Trifecta A trifecta is a

parimutuel bet Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...

placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Australia, this is known as a tricast in the UK, a tierce in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, a triactor in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and a tiercé in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. A trio, offered in Hong Kong and France, is a variation in which the order of the horses is not relevant.

Variations

Boxed

A "boxed" trifecta is where three horses are selected, and the player wins if these three horses finish first in any order. Boxed bets are effectively equivalent to placing standard trifecta bets on all six possible outcomes of the selected horses. For example, a boxed trifecta of horses numbered 6, 7 and 9, wins if horses finish in any of these combinations of outcomes: * 6, 7, 9 * 6, 9, 7 * 7, 6, 9 * 7, 9, 6 * 9, 6, 7 * 9, 7, 6.

Banker

One horse (the "banker") is chosen to win the race, and two or more selections are boxed to come second and third. The "banker" must win in all possible combinations. For example, if horse number 2 is the banker, and the other three choices are numbered 6, 7 and 8, then there are a total six possible combinations for a winning bet: * 2, 6, 7 * 2, 6, 8 * 2, 7, 6 * 2, 7, 8 * 2, 8, 6 * 2, 8, 7.

Roving banker or banker multiple

One horse (the "banker") is chosen to finish in the first three, and three or more selections are boxed for the other two places – the banker must finish either 1st, 2nd or 3rd in each possible combination. For example, if horse number 6 is the banker, and horses number 7, 8 and 9 are the selections, then there are total of eighteen combinations for a winning bet, each with horse number 6 in them, for example: * 6, 7, 8 * 7, 6, 8 * 7, 8, 6 * 6, 8, 9 * 8, 9, 6, and so on.

History

The term was first used in the 1970s, and was derived from '' perfecta'' (a bet on which horses will finish first and second) and ''

tri- Numeral or number prefixes are prefixes derived from numerals or occasionally other numbers. In English and many other languages, they are used to coin numerous series of words. For example: * unicycle, bicycle, tricycle (1-cycle, 2-cycle, 3-cy ...

'' (three). In the United States, the trifecta was first initiated at

Arlington Park Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago reg ...

in 1971. It was first used in Australia in April 1977 by TAB New South Wales, and was introduced in New Zealand in December 1983.

References