Cash Out & Hedge Calculator
Your bet's looking good and the bookmaker is dangling a cash-out button. Before you press it, see what laying it off on an exchange would lock in instead.
Lay Hedge Planner
Enter your back bet, the live lay price and commission to level your profit
The button vs doing it yourself
A cash-out offer is a price the bookmaker sets, margin included. Laying the same selection on a betting exchange does the job yourself: you bet against it at the live price, so your profit is fixed whatever happens next. The calculator finds the lay stake that makes both outcomes pay the same after commission.
Lay stake = back stake × back odds ÷ (lay odds − commission)
Away side score on the hour
Pre-match you put £20 on the away team at 4.50. They go 1-0 up after an hour and the exchange has them at 1.65 to lay, with 2% commission. Lay £55.21 (a £35.89 liability) and you're £34.11 up whether they hold on or not.
That's the same as cashing out for £54.11. If the bookie is offering £48, the hedge is worth £6.11 more.
When it goes the other way
Back at 2.20 for £20, your team concede, and the lay price drifts to 3.00. A £14.77 lay caps the damage at £5.53 either way. Sometimes a small, certain loss beats sweating on a big one.
Before you hit lay
- •Refresh the price. Lay prices jump after goals and red cards. Re-enter the live price right before you place it.
- •Put the commission in. Leave it at zero and the numbers look kinder than the exchange will be.
- •Check your liability. Laying a short price ties up little cash; laying a long one ties up a lot. Make sure your balance covers it.
- •Riding it is allowed. If the match stats still favour your bet, letting it run is a perfectly good call.
Explore More Betting Tools
Odds Calculator
Flip any price between decimal, fractional and American.
Overround Calculator
See the margin baked into a market and strip it out.
Dutching Calculator
Back several selections and get the same return whichever wins.
Free Bet Calculator
Know what a free bet is really worth before you use it.
Arbitrage Calculator
Split your stake across bookmakers to lock in a sure return.
EV Calculator
Test whether a price beats your own probability.
Kelly Criterion
Size each bet to your edge and protect the bankroll.
Each Way Calculator
Get the win and place return on an each-way bet.
Acca Calculator
Stack up to 15 legs and see the payout in seconds.