Originally Posted by philcski

This is completely off base, it really depends on WHO finishes 3rd (and, who finishes 2nd!).
If an even money wins, a 5/2 finishes 2nd, and a 5/1 finishes 3rd in a 6 horse field, yeah you're probably going to get $12 for the exacta and $36 for the tri, but for an extreme example in the Derby the exacta paid $600 and the tri paid $10,000, with a very logical 15/1 (win odds) shot finishing third. He was "worth" 17/1 to show in the tri pool...