Can you break the track

Question
A friend told me that if a trifecta of three long shots came through, the track would be bankrupt.

This seemed unlikely to me. I knew that, with regular betting (not trifecta) this wouldn't happen; the pool takes account of the odds and guarantees the track its twenty percent. Even if you bet on every possible combination, you'd lose money.

He claimed that this is true of regular betting, but that the trifecta pool doean't guarantee the track its take because it's not possible to figure the odds of so many combinations. My friend claims that a rare three-long-shot trifecta would "break the bank".

Is he correct?

many thanks,

Steve

Answer
Hi Steve,
         What an interesting question. You will be pleased to know that you are right and your friend is quite wrong. The trifecta pool on any race 'does' calculate the odds of every combination, deducts the various taxes, commissions and fractions (1/2 cents etc)and displays an approximate dividend for every combination.
There is no chance that they get it wrong unless there is a glitch in the computer.
In Australia the have quadrella betting, first four home, so that is even more complicated.
In New Zealand we have 'all up' betting where a punter can take say a win bet in race 1, then the dividend can be reinvested on say a basket ball game, then again on say another race and so on. Now that is complicated however our Totalisator Agency Board (www.tab.co.nz)that administers all race track and sports betting in NZ have written a programme for it to work out all the odds.
No track can actually loose money on any bet, let alone on 'roughies'
I hope this helps,
Regards,
Don Boddie