Lay bet calculator
Work out your liability and returns when you lay a horse on a betting exchange, with commission. Or back at a bookmaker and lay on the exchange to see the lay stake that gives the same result either way.
Lay a horse
Back and lay
How laying works
When you lay at 5.0 for £10, you're offering odds of 4/1 to another punter. If the horse loses, you win their £10, less the exchange's commission: £9.80 at 2%. If it wins, you pay them £40, so your liability is £40.00.
Back and lay example
Back £10 at 3/1 (4.0) with a bookmaker and lay at 4.2 on the exchange with 2% commission. The lay stake is £9.57, with a liability of £30.62. If the horse wins you're −£0.62 overall, and if it loses you're −£0.62: almost exactly the same, because the bet is balanced.
Only bet what you can afford to lose. Laying can carry a large liability at long odds.
Questions
What is a lay bet?
Laying a horse means betting that it won't win. On a betting exchange you act as the bookmaker: if the horse loses you keep the backer's stake, less commission; if it wins you pay out the backer's winnings, which is your liability.
How is lay liability worked out?
Liability is your lay stake multiplied by the decimal odds minus one. Laying £10 at 5.0 has a liability of £40.
What does back and lay do?
Backing a horse at a bookmaker and laying it on an exchange at similar odds locks in roughly the same result whatever happens. It's how people turn free bets and price boosts into cash, and how traders lock in a profit after a price shortens.
Are exchange odds decimal?
Yes. Exchanges use decimal odds, which include your stake. You can type fractional odds here too and they're converted.
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