Dog Track Question

[sleepyjoeyt]

5 friends and I were at a dog track a few weeks ago. Everyone was doing their own thing, betting whatever pleased them, but when it was almost time to take off, we each threw in $10 in order to do a $1, 5-dog trifecta box, which costs $60. When we looked at the sheets, we noticed this was the first half of the twin-tri.

We went to the window and were told that if we hit the first half, we'd get cash, and we'd also get a ticket to put in for the second half of the twin tri. Excellent - this extra ticket seemed like a great bonus.

Needless to say, we hit. We had 5 out of 8 dogs, and it wasn't even close. The 3 dogs we didn't have were way behind, and we were all excited and thought we had something good.

We brought the ticket to the window, and it paid $36, along with the other ticket.

That sorta sucked, but at least we get another shot at the twin tri, which if I remember from the last time I was at the track (5 years ago) pays a boatload of money.

OK, which 5 dogs should we pick now?

Apparently we only got to pick 3 dogs, and we had to pick them in EXACT order.

Needless to say, we didn't hit and were a little bit down from the experience.

Does any of this sound incorrect?

And my real question: the $36 we got for the trifecta we hit (first half of twin tri), was this number exceptionally low because it is part of the twin tri and they always just pay out a little, since most of the money goes to the guy who hits both ends, or was it a low payout because favorites won and that's just what was paid out for this particular trifecta?

Thanks.