You might think that any greyhound handicapping system would be good for hitting trifectas, but that’s not true. Some are strictly for picking winners and some are geared more toward quinielas or superfectas. There are real differences between best ways to handicap for just one dog, two dogs or four.  When it comes to picking the 3 dogs that will make up the trifecta, it’s all in the structure of the bet.

My favorite trifecta play is the key. While many people think that it’s better to box three dogs – or even four if you’re a high roller – I find that my ROI is much better when I key rather than box three or four dogs. For instance, if I like the 1 to win, I’ll try to find three other dogs to play in tri keys with the one on top and for second. Why do I play it for second if I think it will win? Well, why do people box their exactas? Sometimes, I’m wrong and my top pick places.

By keying one dog – or sometimes two – over two or three others, I cover more combinations than I can in a box for less money. Playing the 1-2/1-2-3/1-2-3-4 is only $8 which is a lot cheaper than playing a four dog box for $24. You’ve still covered four dogs, but you’ve keyed on the most likely dogs to win and thrown in another one to place, plus you have four dogs that can come in third and have you hitting the tri. That’s a lot of bang for your betting buck.

Of course, the real secret of hitting triples is knowing the best way to pick key dogs. On the other hand, if you can’t identify one or two dogs which are most likely to be first and second, it’s probably a race you should skip anyway. With key bets, it’s critical to have a strong contender – or two – on top or your bet won’t have a good chance of making the board. This is why a trifecta system is so crucial to hitting tri’s on a regular basis at the dog track.