Horse Racing Calculator — Each Way Bet Returns & Payouts
Estimate what a win, place, show or across-the-board bet pays at the odds on the board, and see exactly what an exacta, trifecta or superfecta box, key or wheel, or a Pick 3 to Pick 6 ticket costs. Betting each-way at fixed odds instead? It is one of the modes.
Bet
Odds format
Saved for all betting calculators
Ticket cost = 3 × this amount
e.g. -110 or +150
From the place will-pays: $4.20 per $2 = 11/10
From the show will-pays: $3.00 per $2 = 1/2
Estimated payout if it wins
$14.20
on a $6.00 ticket
Win Odds
+250
$2 pays $7.00
Place Odds
+110
$2 pays $4.20
Show Odds
-200
$2 pays $3.00
| Your horse | Collects | Profit / Loss |
|---|---|---|
| Wins (1st) | $14.20 | +$8.20 |
| Runs 2nd | $7.20 | +$1.20 |
| Runs 3rd | $3.00 | −$3.00 |
| 4th or worse | $0.00 | −$6.00 |
An estimate: the pools set the real payout after the race. Odds keep moving until the off, and tracks round payouts down to the dime.
Last reviewed · How we check our calculators
How it differs: this calculator is for US tote betting — win, place and show payouts and what an exacta, trifecta, superfecta or Pick 4 ticket costs — with a quick each-way check. For a full each-way slip with the places paid and a Rule 4 deduction, use the Each Way Bet Calculator.
How to Use the Horse Racing Calculator
Pick the kind of bet at the top of the calculator. Each mode asks only for what that bet needs, and the result updates as you type.
- Win / Place / Show — choose win, place, show, win & place, place & show or across the board, the amount you bet in each pool (the usual minimum is $2) and the odds. Type the win odds from the tote board in the format you picked: 5-2 on the board is 5/2 in fractional, +250 in American and 3.50 in decimal. Place and show odds are estimates: take them from the will-pays the track posts (a place will-pay of $4.20 for $2 is odds of 11/10). You get the estimated payout for each finish — 1st, 2nd, 3rd or out of the money.
- Exotics — choose exacta (first two in order), trifecta (first three) or superfecta (first four), then the ticket: straight, box, key, wheel or part wheel, and the base bet per combination. The calculator counts the combinations, shows the arithmetic and gives the ticket cost.
- Pick 3–6 — choose the daily double or a Pick 3, 4, 5 or 6, the base bet, and how many horses you use in each race.
- Each-way — the fixed-odds bet of UK and Irish racing: a unit stake, the win odds and the place fraction. The result leads with the return if the horse wins, then a table of what it returns and the profit if it wins, places or loses.
Use Share results to copy a link that opens the calculator with the same mode and inputs.
The Formula
US racing is pari-mutuel: every bet goes into a pool, the track takes its cut (the takeout), and what is left is shared by the winning tickets. Odds on the board are the pool's current estimate, so a payout worked out from them is an estimate too — the real payout is fixed only when the pool closes and the result is official. A ticket's cost, on the other hand, is exact.
Win, place and show
- Payout of one pool = bet × (odds + 1), with the odds as a fraction (5-2 = 2.5)
- $2 payout = 2 × (odds + 1) — the way the tote quotes it
- Win pays if the horse finishes 1st, place if 1st or 2nd, show if 1st, 2nd or 3rd
- Ticket cost = bet × number of pools (across the board = 3 pools)
- Profit for a finish = what every pool that pays on it returns − ticket cost
Exotics: number of combinations × base bet
An exotic ticket is a set of combinations, each one an exact order of finish. With k positions (2 for an exacta, 3 for a trifecta, 4 for a superfecta):
- Straight: 1 combination
- Box of n horses: n × (n − 1) × … for k factors — the permutations P(n, k)
- Key horse with n others: 1 × n × (n − 1) × … for the remaining k − 1 positions; a key box (key horse in any position) multiplies that by k
- Wheel in a field of N runners: the key horse with all N − 1 others, 1 × (N − 1) × (N − 2) × …
- Part wheel: your own horses for each position; when the positions share horses, each ticket is counted once and a horse never fills two positions
Multi-race bets multiply the horses you use in each race: a Pick 4 with 2, 3, 1 and 4 horses is 2 × 3 × 1 × 4 combinations. Ticket cost = combinations × base bet in every case.
Each-way
Place odds = (win odds − 1) × place fraction + 1, in decimal odds. A win returns stake × win odds + stake × place odds; a place returns stake × place odds; the outlay is 2 × stake.
Practical Examples
Example 1 — $2 across the board on a 5-2 horse
The board shows 5-2 (decimal 3.50). The will-pays suggest about 11/10 to place and 1/2 to show (decimal 2.10 and 1.50). Three $2 bets make a ticket of $6.00.
- $2 payouts: win $7.00, place $4.20, show $3.00
- Wins: all three pay, $14.20 — profit +$8.20
- Runs 2nd: place and show pay, $7.20 — profit +$1.20
- Runs 3rd: show pays, $3.00 — a loss of −$3.00
Across the board on a short-priced horse only shows a profit if it finishes 1st or 2nd: a 3rd-place finish gets back half the outlay.
Example 2 — trifecta box, key and key box
A trifecta at $1 per combination, three ways.
- Box four horses: 4 × 3 × 2 = 24 combinations, $24.00
- Key your top pick on top of four other horses (five in all): 1 × 4 × 3 = 12 combinations, $12.00
- Key box — the same key horse anywhere in the top three: 3 × 4 × 3 = 36 combinations, $36.00
Keying cuts the cost when you are confident about one horse; the key box buys back the case where it runs 2nd or 3rd.
Example 3 — a dime superfecta and an exacta wheel
- Superfecta box of 5 at $0.10: 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 = 120 combinations, $12.00
- $2 exacta wheel with your key horse on top in an 8-horse field: 1 × 7 = 7 combinations, $14.00
Example 4 — a part wheel
Trifecta at $1 with horses 1 and 2 for 1st; 1, 2 and 3 for 2nd; 1, 2, 3 and 4 for 3rd. The plain product 2 × 3 × 4 = 24 counts tickets like 1-1-2 that cannot happen. Counted ticket by ticket there are 8 combinations (1-2-3, 1-2-4, 1-3-2, 1-3-4, 2-1-3, 2-1-4, 2-3-1, 2-3-4), so the ticket costs $8.00.
Example 5 — a 50-cent Pick 4
Two horses in the first race, three in the second, a single in the third and four in the last: 2 × 3 × 1 × 4 = 24 combinations × $0.50 = $12.00.
Example 6 — $5 each-way at 7/1
With 1/4 place terms the place odds are (8.00 − 1) × 0.25 + 1 = 2.75. A $10 outlay returns $53.75 if the horse wins (+$43.75) and $13.75 if it places (+$3.75).
Frequently Asked Questions
Multiply your bet by the odds and add the bet back. At 5-2 a $2 win bet returns 2 × 2.5 + 2 = $7.00. US tracks quote payouts per $2, so a 5-2 winner is listed as paying $7.00. In pari-mutuel betting the odds on the board are an estimate until the pool closes, and payouts are rounded down to the dime, so the final figure can differ a little.
Place and show payouts depend on which other horses finish in the money: the place pool is split between the two horses that run 1st and 2nd, the show pool between the first three. Tracks show will-pays before the race; type the odds from them and the calculator gives an estimate.
A trifecta box of n horses has n × (n − 1) × (n − 2) combinations. Three horses make 6, four make 24, five make 60. At $1 per combination a four-horse box costs $24; at $0.50 it costs $12.
A box covers every order of the horses you pick. A key fixes one horse in a position (usually 1st) and boxes your other picks under it, which costs less. A wheel is a key with every other runner in the race under the key horse. A part wheel lets you choose different horses for each position.
Three bets of the same amount on one horse: win, place and show. A $2 across-the-board ticket costs $6. If the horse wins, all three pay; 2nd pays place and show; 3rd pays show only.
Yes. Choose the each-way mode and enter the unit stake, the win odds and the place fraction (1/4, 1/5 or 1/3). For the number of places paid and a Rule 4 deduction for a non-runner, use the Each Way Bet Calculator.
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