When your horse passes the line in front, be it at the racecourse or on TV, the first thing you do inside your head is always the same, isn’t it? You calculate your winnings.
Luckily, winning bet payouts are easy to work out, but we’re on hand to give you some basic payout calculations you can keep and refer to easily in the future.
Win Bet Payouts
Let’s deal with the basics first. To this day, the vast majority of punters place bets to win. These are done in Britain and Ireland, an overwhelming majority of the time, in fractional odds which is what we’ll use here.
Now your online bets will be calculated accurately for you. Simply refer to your bet slip to see what you’re due.
However, if you’ve got Best Odds Guaranteed then your payout may be different, while if you are betting on course or in a high street betting shop you again may not have this electronic information to hand.
Basic Calculation
Fractional odds are determined by a horse’s perceived percentage chance of winning. They do not include your stake, which you wind with decimal odds and pool betting.
A price such as 10/1 (ten to one) is easy. For every £1 placed, you get back £10 plus your stake. So, a £10 winning bet at 10/1 returns £110.
The fractions used aren’t always as simple as this. 13/8, 15/8, 4/6 etc. If you want to calculate your own winning returns then simply remember that it is the first number, divided by the second number, plus your stake:
- £10 bet on a 7/4 chance = winning return of £27.50.
- 10 (stake) x 7 / 4 + 10 (stake).
As a handy guide, see below simple returns including the stake for win bets at common odds used in Britain and Ireland.
| Odds | £1 bet | £2 bet | £5 bet | £10 bet | £20 bet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | £1.50 | £3.00 | £7.50 | £15.00 | £30.00 |
| 4/7 | £1.57 | £3.14 | £7.86 | £15.71 | £31.43 |
| 8/13 | £1.62 | £3.23 | £8.08 | £16.15 | £32.31 |
| 4/6 | £1.67 | £3.33 | £8.33 | £16.67 | £33.33 |
| 8/11 | £1.73 | £3.45 | £8.64 | £17.27 | £34.55 |
| 4/5 | £1.80 | £3.60 | £9.00 | £18.00 | £36.00 |
| 5/6 | £1.83 | £3.67 | £9.17 | £18.33 | £36.67 |
| 10/11 | £1.91 | £3.82 | £9.55 | £19.09 | £38.18 |
| 1/1 (evens) | £2.00 | £4.00 | £10.00 | £20.00 | £40.00 |
| 11/10 | £2.10 | £4.20 | £10.50 | £21.00 | £42.00 |
| 6/5 | £2.20 | £4.40 | £11.00 | £22.00 | £44.00 |
| 5/4 | £2.25 | £4.50 | £11.25 | £22.50 | £45.00 |
| 11/8 | £2.38 | £4.75 | £11.88 | £23.75 | £47.50 |
| 6/4 | £2.50 | £5.00 | £12.50 | £25.00 | £50.00 |
| 13/8 | £2.63 | £5.25 | £13.13 | £26.25 | £52.50 |
| 7/4 | £2.75 | £5.50 | £13.75 | £27.50 | £55.00 |
| 15/8 | £2.88 | £5.75 | £14.38 | £28.75 | £57.50 |
| 2/1 | £3.00 | £6.00 | £15.00 | £30.00 | £60.00 |
| 9/4 | £3.25 | £6.50 | £16.25 | £32.50 | £65.00 |
| 5/2 | £3.50 | £7.00 | £17.50 | £35.00 | £70.00 |
| 11/4 | £3.75 | £7.50 | £18.75 | £37.50 | £75.00 |
| 3/1 | £4.00 | £8.00 | £20.00 | £40.00 | £80.00 |
| 10/3 | £4.33 | £8.67 | £21.67 | £43.33 | £86.67 |
| 7/2 | £4.50 | £9.00 | £22.50 | £45.00 | £90.00 |
| 4/1 | £5.00 | £10.00 | £25.00 | £50.00 | £100.00 |
| 9/2 | £5.50 | £11.00 | £27.50 | £55.00 | £110.00 |
| 5/1 | £6.00 | £12.00 | £30.00 | £60.00 | £120.00 |
| 11/2 | £6.50 | £13.00 | £32.50 | £65.00 | £130.00 |
| 6/1 | £7.00 | £14.00 | £35.00 | £70.00 | £140.00 |
| 13/2 | £7.50 | £15.00 | £37.50 | £75.00 | £150.00 |
| 7/1 | £8.00 | £16.00 | £40.00 | £80.00 | £160.00 |
| 15/2 | £8.50 | £17.00 | £42.50 | £85.00 | £170.00 |
| 8/1 | £9.00 | £18.00 | £45.00 | £90.00 | £180.00 |
| 17/2 | £9.50 | £19.00 | £47.50 | £95.00 | £190.00 |
| 9/1 | £10.00 | £20.00 | £50.00 | £100.00 | £200.00 |
| 10/1 | £11.00 | £22.00 | £55.00 | £110.00 | £220.00 |
| 12/1 | £13.00 | £26.00 | £65.00 | £130.00 | £260.00 |
| 14/1 | £15.00 | £30.00 | £75.00 | £150.00 | £300.00 |
| 16/1 | £17.00 | £34.00 | £85.00 | £170.00 | £340.00 |
| 20/1 | £21.00 | £42.00 | £105.00 | £210.00 | £420.00 |
| 25/1 | £26.00 | £52.00 | £130.00 | £260.00 | £520.00 |
| 33/1 | £34.00 | £68.00 | £170.00 | £340.00 | £680.00 |
Each-Way Bets
Working out your returns for an each-way bet is a wee bit more complicated. In this instance, you are placing two bets; one on your horse to win and one on your horse to be placed.
Here’s a reminder of what ‘placed’ means:
- 1-4 runners – your horse must win.
- 5-7 runners – your horse must finish in the first two, 1/4 odds.
- 8+ runners (non-handicap) – your horse must finish in the first three, 1/5 odds.
- 8-11 runners (handicap) – your horse must finish in the first three, 1/5 odds.
- 12-15 runners (handicap) – your horse must finish in the first three, 1/4 odds.
- 16+ runners in handicaps ONLY – your horse must finish in the first four, 1/4 odds.
As well as remembering where your horse needs to finish, remember that according to the above circumstance the place portion of your bet will be paid out at either 1/4 or 1/5 odds. So, the place part of an each-way bet on a horse at 8/1 effectively pays out at 2/1.
Example
Say we back the 8/1 shot each-way at 1/4 odds terms to finish in the first three. A £10 each-way bet would cost £20 in total.
If the horse wins, our return would be £120 in total as we win both the win and place bets, thus:
- Win: 8/1 x £10 = £80 + £10 stake = £90
- Place: 8/1 x £10 / 4 + £10 stake = £30
If the horse was second or third, we lose the win bet but get back the £30 for the place bet, leaving us £10 in profit. If the horse finishes outside of the places, we lose both bets.
There are thousands of possible outcomes to each-way bets based on your stake and your each-way terms. In general, simply save this:
- Win: odds x stake + stake
- Place: odds x stake divided by terms (1/4 or 1/5) + stake
Multiple and Full Cover Bet Calculations
Many people are left wondering why a seemingly simple multiple bet didn’t pay off. To win just one bet you are relying on nothing going wrong for your horse, but for that to happen two, three or more times you really are in the lap of the racing gods.
The risks are high in multiple bets (accumulators), but so are the rewards. For example, two even-money shots to win is actually a 3/1 bet meaning a £10 double would pay £40, worked out like this:
- £10 x 1/1 + £10 stake = £20 x 1/1 + £20 stake = £40.
Essentially, what you win on the first bet plus the stake now rolls onto the next bet and so on. This can lead to huge returns.
If you’d backed Tuesday to win the Oaks and Desert Crown to win the Derby at 13/2 and 5/2 respectively, this would be equal to a 25.25/1 bet. A £10 double on the two would land £262.50.
Full Cover Bets
Full cover bets, such as Lucky 15’s and the likes, are hard to calculate yourself. Luckily, if you place such bets online your projected returns show up live in your bet slip.
In a Lucky 15 for example you are betting on 4 singles, 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a four-fold. For a quick calculation, simply work out your four singles as per the table above, then work out your various doubles as explained above too.
This is quite time consuming, so we’d recommend using an online Lucky 15 calculator. This will take into account the odds of all four selections, how they multiply with your 11 different multiple bets, whether any Rule 4’s have been added etc.