This bet calculator turns a stake and a decimal price into the return and the profit, then settles the two race-day events that move the answer: a dead heat and a late scratching deduction. An illustrative $25 at $4.20 reads $25.00 outlay, $105.00 return, $80.00 profit.
Return and profit differ: a decimal price holds the stake, so each dollar at $4.20 returns $4.20, $3.20 of it profit. How betting odds work covers where the price comes from.
How to use the bet calculator
The inputs, in order:
- Bet type: win, place or each way. Each way asks for a second price.
- Stake: what goes on the bet, or on each half of an each way bet.
- Win odds or Place odds: the decimal price, $1.01 to $10,001.
- Result: won, placed (each way only), dead heat, lost or scratched.
- Runners tied, plus Paying places they fill on a place bet: only on a dead heat, where a win or each way tie is read as a tie for first.
- Scratching deduction: cents in the dollar, 0c to 99c, or empty.
- How the deduction is applied: face value or winnings only, shown once a deduction is entered, with neither preselected.
A box the tool cannot read leaves the tiles showing three dots, and the line under the inputs names it. Display rounds to the cent; the arithmetic keeps every digit.
The formulas behind the result
The lines the tool runs, and all you need to calculate betting returns by hand:
- return = stake x odds, and profit = return - outlay (both stakes on an each way bet)
- each way return = stake x win odds + stake x place odds on a win, stake x place odds on a placing
- dead heat return = stake / runners tied x odds, times the paying places filled on a place bet, never more than stake x odds
- deduction off the face value = return x (1 - deduction); off the winnings only = stake + (return - stake) x (1 - deduction)
- a deduction never leaves a winning bet under its stake, except after a dead heat
Worked returns on one bet
One illustrative $25 bet at $4.20:
| Result | Working | Return | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Won | 25 x 4.20 | $105.00 | +$80.00 |
| Lost | nothing | $0.00 | -$25.00 |
| Won, 12c off the face value | 105 x 0.88 | $92.40 | +$67.40 |
| Won, 12c off the winnings only | 25 + 80 x 0.88 | $95.40 | +$70.40 |
How a dead heat cuts what you get paid
The rule books differ on a dead heat. The WA Rules of Wagering (r 58) divide the return by the number tied; Racing NSW's on-course Rules of Betting (BR 16) pay half a ticket's face value for a tie for first or the last paying place. A two-way tie gives the same answer either way, and so does this tool: an illustrative $10 at $5.00 returns $10 / 2 x 5.00 = $25.00, not $50.00. Online bookmakers set their own dead heat terms, so check yours. Set the result and the counts to use it as a dead heat calculator.
On a place bet the cut turns on the places the tied runners fill, with illustrative prices on a $40 bet at $1.90:
| Tie | Places they fill | Share that counts | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two tied for the last paying place | 1 | $20.00 | $38.00 |
| Two tied for 2nd, three places paid | 2 | $40.00 | $76.00 |
The first row is a winning bet that loses money, as any price under $2.00 does in a two-way tie for one place. Dead heat rules says which rule book covers what, and the each way calculator covers a tie further down the field.
What the deduction box does to the return
A late scratching refunds bets on that runner, and successful fixed-odds bets placed before it are paid less a deduction the Stewards declare in cents in the dollar. Racing NSW BR 14(4) and the WA Rules of Wagering r 56 take those cents off the ticket's face value, stake included (as at October 2026), while a bookmaker's own terms may take them off the winnings only. Before any floor, the gap is stake x deduction, here 25 x 0.12 = $3.00, so read the clause in your own bookmaker's terms.
Note: deduction figures here are illustrative; the Stewards set them race by race, and they differ by bet type and by runner. For separate win and place figures, or WA's floor of 20% of face value, use the scratching deductions calculator.
An illustrative $100 at $1.14 returns $114.00, and 25c off its face value is $85.50, under the stake. Racing NSW BR 14(8), in its Rules of Betting for NSW on-course bookmakers, says no order may leave a backer with less than their stake, so the bet pays $100.00 under that rule; your own bookmaker's terms set its floor. The rule excludes dead heats: tied two ways, the $40 place bet above returns $38.00, and 10c off its face value leaves 38 x 0.90 = $34.20, under the stake.
Edge cases the tool handles, and what it refuses
- A dead heat and a deduction together. Both apply, the tie first, and the stake floor comes off wherever the tie cut the return.
- An each way bet tied for a place. Not settled here: an each way dead heat is read as a tie for first, cutting the win half and paying the place half in full.
- Your own runner scratched. Refunded on a bet struck after final acceptances, so the deduction boxes leave the form. A futures bet struck before them can be all in under Racing NSW's policy, with no refund.
- A bonus bet. Not an input: when the stake is not returned, winnings = bonus x (odds - 1), so an illustrative $30 bonus bet at $4.20 pays $96.00, not $126.00. A bonus bet that loses pays nothing.
- More than one leg. Not this tool: the multi bet calculator multiplies the legs.
- What it refuses. A price outside $1.01 to $10,001, a deduction of a dollar or more, or a fraction of a runner in a tie: the tiles never show a figure nobody quoted.
Checking the price before the bet goes on
At a fixed stake only the price can raise the return, which is what an odds comparison board is for. The Terminal shows prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports, beside Betfair back and lay. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. Prices are read on a repeating cycle, so confirm the price in your bookmaker account before the bet goes on. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The tiles show what a bet pays if it settles as you set it, not how likely that is, and a tie at a short price can hand back less than you staked. There is no guarantee of profit; see responsible gambling for limits and support.