To hedge a multi, you wait until every leg but the last has won, then bet against that last leg before it starts: lay it on a betting exchange, or back its other side at another bookmaker. Sized for an equal result, lay stake = potential return / (lay odds - commission rate), and you finish with the same amount whatever the last leg does.
By the last leg the whole potential return rides on one result, so a hedge has the most to protect and is simplest to size. Australian law allows online bets on a sporting event only before it begins (Interactive Gambling Act 2001, s 8A(3), with in-play betting defined in s 10B), so every hedge here goes on before the last leg starts. Multi bets explained covers how multis are priced and settled.
Worked: a $10 multi worth $250, last leg laid at $2.20
Example: illustrative prices, not real games. Your $10 multi has legs that multiply to $25.00, so it returns 10 x 25.00 = $250 if every leg wins. Every leg but the last has won. The last leg is Team A in a head to head with no draw, at $2.14 to back and $2.20 to lay on the exchange, and commission is an illustrative 6%.
Left alone, the multi finishes 250 - 10 = +$240 ahead if Team A wins and -$10 if it loses. To lock in one figure, lay Team A for:
lay stake = 250 / (2.20 - 0.06) = 250 / 2.14 = $116.82, with a liability of 116.82 x 1.20 = $140.18
| Last leg | The multi | Lay $116.82 at $2.20 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team A wins | +$240.00 | -$140.18 | +$99.82 |
| Team A loses | -$10.00 | 116.82 x 0.94 = +$109.81 | +$99.81 |
The odd cent comes from rounding the lay. You swap +$240 or -$10 for about $99.81 either way, and the exchange holds the $140.18 liability from your balance until the last leg settles. The hedge calculator runs the same sum for any multi.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The $99.81 exists only if the whole lay is matched at $2.20 before the last leg starts, and a lay left part matched leaves part of the multi unhedged. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Equal profit vs free-roll hedges
An equal profit hedge makes both results the same. A free-roll hedge lays only enough to hand back your multi stake if the last leg loses, so a failed multi costs nothing and a winning one keeps most of its return:
free-roll lay = multi stake / (1 - commission rate) = 10 / 0.94 = $10.64
To fix any amount for the losing case, lay (that amount + multi stake) / (1 - commission rate). With the same prices:
| Hedge | Lay at $2.20 | Liability | If Team A wins | If Team A loses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | $0.00 | $0.00 | +$240.00 | -$10.00 |
| Free roll | $10.64 | 10.64 x 1.20 = $12.77 | 240 - 12.77 = +$227.23 | -10 + 10.64 x 0.94 = $0.00 |
| $50 if it loses | (50 + 10) / 0.94 = $63.83 | 63.83 x 1.20 = $76.60 | 240 - 76.60 = +$163.40 | -10 + 63.83 x 0.94 = +$50.00 |
| Equal profit | $116.82 | $140.18 | +$99.82 | +$99.81 |
The free roll suits a multi you still want to see win: you keep $227.23 of the $240 upside and lose nothing if the leg fails. The equal profit hedge suits a result you want settled now, and laying more than $116.82 turns the hedge into a bet against your own last leg. Neither hedge is free, so leave the multi alone when you would still back the last leg at $2.14.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A free roll still leaves $227.23 riding on one result, and its stake comes back only if the lay is matched and the last leg settles as you expect. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Commission and the hedge
The exchange takes commission from your net winnings in a market, so on a multi hedge it bites only when the lay wins, which is when the last leg loses. That is why the rate comes off the lay odds in the formula. Leave it out and the lay is 250 / 2.20 = $113.64, with a liability of 113.64 x 1.20 = $136.37:
| Lay of $113.64 at $2.20 | If Team A wins | If Team A loses |
|---|---|---|
| Result | 240 - 136.37 = +$103.63 | -10 + 113.64 x 0.94 = +$96.82 |
The two results drift 103.63 - 96.82 = $6.81 apart, because the exchange keeps 6% of the lay's winnings in one result and takes nothing in the other. The rate is the exchange's own to set, so check yours and use it as an input; lay betting explained covers liability and commission from the start.
Laying the last leg vs backing the other side at a bookmaker
Without an exchange, back the last leg's other outcome at another bookmaker. In a two-outcome market:
hedge stake = potential return / odds of the other side
With Team B at $1.74 at Bookmaker B, that is 250 / 1.74 = $143.68:
| Last leg | The multi | $143.68 on Team B at $1.74 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team A wins | +$240.00 | -$143.68 | +$96.32 |
| Team B wins | -$10.00 | 143.68 x 0.74 = +$106.32 | +$96.32 |
Here the exchange lay locks in 99.81 - 96.32 = $3.49 more. A quick test tells you which route wins: the bookmaker hedge is better when its stake is smaller than the lay's liability, because each one is what you pay out if the multi comes in. Team B at $1.79 would need 250 / 1.79 = $139.66, less than the lay's $140.18 liability, so at $1.79 or longer the bookmaker side comes out ahead.
If the last leg can be drawn, a bookmaker hedge needs a bet on each other outcome. Suppose instead the last leg were a soccer match with Team A at $2.20 to lay, and the draw and Team B each at $3.40 with bookmakers. Backing each for 250 / 3.40 = $73.53, $147.06 in all, leaves 240 - 147.06 = +$92.94 whatever happens (on a draw, -10 - 73.53 + 73.53 x 2.40 = +$92.94). One lay covers both other outcomes and here locks in 99.81 - 92.94 = $6.87 more. Hedging bets compares the two routes on single bets.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A bookmaker can refuse or cut a hedge stake, a lay needs someone to match it, and the multi and the hedge settle under different rules. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Cash out offer vs your own hedge
Before the last leg starts, the bookmaker may offer to cash out the multi: a fixed amount now, whatever the last leg does. Say it offers $96 (illustrative):
| Option | If Team A wins | If Team A loses | Held until the leg settles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash out $96 | 96 - 10 = +$86.00 | +$86.00 | Nothing |
| Equal profit lay | +$99.82 | +$99.81 | $140.18 liability |
| Free-roll lay | +$227.23 | $0.00 | $12.77 liability |
| No hedge | +$240.00 | -$10.00 | Nothing |
To compare like with like, turn the offer into a price: 250 / 96 = $2.60. Taking the cash out is like laying the last leg at about $2.60 with no commission, while your lay at $2.20 with 6% commission works out at (2.20 - 0.06) / 0.94 = $2.28 on the same footing. Your own hedge comes out 99.81 - 86.00 = $13.81 better here, in return for tying up the liability. Is cash out worth it shows how offers are priced.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The lay price can move and the offer can be withdrawn while you weigh them, so the $13.81 gap holds only at the prices shown. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Hedging earlier legs
A hedge before the last leg protects against one leg only, because the legs after it still have to win.
Example: illustrative prices. A $20 multi with legs at $2.40, $2.00 and $2.50 returns 20 x 2.40 x 2.00 x 2.50 = $240. Leg one has won. Before leg two you lay it at $2.00 for just enough to get your stake back if it loses: 20 / 0.94 = $21.28, a liability of 21.28 x 1.00 = $21.28.
| What happens | The multi | Lay of leg two | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leg two loses | -$20.00 | 21.28 x 0.94 = +$20.00 | $0.00 |
| Leg two wins, leg three loses | -$20.00 | -$21.28 | -$41.28 |
| Both win | +$220.00 | -$21.28 | +$198.72 |
The lay turns a lost leg two into a refund, but if leg two wins it costs $21.28 and leg three is still open. Before leg three you can hedge again: an equal lay at $2.50 of 240 / (2.50 - 0.06) = $98.36 has a liability of 98.36 x 1.50 = $147.54. It then locks in 220 - 21.28 - 147.54 = +$51.18 either way. Hedging only the last leg would have locked in 220 - 147.54 = +$72.46 (or -20 + 98.36 x 0.94 = +$72.46 if leg three loses), but left leg two unprotected.
Hedging an earlier leg makes sense when the later legs' markets will be thin or missing, or when two legs start at the same time, which leaves no last leg to hedge before its start. Each extra lay pays commission when it wins, and crosses the gap between back and lay prices again.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A lay protects its leg only once it is matched in full before that leg starts, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Edge cases: voids, draws, same game multis and bonus bets
- An abandoned last leg. The multi settles under your bookmaker's terms and the lay under the exchange's own market rules, so check both before the leg starts: the two sides may not match.
- A draw or dead heat in a leg. For bets with NSW-authorised bookmakers, the NSW Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules adjust a multi leg by leg with the dead heat method where no draw price was offered (rule 5.1.9(b)). A draw loses where one was offered (rule 5.1.7). Online bookmakers set their own terms, so check how your bookmaker and the exchange each settle a draw.
- No exchange market. If the last leg is a player prop or a minor league the exchange does not cover, the bookmaker route or a cash out is all that is left.
- Same game multis. Every leg sits in one game and the legs are priced together, so there is no last leg to hedge and a lay of one leg does not match the multi. Correlated bets explains why the legs' prices do not multiply.
- A bonus bet multi. A bonus bet stake does not come back, so use the winnings, bonus x (odds - 1), in place of the potential return. For a $10 bonus bet at $25.00 that is $240, so the equal lay is 240 / (2.20 - 0.06) = $112.15, a liability of 112.15 x 1.20 = $134.58, which locks in 240 - 134.58 = $105.42 either way. The bonus bet converter runs the same lay for a single bonus bet.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A bonus bet hedge holds only if the lay is matched in full before the last leg starts. A bonus bet that loses pays nothing, and under its terms a bookmaker can limit stakes, void bets or close an account. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Where B337 fits
On the Terminal, Betfair's back and lay prices sit beside prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports. Where the last leg's market is listed, you can set the exchange lay against the other side at the bookmakers that price it before the leg starts. Not every bookmaker prices every race or game, so the columns follow the market. B337 does not place exchange bets or hedges: the lay or the bookmaker hedge is yours to place, in your own accounts. Its prices are read on a repeating cycle, so take the final price from the exchange or the bookmaker itself. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Until the lay is fully matched or the bookmaker hedge accepted, part of the multi is still riding on the last leg, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.