This flexi calculator works out how many combinations your runners cover in a quinella, exacta, trifecta or first four, what that costs, and what a winning combination collects. Pick the bet type and layout, then type the runner counts and either an outlay or a percentage.
Five runners boxed in a trifecta is 60 combinations, so $15 puts 25c on each: a 25% flexi, collecting a quarter of the dividend if your order gets up.
How to use the flexi calculator
- Bet type: Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta or First 4.
- How the runners are spread: Box, every order of one group; Standout, who fills first, or in a quinella who makes the first two; Roving banker, one runner for any placing; Custom, a group per placing.
- Runner counts: Runners boxed; Standout runners and Other runners; Other runners alone for a roving banker; or one count per placing.
- Entered as: Outlay, the whole investment, or Flexi percentage, your share of a $1 unit on each combination.
- Dividend per $1 (optional): blank for the cost and percentage alone, or a dividend to see the collect.
The tiles read Combinations, Flexi percentage, Outlay, Collects if it wins and Profit if it wins, which goes negative whenever the dividend is below the combination count, whatever the percentage. The table under them prices one runner either way, at this percentage and at this outlay. The calculator refuses part of a runner, a zero count, a count over 30 in any box, and selections that cannot fill the placings.
The percentage is rounded for display, with more places as it shrinks so a small share never reads 0.00%, while the collect uses the unrounded share. An illustrative $10 over a 120 combination box reads 8.33%, and a $1,000 dividend collects $83.33, not the $83.30 a flat 8.33% would pay.
How many combinations each bet covers
The tote rules Western Australia adopted, as gazetted on 3 August 2010, define the pools, and boxing n runners covers every order of them.
| Bet | What has to be right | Boxed from n runners | 5 runners | 6 runners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quinella | 1st and 2nd in any order | n x (n - 1) / 2 | 10 | 15 |
| Exacta | 1st and 2nd in order | n x (n - 1) | 20 | 30 |
| Trifecta | 1st, 2nd and 3rd in order | n x (n - 1) x (n - 2) | 60 | 120 |
| First 4 | 1st to 4th in order | n x (n - 1) x (n - 2) x (n - 3) | 120 | 360 |
The other layouts multiply separate groups:
| Layout | Working | Combinations |
|---|---|---|
| Trifecta standout, four others behind | 1 x 4 x 3 | 12 |
| Trifecta roving banker, four others | 3 x 4 x 3 | 36 |
| Custom first four, 2, 3, 4 and 5 runners | 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 | 120 |
From outlay to collect: the formulas the tool runs
In the 2010 rules a flexi bet puts a percentage of the unit of investment on each combination:
- flexi percentage = outlay / combinations x 100
- collect on a winning combination = dividend x flexi percentage / 100
Dividends are usually declared per $1 and the calculator takes that unit, so the percentage is also the cents on each combination: a 25% flexi is 25c. Those rules list flexi on the trifecta, first four, quaddie and BIG6, or any pool the operator adds. They set the smallest flexi bet at the greater of 1c a combination, a 1% flexi, or an amount the operator decides (rule 3.5). A quaddie or BIG6 multiplies runners per leg, which the quaddie calculator counts.
Illustrative numbers, not a real race: five boxed runners, a $15 outlay and a $400 dividend per $1.
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Combinations | 5 x 4 x 3 | 60 |
| Flexi percentage | 15 / 60 x 100 | 25% |
| Collect | 400 x 0.25 | $100.00 |
| Profit | 100.00 - 15.00 | $85.00 |
A full unit over those 60 combinations costs $60 and collects the whole $400, four times the money at risk: the trade flexi betting is for.
Risk: Betting involves risk. These figures are illustrative, and all 60 combinations lose unless three of your five fill the first three places, which leaves the whole $15 gone. There is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
What one more runner costs
At a 25% flexi on a boxed trifecta, with illustrative figures:
| Runners boxed | Combinations | Outlay at 25% | Percentage for $15 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 24 | $6.00 | 62.50% |
| 5 | 60 | $15.00 | 25.00% |
| 6 | 120 | $30.00 | 12.50% |
| 7 | 210 | $52.50 | 7.14% |
The sixth runner doubles the trifecta outlay, and a boxed first four is steeper: its sixth runner triples it, 360 combinations against 120 for five. Trifecta betting and first four betting weigh a wider box against a standout, and quinella betting does the same where order does not count.
When a runner is scratched
Tote bets are not cut by a deduction. Under the 2010 rules a bet on a scratched selection is refunded (rule 9.1), and a selection there can be a combination, so the combinations holding a scratched runner come back while the rest of the ticket runs. A field bet gets the same refund (rule 9.4(a)), and the amount on each combination never moves.
One scratching on that bet leaves 4 x 3 x 2 = 24 live combinations, and the other 36 come back at 25c each: a $9.00 refund, with the share on the rest still 25%, so that $400 dividend would still pay $100. Lose your only standout and every combination needed it, so the whole investment is refunded.
On fixed odds the bet on the scratched runner is refunded too, and a successful win or place bet placed before the scratching is paid less the cents-in-the-dollar deduction the stewards declare, which scratchings and deductions covers, while exotic scratching rules has the other exotics. Operators can change their rules, so check the current ones where you bet. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
Why a dividend is not a price you take
A dividend is known only after the result: the pool is shared among the winning units after commission, rounded down to a multiple of 5c under the Northern Territory's tote rules, as in force on 14 April 2020. An approximate before the race is only an estimate: the pool grows until betting closes (see tote approximates). Fixed odds are the other way around, agreed when the bet is struck and different between bookmakers, which fixed odds against the tote compares. The Terminal shows prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports side by side, with exchange back and lay prices, flucs and closing lines.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Those prices are read on a repeating cycle, so confirm one in your own account before you bet, and a better price can still lose.
Mistakes that cost money
- Reading the percentage as a smaller bet. A 25% flexi covers all 60 combinations at 25c each, not 15 of them at $1.
- Building a box the minimum will not take. A wide field on a small outlay can fall under 1c a combination, which an operator refuses.
Horse racing betting sets these exotics beside the win and place bets you would compare them with.