If you think you can do more than just predict the winner of a race or tournament, and you believe that predicting two is something you can do with ease, perhaps a tricast is the bet for you. Here, you need to select the winner, the second placed runner and also the third, three selections, in the right order, in one bet.
This is not an easy bet to get right, and for that reason, as you would expect, the odds you will receive for this bet being a winner are usually pretty high. This is what attracts people, getting a winning tricast, even if it involves three favourites, can lead to good returns, when you include bigger priced selections, these become even greater.
Most commonly used for horse and greyhound racing but you can in theory place a tricast on any event where there is a finishing order (knockout tournament for most sports, golf, motorsport, etc.).
What Can You Place a Tricast Bet On?
For those looking to get involved with tricast betting, the first thing to say is that there aren’t too many sports and events where you can place them. You can do these on all greyhound races that have six runners, which is the standard number, assuming no withdrawals.
You can place the bet on all handicap horse races that have eight runners or more and on selected big races, where this is offered as a special one-off. Any race less than eight runners will not be eligible for tricast betting, and any race that is not a handicap, for example, a claimer, seller, maiden, listed or group race, is not a race where tricasts are accepted, other than when a special exemption is made, because the race is a big event.
Elsewhere, some bookmakers offer tricast betting on other sports and markets, like they do with forecast betting. Perhaps the best example of this would be with football when looking at big competitions such as the Premier League or international competitions like the World Cup. Here you can predict the first three, which would be the final league table in the Premier League or the winners, runners up and third placed team at the World Cup for an international competition.
A small number of bookmakers may offer you the chance to place a tricast on a motorsport race, such as Formula One, but this is rare to see and not always on offer for every race, even with those who do offer it.
How to Place a Tricast Bet?
If you would like to start tricast betting, then you will need to know how to place these bets. Online bookmakers will usually have forecast and tricast betting in a separate market by itself. It is not uncommon to see these two together, so if you are wanting a tricast, then just make sure you select this bet type, and you choose three selections, with first, second and third nominated.
A tricast is a straight bet, one single bet, where you are predicting specifically which selection will win, which will come second and which will come third. You will usually see a tick box to check or an order to click on them so that you are nominating the correct order when adding the bet to your betslip.
How Many Bets is a Tricast?
Some punters get confused when looking at forecast and tricast betting because they see bets such as reversed and combination and then wonder which to place and how many bets are involved with each one.
Here we are talking about tricast betting only, not forecast, and also looking at a straight tricast, not a combination bet, so with this, you are placing one bet only, with a single cost attached to it. As this is a single bet, the correct order of your selections must come in.
For example, if you select three horses for first, second and third, and they come first, third and second, then your order is not correct, so your bet is not a winner.
The advantage of betting a straight tricast is that it only costs you one unit stake to place the bet, but the disadvantage is that you don’t have full coverage, you are only covering one potential outcome of the race.
The Advantages of Tricast Betting
It is fair to say that how much you like or dislike tricast betting will come down to what type of punter you are. If you are happy to take risks in the hope of getting a big return, and you don’t mind a long run of losing bets because your bet is so hard to get right, then tricast betting may be for you.
To finish, here are some advantages to tricast betting.
- A straight tricast costs just one unit stake, not multiple like a reverse or combination bet
- There is the chance of a really big win, with odds much greater than the win odds of the winner, if you are looking to add value
- With such high odds on offer, you are able to go long periods without a winning bet but still be in a position where you can be in profit with a small number of winners
