A trifecta is a bet on the first three runners across the line in exact order: first, second and third. A straight ticket covers one finishing order; a box or standout covers several, and the cost is the number of orders covered times your unit. A 5-runner box covers 60 orders: $60 at $1 a combination, or $24 as a 40% flexi bet.
Under the tote rules Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted (WA Government Gazette No. 149, 3 August 2010), the pool needs at least 3 runners, and a dividend per $1 is declared on the winning order after the result. A box, standout or roving banker changes which orders you pay for, never what has to happen. For the other racing bets, start at horse racing betting.
How to bet a trifecta
- Check the field. The tote pool needs at least 3 runners, and scratchings can change the field after you bet.
- Choose a layout: straight (one order), box (every order of your runners), standout (one runner fixed in one place), roving banker (one runner anywhere in the first three), or different runners for each place.
- Count the combinations with the formulas below. The flexi calculator counts a box, a standout in first place, one roving banker and per-place legs that hold different runners. For a standout in second or third, two roving bankers or legs that share runners, use the formulas and check the count on the ticket.
- Set the outlay. $1 a combination is a 100% ticket; any other outlay makes it a flexi bet that collects its percentage of the dividend, under 100% when you spend less and over 100% when you spend more.
- Read the approximate if your tote shows one, knowing the dividend is declared only after the result.
Boxed trifecta costs from 3 to 8 runners
A box covers every order of its runners:
box combinations = n x (n - 1) x (n - 2)
| Runners boxed | Combinations | Cost at $1 | Cost at 50% | Adding a runner adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 x 2 x 1 = 6 | $6 | $3 | 18 combinations |
| 4 | 4 x 3 x 2 = 24 | $24 | $12 | 36 combinations |
| 5 | 5 x 4 x 3 = 60 | $60 | $30 | 60 combinations |
| 6 | 6 x 5 x 4 = 120 | $120 | $60 | 90 combinations |
| 7 | 7 x 6 x 5 = 210 | $210 | $105 | 126 combinations |
| 8 | 8 x 7 x 6 = 336 | $336 | $168 | 168 combinations |
Every runner costs more than the one before: the fourth adds 18 combinations and the eighth adds 126. A straight ticket, one runner for each place, is a single combination, $1 at full units. The boxed bet entry lists every order in a 3-runner box, and a first four box multiplies that count by one more place, n - 3.
Standouts and roving bankers: what each layout covers
A box spends the same on every order. A layout spends only on the orders you believe in. With m runners alongside your banker:
- standout first: m x (m - 1)
- standout second, or standout third: also m x (m - 1)
- two bankers in fixed places, first and second: m
- roving banker, anywhere in the first three: 3 x m x (m - 1)
- two roving bankers, both anywhere in the first three: 6 x m
With Runner 7 as the banker and Runners 1, 3, 5, 10 and 12 alongside it, illustratively:
| Layout | Working | Combinations | Cost at $1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box of all six runners | 6 x 5 x 4 | 120 | $120 |
| Runner 7 to win, the five for second and third | 5 x 4 | 20 | $20 |
| Runner 7 second, the five for first and third | 5 x 4 | 20 | $20 |
| Runner 7 anywhere in the first three, a roving banker | 3 x 5 x 4 | 60 | $60 |
| Runner 7 first, Runner 3 second, 1, 5, 10 or 12 third | 1 x 1 x 4 | 4 | $4 |
| Runners 7 and 3 both in the first three, 1, 5, 10 or 12 in the other place | 6 x 4 | 24 | $24 |
A roving banker costs three times the standout because the banker can fill any of three places, and it survives your banker running second or third, which a standout does not. Two bankers cost little because they fix most of the order. Operators name these layouts differently, so check the combination count on the ticket before you confirm. Trifecta strategy covers how to choose between them from the runners' chances.
Flexi: $24 on a 5-runner box
Under the 2010 rules a trifecta can be a flexi bet: each combination carries the outlay divided by the number of combinations, and a winning ticket collects that percentage of the dividend. For this box:
flexi % = outlay / combinations x 100 = $24 / 60 x 100 = 40%
So $24 on a 5-runner box puts 40c on each of its 60 orders. At a hypothetical $350 dividend:
return = dividend x flexi % = $350 x 0.40 = $140.00, a $116.00 profit
The same ticket at other illustrative dividends:
| Dividend per $1 | Return at 40% | Result on $24 |
|---|---|---|
| $42.50 | $17.00 | -$7.00 |
| $60.00 | $24.00 | $0.00 |
| $350.00 | $140.00 | +$116.00 |
| $1,285.40 | $514.16 | +$490.16 |
Spending the same $24 on other layouts trades coverage for share. If a result paying $350 lands on each of these tickets:
| $24 on | Combinations | Flexi | Return at $350 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runner 7 to win with five others | 20 | 120% | $350 x 1.20 = $420.00 |
| A 4-runner box | 24 | 100% | $350 x 1.00 = $350.00 |
| A 5-runner box | 60 | 40% | $350 x 0.40 = $140.00 |
| Runner 7 as a roving banker with five others | 60 | 40% | $350 x 0.40 = $140.00 |
| A 6-runner box | 120 | 20% | $350 x 0.20 = $70.00 |
The narrower the ticket, the more of the dividend it keeps and the fewer results it covers. Operators set a minimum outlay and their own rounding for flexi, so check yours before building a ticket near the floor.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A 40% ticket that lands on a short dividend can still lose money, and a 5-runner box misses whenever any of the first three comes from outside it. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
What a scratching does inside a trifecta
Under the 2010 gazetted rules there is no substitute in a tote trifecta: every combination with a scratched runner in it is refunded (rule 9.1, and rule 9.4(a) for field bets), and the rest of the ticket runs at the same flexi percentage. Only multi-race pools such as the running double, daily double, quaddie and Big 6 use a substitute.
Example: Illustrative. One runner is scratched from the $24, 5-runner box at 40%. What remains is a 4-runner box of 24 combinations, so 60 - 24 = 36 combinations come back at 40c each, $14.40, and $9.60 stays on at 40%.
If your standout or roving banker is scratched, every combination includes it and the whole ticket is refunded. A field cut below 3 runners after final scratchings ends the pool, and every ticket in it is refunded (rules 10.2 and 10.3).
Fixed-odds trifectas from bookmakers follow their own terms, and the rule types vary. Some refund only the part that includes the scratched runner, some settle at a recalculated price, and one that pays a tote dividend may follow the tote's rule. Check yours before you bet; exotic scratching rules sets out the tote's refunds and substitutes across every exotic.
Dead heats and results nobody picked
A dead heat makes more than one order a winner. Under rule 12.5 of the 2010 rules the pool is split evenly across the winning combinations, and the units on each one share its part. A winning combination nobody backed sends its part to the jackpot for the next trifecta.
Say Runner 7 wins, Runner 1 runs second and Runners 5 and 12 dead-heat for third: 7, 1, 5 and 7, 1, 12 each draw half the pool, and a box holding both collects both dividends.
When nobody holds the winning order at all, the same rules let the operator carry the pool forward into a later one, as a jackpot (rule 13.2(a)). At the operator's discretion it can instead be paid to the nearest combinations: the first three in any order, then any two of the first three with another runner (rule 13.2.8). These are the 2010 gazetted rules, and operators can change theirs, so check what the current rules say before relying on one.
Mistakes that make tickets cost more
- Adding a sixth runner at the same outlay. $24 over 6 runners is 120 combinations at 20%, so the $350 result returns $70 instead of $140.
- Boxing runners you rate very differently. A box spends as much on the outsider winning as on the favourite, so a view on the order is cheaper as a standout.
- Taking a roving banker when you expect the banker to win. It costs three times the standout to cover places you do not expect it to fill.
- Reading a landed ticket as a profit. At 40% on a 5-runner box, any dividend under $60 returns less than the $24 outlay.
- Building under the operator's minimum outlay, which can see the ticket refused.
- Taking a trifecta when your view stops at second place. Third place multiplies the cost: a 4-runner trifecta box is 24 combinations against 12 for an exacta box on the same runners, so the exacta box covers that view at half the cost.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A narrower ticket keeps more of a dividend only when it lands, and it lands on fewer results than the wider ticket it replaces. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Checking runner prices before you build a ticket
Every layout starts from a view of how likely each runner is to fill each place, and win prices are the market's view of the first part. The Terminal puts prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports side by side for each runner, with price history and Betfair back and lay beside them. The dividend cannot be compared ahead of the race, because it is declared after it.
A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. B337 does not rate runners or choose the runners on a ticket. Betfair is a trade mark of its owner, and B337 is not affiliated with it.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Three runners have to finish in a single exact order, so most tickets miss, and a run of losing tickets can go on for a long time. See responsible gambling for limits and support.