A combination tricast is a popular bet for those looking to land a big win on the horses but who also want a little more chance of hitting that win than is offered by a normal tricast (which you may see called a straight tricast, or just a tricast). These bets are mainly made on horse racing but could also be made on greyhounds and, in a sense, on other sports too.
Our main feature on tricasts is essential reading if you do not know anything at all about this type of bet. It explains what it is, how it works, how to place it, what sports it is available on and looks at variations of the bet and which is the best option. We will cover some of that information again in brief here though, so if you don’t want to read the longer tricast article this should work just fine as a standalone piece to get you up to speed with a combination tricast and ready to get your bets on!
Tricast Basics
Before we explain what a combination tricast is, it really is necessary to know what a straight tricast is. Here, in the shortest, simplest way possible, is what you need to know:
- Tricast is a general term for any bet on who will finish first, second and third in the right order in any event.
- More specifically it refer to a Computer Tricast which is a bet placed on dog or horses races.
- The “Computer” refers to the way winnings are calculated. Rather than fixed odds known prior to the race, a computer formula calculates the return.
- The Computer Tricast is also the name given to the winnings from this bet, expressed as a dividend which is what you would get back based on a £1 stake.
- The formula to calculate the payout is complex but looks at the odds of the favourite and where it finished, the type of race it is, any draw bias at the track and, most crucially, the odds of the first three home.
- A tricast can deliver huge rewards, with a dividend of over £70,000 occurring in one Cheltenham contest. However, the payout will be much smaller if three short-priced favourites fill the first three places.
- Tricasts are only typically offered on handicap races with eight or more runners declared (and six must run), whilst most dog races with six or more entrants will offer the bet.
- Tricasts in the broader sense can theoretically be made on any event with an ordered first three.
- These are almost certainly priced as fixed odds bets, such as naming the podium in Formula 1 or the top three sides in football’s Premier League.
Hopefully the above is enough to either refresh your betting know-how or provide you with the basics of a tricast. Now we know that, what about a combination tricast?
What Is a Combination Tricast?
A combination tricast is to a tricast what a reverse forecast is to a straight forecast. It takes a prediction that must be in the right order and brings more flexibility and an increased chance of winning by making the order unimportant. A forecast is a prediction of first and second and so a reverse forecast is very simple: you just back one combination and then the same two horses but the other way round. So, if you think Red Rum and Shergar will do the business but you can’t separate them, a reverse forecast sees you back Red Rum-Shergar and Shergar-Red Rum.
Things are a little more complex when you are predicting the first three places though. The most basic combination tricast entails picking three horses and covering all possible combinations of those. So, if we call our three picks 1, 2 and 3, for example, you would back:
- 1 2 3
- 1 3 2
- 2 1 3
- 2 3 1
- 3 1 2
- 3 2 1
Thus, a combination tricast where you make three selections would require six bets to be made. A £10 combination tricast, therefore, costs £60 in total. This means that if the three horses (or dogs) you have selected occupy first, second and third, no matter what order, you will have a winning bet.
Your winnings will be determined after the race by the Computer Tricast dividend. So, if the horses kindly finish in their assigned numerical order, Horse 1 winning, 2 second and 3 third, the dividend will be declared for 1-2-3. Your other five bets will lose but you will win on that particular combination, returning 10 times the declared tricast (assuming a £10 stake).
Combination Tricast with Multiple Selections
With just three selections it takes six bets to cover all possible combinations that the three horses can finish in, as we have seen above. Getting the first three in the right order is incredibly tough but getting them in any order is still a real challenge. For this reason, a combination tricast allows you to include more than three horses. You can back four, five, six or even more to finish in the top three in any order. This makes things much easier but with each separate combination of the first three requiring a separate stake, the number of individual bets in combination tricasts like these can really add up.
Reverting to our numbered horses as before, if you think that horses 1, 2, 3 and 4 are the ones who will contest the top three, you would need to make the following bets to over all possible outcomes.
- 1 2 3
- 1 2 4
- 1 3 4
- 1 3 2
- 1 4 2
- 1 4 3
- 2 3 4
- 2 4 3
- 2 1 3
- 2 3 1
- 2 4 1
- 2 1 4
- 3 1 2
- 3 2 1
- 3 2 4
- 3 4 2
- 3 1 4
- 3 4 1
- 4 1 2
- 4 2 1
- 4 1 3
- 4 3 1
- 4 2 3
- 4 3 2
As you can see, 24 separate bets are needed, meaning 24 stakes, such that a £10 combination tricast with four selections would cost a very substantial £240. And when you add even more selections, to cover more bases and give yourself an even better chance of landing the correct trio, the number of bets really starts to multiply.
Such wagers are not uncommon, though most punters who opt for this sort of a bet tend to play with low stakes, often on at least one or two outsiders hoping to hit a really big win. You can see how the number of stakes increases with the extra selections below:
- 3 selections = 6 bets
- 4 selections = 24 bets
- 5 selections = 60 bets
- 6 selections = 120 bets
- 7 selections = 210 bets
Most people who opt for a combination tricast tend to stick to four or five selections at the most. Certainly going as high as seven is quite rare, though in theory you can go even higher. However, as only one of your bets can win (barring a dead heat) you will need a fairly sizeable dividend to have a net win should you opt to include so many horses.
How to Place a Combination Tricast
We explain more about this in the main Tricast article but as with most bets, bookies try to make things as simple as possible. As we have noted, tricasts (and therefore combination tricasts) are not available on every race, nor are they offered by all betting sites. However, where they are available, you should see a tricast tab, dropdown or similar.
Naturally, things vary between different betting sites but in general you will see a grid of the horses. The names will typically be listed down the left of the page, with the option to back them to finish first, second, or third. You can ignore those though, as with a combination tricast you want to tick “Any” (or similar), indicating that you are backing three horse to finish in any of the first three, with all the combinations of bets that will entail.
As you tick three, four, five or more selections, your bets will increase. Once you are happy with your picks, add them to the slip and you should see confirmation of how many individual stakes will be needed to cover the bet. Select a stake and then this will be multiplied by that number to give you a total stake. Confirm the bet, cross your toes, dig out that rabbit’s foot and away you go!
Rules of Note
Dead heats, non-runners and other relatively unusual but far from unheard of factors can affect your bets. How these scenarios play out depends, obviously, on which we are talking about, the specific circumstances and the bookie at which you placed your bet. We look at this in more detail in our feature on tricasts, linked to above.
However, in general, when it comes to dead heats, multiple smaller dividends are declared reflecting each combination of possible winners. As for non-runners, bets are usually either void, or moved to being forecasts or even singles, depending on the precise scenario.
Combination Tricast Alternatives
As we have said, a true combination tricast can only be placed in this way on eligible horse and dog races, with winnings computed using the set industry formula. However, if you have read our tricast feature you will know that tote, and tote-affiliated sites, offer a Trifecta. This is essentially the same bet but winnings are determined in accordance with normal pools/parimutuel protocols.
A Combination Trifecta works in exactly the same way as a combination tricast. You pick three or more selections and they can finish in any order for your bet to win. The dividend is declared after the race and whichever of the combination of three horses won is paid out accordingly.
When it comes to fixed odds options, these may be available at certain bookies but you will have to look for the individual markets, or even request them. Examples of bets that would be comparable to a combination forecast would be a market such as “Premier League Top 3 – Any Order”, or in F1, “Podium Finishers – Any Order”. These will be far less widely available and it should also be noted that you will not be able to include extra selections with such bets, just for the three you do choose to finish in any order.