Dutching in plain English
Normally you bet on one thing and hope it wins. A dutch is when you back more than one selection in the same market (say two or three horses in a race) and size the stakes so each one returns the same. Win with any of them and you get the same cash.
The sizing rule is: the shorter the odds, the more you stake. Here it is for three horses at decimal odds 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 with £100 to spend.
Book % = 1/3 + 1/4 + 1/5 = 78.33%
Stake on each = £100 × (1 ÷ odds) ÷ 0.7833
| Selection | Odds | Stake | If it wins, you get | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horse 1 | 3.0 | £42.55 | £127.66 | +£27.66 |
| Horse 2 | 4.0 | £31.91 | £127.66 | +£27.66 |
| Horse 3 | 5.0 | £25.53 | £127.66 | +£27.66 |
| Any other horse wins | – | £100.00 staked | £0 | −£100.00 |
That last row is the part that catches people out. Dutching doesn't remove risk: it swaps one big win with a lower chance for a smaller win with a higher chance, and if you've missed an outcome you've lost the stake.
Dutch vs arbitrage: the difference that matters
An arbitrage is a dutch across every possible outcome of a market, with a book percentage under 100%. Then there's nothing left that can beat you. Take a two-way market where one bookmaker offers 2.10 on one side and another offers 2.05 on the other:
Book % = 1/2.10 + 1/2.05 = 96.4%
That's under 100%, so a £100 total split as £49.40 and £50.60 returns about £103.73 either way: a +£3.73 profit. To aim for exactly £10 profit you'd stake £267.74 in total (£132.26 and £135.48).
Real talk: arbs like this are rare, short-lived and not free of problems. The prices move before you've placed both bets (so one leg gets a worse price or is refused), the profits are small, and bookmakers notice accounts that keep taking the odds that sit wrong. If you ever arb, do it with money you can afford to be briefly exposed, and only believe the profit once both bets are matched.
When matched bettors use dutching
Most of what's on this site uses the exchange lay, because laying is how you cover one outcome without needing another bookmaker. Dutching comes in when:
- You want to cover a few likely winners rather than one: a way to hold a free bet across two or three runners. It's a bet with a different shape, not a certain return, because a runner you didn't back can still win.
- A market has two outcomes and you have two accounts. If the prices genuinely give an arb, the dutch stakes are the answer. The calculator flags it for you.
For a normal sign-up offer where you have a bookmaker and an exchange, use the matched betting calculator instead. It handles the lay stake and commission.
Target profit and rounding
Target profit mode works backwards: you say you want £10 whichever side wins, and it tells you the total you need. It only works for arbs. If the book is 100% or more, no stake gets you a profit on every outcome, and the calculator says so.
Rounding is for real life. Round to 10p, £1 or whatever looks normal and the returns drift slightly out of balance. The calculator shows the worst and best case after rounding. It's usually a few pence, but on thin arbs it can wipe the profit out.
How to dutch, step by step
- Choose your selections and write down the odds. Example: three horses at 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 in the same race, or a two-way market at 2.10 and 2.05.
- Enter your total stake. Use the total you want to risk across all of them, for example £100.
- Place each stake. For the three horses: £42.55 at 3.0, £31.91 at 4.0, £25.53 at 5.0.
- Check what you have actually covered. If the calculator says "if one of these wins", you have only covered those. If it says every outcome, it is an arbitrage and every result is a profit.
FAQs
What is dutching?
Splitting one total stake across two or more selections in the same market so that whichever one wins, you get the same money back. At odds of 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0, a £100 dutch puts £42.55, £31.91 and £25.53 on them and returns £127.66 if any of the three wins.
What is the dutching formula?
Stake on each selection = total stake × (1 ÷ its odds) ÷ the sum of (1 ÷ odds) for all your selections. That sum is called the book percentage. Every selection then returns the same amount: total stake ÷ book percentage.
Is dutching the same as arbitrage?
No. A dutch covers some of the possible outcomes, so you lose the whole stake if something else wins. An arbitrage covers every outcome and only works if the book percentage is under 100%. At 2.10 and 2.05 the book is 96.4% and a £100 total makes +£3.73 on either result, if each bet is accepted at those odds.
Is dutching profitable on its own?
Only if the odds are better than the true chances, which is a value-betting question and not a maths trick. Dutching changes the shape of your bet (more ways to win, a smaller win each time), not its expected value. It never turns a bad price into a good one.
What does book percentage mean?
Add up 1 ÷ odds for every selection. If the total is above 100% (the usual case across a whole market), the bookmaker has the edge. If it is below 100% across every outcome, that is an arbitrage. For 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 it is 78.3%, but those three are not all the outcomes, so it isn't an arb.
Can I dutch for a target profit?
Yes, but only when it is an arbitrage. Flip the formula round: total = profit ÷ (1 ÷ book − 1). To make £10 at 2.10 and 2.05 you need a total stake of £267.74, and the calculator's "target profit" mode does that for you.
Why does rounding the stakes matter?
Bookmakers accept pennies but most people round to the nearest £1 or 10p so bets look normal. Rounding moves the returns slightly out of balance. The calculator shows the worst and best result after rounding so you can see what it cost you.
Will bookmakers limit me for dutching or arbing?
Often, yes. Arbitrage bets in particular look unlike normal punter behaviour and accounts that do a lot of them get stake-restricted or closed. It is the main practical limit, more than the maths.
Where next
- Matched betting calculator: lay stakes for sign-up offers.
- Each way calculator: returns, place terms and extra place offers.
- Free bet calculator: what a free bet is really worth.
- What is matched betting?: the beginner guide.
Update log
- Calculator launched: stake split, arbitrage detection, target profit and rounding. Formulas unit-tested.