Dutching Calculator

How to use it

1. 1 Pick your odds format and how many selections you want to back, from 2 to 6.
2. 2 Enter the odds for each selection.
3. 3 Enter the total amount you want to spend across all of them.
4. 4 Read the stake for each selection, the return, the profit and the ROI. The calculator warns you if the combined implied probability is 100% or more.

What dutching is

Dutching is a staking method for backing more than one selection in a single event, such as three horses in a race or three golfers to win a tournament. Instead of equal stakes, each selection gets a stake sized so the return is the same whichever of them wins.

It is not the same as arbitrage. An arbitrage backs every possible outcome at prices whose implied probabilities add up to under 100%, so profit is locked in if every bet is accepted at those odds. Dutching covers only the selections you choose, and if none of them wins, you lose the whole stake. The calculator shows that number so you can see the risk.

How the stakes are calculated

Add up the implied probabilities of your selections (1 divided by each decimal odds). Each selection gets your total stake multiplied by its implied probability, divided by that sum. The return is the total stake divided by the sum.

If the sum is under 100%, you profit whenever one of your selections wins. If it is 100% or more, you do not, because the combined price is too short. The calculator flags that case.

Worked example

You like three selections in a race, priced at +100 (2.00), +300 (4.00) and +700 (8.00). Their implied probabilities are 50.00%, 25.00% and 12.50%, which add up to 87.50%.

With a $100 total stake, you put $57.14 on the first, $28.57 on the second and $14.29 on the third. Whichever of them wins, you collect $114.29, a profit of $14.29 and an ROI of 14.29%. If a different runner wins, you lose the whole $100.00.

Now take two selections at -110 each. The implied probabilities add up to 104.76%, so a $100 total stake returns only $95.45 whichever wins, a loss of $4.55. The calculator warns you when this happens.

The formula

Frequently asked questions