bet, here are three reasons why you would place one:

• Managing Risk: Like any other combination betting strategy, it offers the ability to generate profit without requiring every selection to be a winner. For example, if you placed a double or a treble in isolation, there is no margin for losing outcomes.
• Higher Returns: A Trixie bet is undoubtedly an interesting proposition, as it offers a neat balance between risk and reward. The combination of bets mitigates the risk, the reward can be big if the odds start at more than Evens each time.
• Strategy Variance: Any good better will tell you that variety is the key to long-term profitability. Instead of placing doubles and trebles and going all in, the Trixie and many other variants allow you the ability to mix things up.

Due to their only being four separate bets in a Trixie, it does mean that the stake per bet can be higher than some of the bigger combination bets. For example, a Super Heinz offers 120 different bets, but the stake is usually much smaller.

Therefore, punters are prepared to stake more per line when it comes to a Trixie as they look to boost their winnings. Of course, there is no set stake that you have to place, and you should always place an amount of money that you are comfortable with.

As always, we must highlight that no single betting type is flawless, and although there may be plenty of reasons to place a Trixie, there are also some counterpoints to consider. And with this in mind, we are going to look at the main benefits and drawbacks.

Conclusion

For those who are just getting started in the world of sports betting, the Trixie bet can be considered a great entry point. The perfect balance between risk and reward is a method that has been tried and tested over the years and one that seasoned veterans will use with a great amount of regularity.