What's the difference between a Trixie and a Patent?

Both cover 3 selections, but a Trixie is only the 3 doubles and 1 treble (4 bets, needs at least 2 correct to pay), while a Patent adds the 3 single bets on top (7 bets total), so even 1 correct selection guarantees some return.

How many selections does a Yankee cover?

Four selections, split into 11 bets: 6 doubles, 4 trebles, and 1 fourfold accumulator covering all four. You need at least 2 correct selections before any part of the bet pays out.

Is a system bet better than a straight accumulator?

Neither is universally better — they carry different risk shapes. A system bet can still pay out with some selections wrong, which a straight accumulator can't, but it costs more to place since you're funding multiple combination bets at once instead of one.

System bets explained: Trixie, Patent, Yankee (when one wrong pick doesn't kill the bet)

Last updated: 2026-07-29 · Written by Elena Kovač

A straight accumulator needs every selection to win — get one wrong and the whole bet is dead, no matter how many others came in. A system bet fixes that by covering the same selections through several smaller combination bets at once, so a wrong pick can still leave part of the bet standing. It costs more to place than a single accumulator, but it's a genuinely different risk shape, not just a bigger stake.

Trixie: 4 bets from 3 selections

A Trixie covers 3 selections with 4 separate bets: three doubles (every possible pair from your three picks) and one treble (all three together). You need at least 2 of your 3 selections to win before any part of the Trixie pays out — get 2 right and the double covering those two selections wins, even though your treble and the other two doubles miss. It's the smallest and simplest system bet, and a common entry point for bettors moving on from straight accumulators.

Patent: 7 bets from 3 selections

A Patent uses the same 3 selections as a Trixie but adds the three single bets on top — 3 singles, 3 doubles and 1 treble, 7 bets total. That structure means even a single correct selection out of three guarantees some return, since that pick's single bet wins on its own regardless of what happens to the other two. A Patent costs more to place than a Trixie (7 stakes instead of 4) for that extra floor of protection.

Yankee: 11 bets from 4 selections

A Yankee steps up to 4 selections, covered by 11 bets: six doubles (every possible pair), four trebles (every possible group of three), and one fourfold accumulator covering all four. As with a Trixie, you need at least 2 correct selections before anything pays — but with four picks in play instead of three, there's simply more ways for a partial result to still return something. Bigger systems exist too (a Lucky 15 adds singles to a Yankee's structure the same way a Patent adds them to a Trixie, and systems keep scaling up from there), but Trixie, Patent and Yankee cover the vast majority of system bets actually placed.

Why the cost is higher, and what you're actually paying for

A Trixie costs 4x your unit stake to place, a Patent 7x, a Yankee 11x — you're funding every one of those separate bets, not one bet at a higher stake. In exchange, you're buying partial protection: a system bet can return a profit even when a straight accumulator on the same selections would have returned nothing. Whether that trade is worth it depends entirely on your confidence spread across the picks — a system makes more sense when you're fairly but not completely confident in each selection, less sense when you're either very confident in all of them (an accumulator captures more upside) or very unsure (better to bet fewer selections at all). See accumulators and parlays explained for how the straight version compares.

Payment speed doesn't change the maths of gambling — only bet what you can afford to lose; gambling should be entertainment, never a way to make money. Set limits and get help here.

FAQ

What's the difference between a Trixie and a Patent? Both cover 3 selections, but a Trixie is only the 3 doubles and 1 treble (4 bets, needs at least 2 correct to pay), while a Patent adds the 3 single bets on top (7 bets total), so even 1 correct selection guarantees some return.
How many selections does a Yankee cover? Four selections, split into 11 bets: 6 doubles, 4 trebles, and 1 fourfold accumulator covering all four. You need at least 2 correct selections before any part of the bet pays out.
Is a system bet better than a straight accumulator? Neither is universally better — they carry different risk shapes. A system bet can still pay out with some selections wrong, which a straight accumulator can't, but it costs more to place since you're funding multiple combination bets at once instead of one.

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