Hedge Calculator: Lock In a Profit or Get Your Stake Back

The hedge calculator below works out how much to bet on the other side of a bet you already hold. Enter what you staked, the odds you took and the price now on offer against your selection, and it shows two stakes: one that leaves you with the same profit whichever side wins, and a smaller one that simply hands your money back if the hedge is the bet that lands. It is built for situations where only two outcomes are left, such as a futures bet that has reached the final, a parlay down to its last game or a tennis match.

How to use the hedge calculator

There are three inputs and four results.

• Original stake: what you put on the first bet. The tool has no currency symbol, so £20 and $20 both go in as 20.
• Original odds: the price you took, in fractional, decimal or American format (12/1, 13.00 or +1200 are the same price). For a parlay or acca, enter the combined odds of the whole ticket, not the price of the leg that is still to play.
• Hedge odds: the price available now on the other outcome, the one that wins if your original bet loses.

The first result, Hedge stake, is the equal-profit stake, and Profit whichever side wins shows what that hedge locks in. Break-even hedge stake is the smallest bet that covers everything you have staked if the hedge wins, and Profit if the original bet wins shows what you keep when the first bet comes in instead. With the break-even hedge, a winning hedge returns your total outlay and the profit is zero.

Any stake between those two figures is a valid choice as well. The closer you go to the break-even figure, the more you keep if the original bet wins and the less you lock in if it loses. The calculator does not list those in-between stakes, but the formulas in the next section work for any of them.

The formulas behind the hedge calculator

Every figure is worked out in decimal odds, so +1200 becomes 13.00 and +110 becomes 2.10. Call the original stake S, the original decimal odds O and the hedge decimal odds H.

• Potential return of the original bet: S x O.
• Equal-profit hedge stake: S x O / H.
• Profit whichever side wins: S x O - S - hedge stake.
• Break-even hedge stake: S / (H - 1).
• Profit if the original bet wins, with the break-even hedge: S x O - S - break-even stake.

The equal-profit formula comes from setting both outcomes level. If the original bet wins you collect S x O, and if the hedge wins you collect the hedge stake x H. In both cases you have spent the same total, S plus the hedge, so the profits match only when the hedge stake x H equals S x O.

The break-even formula has a smaller target. The hedge only needs to return what you have staked in total, so the hedge stake x H must equal S plus the hedge stake. Rearranged, that gives S / (H - 1). Put another way, the hedge's profit has to cover the original stake and nothing more.

Worked examples: a futures bet, a parlay and a tennis final

A $50 futures bet at +1200

These are the numbers the calculator opens with. Before the season you put $50 on an NFL team at +1200 to win the Super Bowl. They reach the game, which cannot end in a tie, and the opponent is +110 to win it. In decimal terms your ticket is 13.00 and the hedge price is 2.10, so the ticket returns $50 x 13.00 = $650 if your team wins.

The equal-profit hedge is $650 / 2.10 = $309.52 on the opponent. If your team wins, you collect $650 having staked $50 + $309.52 = $359.52, a profit of $290.48. If the opponent wins, the hedge returns $309.52 x 2.10 = $650 and the profit is the same $290.48.

The break-even hedge is $50 / 1.10 = $45.45. If the opponent wins, it returns $45.45 x 2.10 = $95.45, exactly the total you have staked on both bets. If your team wins, you collect $650 less $95.45 staked, a profit of $554.55. Our futures betting guide uses the same ticket with a rounded $300 hedge, which leaves $300 or $280 depending on the winner. The exact equal-profit figure is $309.52.

A $20 parlay down to its last leg

Your $20 three-team parlay shows combined odds of +700 (8.00). Two legs have won and the third game is still to play, so the ticket returns $20 x 8.00 = $160 if the last team wins. Their opponent is -150 on the moneyline, which is 1 + 100 / 150 = 1.6667 in decimal. Enter 20, +700 and -150.

The equal-profit hedge is $160 / 1.6667 = $96.00, and the profit is $160 - $20 - $96 = $44.00 whichever team wins. The break-even hedge is $20 / 0.6667 = $30.00. If the opponent wins it returns $50.00, which covers both stakes. If your parlay comes in, you keep $160 - $20 - $30 = $110.00.

The full hedge needs almost five times the original stake to lock in $44, which is common when the hedge side is the favourite. That is why many bettors pick a stake somewhere between $30 and $96 rather than either extreme. The parlay calculator gives you the combined odds to enter if your ticket does not show them.

A £15 tennis bet hedged before the final

Tennis has no draws, so a final is a clean two-way hedge. Before a Grand Slam you back a player to win the tournament at 7/1 (8.00) with £15. They reach the final, where the opponent is 6/4 (2.50) in the match winner market. Your outright bet returns £15 x 8.00 = £120 if your player lifts the trophy.

The equal-profit hedge is £120 / 2.50 = £48.00 on the opponent. Either way you have staked £63 and collect £120, a profit of £57.00. The break-even hedge is £15 / 1.50 = £10.00. If the opponent wins, it returns £25.00, your total outlay. If your player wins, you collect £120 less £25 staked, a profit of £95.00.

The hedge price carries the bookmaker's margin like any other bet. If your player is 8/15 (1.533) in the same final, the two prices imply 65.2% and 40.0%, a total of 105.2%. Our tennis betting guide explains how match bets settle when a player retires, which matters here because an outright bet and a match bet can follow different rules.

When the hedge locks in a loss

The profit figure is not always positive. Say you took $50 at +100 (2.00) and the price has moved against you, so the other side is now -200 (1.50). The equal-profit hedge is $100 / 1.50 = $66.67, and the result is $100 - $50 - $66.67 = -$16.67 whichever side wins. The break-even stake is $50 / 0.50 = $100, and if your team then wins you collect $100 against $150 staked, a $50 loss.

A hedge only locks in a profit when your original odds are longer than H / (H - 1), the price of your side implied by the hedge odds with no margin. At +110 that threshold is 2.10 / 1.10 = 1.91, far below the 13.00 in the futures example. At -200 it is 1.50 / 0.50 = 3.00, above the 2.00 you hold. When the calculator shows a negative profit, the hedge is insurance on a bet that has gone the wrong way, paid for with another dose of margin.

What the hedge calculator does not cover

The formulas assume exactly two outcomes, one where your original bet wins and one where the hedge wins, with no result in which both lose. Several common situations break that assumption:

• Three-way markets. A football (soccer) match can end in a draw. If you backed the home team in the 1X2 market and hedge on the away win, a draw loses both bets. You need either a second bet on the draw or one bet that covers both other results, such as double chance (draw or away), whose price you can enter as the hedge odds. Draw no bet is not a full hedge, because on a draw the hedge stake comes back while your original bet still loses. Our guide to draw no bet and double chance explains both markets.
• Parlays with two or more legs to play. A hedge on one game does not cover the case where a different leg loses. The simple formula only applies once a single result decides the ticket.
• Pushes, voids and retirements. A spread that lands on the number, a postponed game or a tennis retirement can void one bet while the other stands.
• Different settlement rules. A futures bet on the trophy includes extra time and penalties, while a 90-minute match bet does not. Hedge in a market that settles on the same result as your original bet.
• Exchange commission and maximum payouts. Neither is taken off.

The calculator also says nothing about whether a hedge is worth its cost. It shows what you lock in, not the margin you pay for it.

Cash out is the other way to settle early, and the calculator gives you a benchmark for any offer. A cash out figure is a total return, so add the original stake back before you compare. On the $50 futures ticket, hedging at +110 is equivalent to a cash out of $340.48, the $290.48 profit plus the $50 stake. An offer of $300 is a $250 profit, $40.48 less than placing the hedge yourself, as long as you can still get +110 and have the $309.52 to stake. Our guide to hedging and cash out shows how to value an offer against fair odds and when hedging is worth paying for.

Related guides and a quick check before you hedge

The futures betting guide covers outrights and win totals and how they settle. The no-vig calculator shows how much margin the two prices in a final carry, which is the cost hidden inside every hedge. If a price has moved so far that backing both sides at the current odds would show a profit whatever happens, that is an arb, and arbitrage betting explains how they work and why they are rare. Prices that move in your favour after you bet are also a sign of closing line value, which tells you more about your betting than any single hedge.

Before you place a hedge, run through these checks:

• Confirm that only two outcomes are left and that both bets settle on the same result.
• For a parlay, enter the combined odds of the ticket, not the price of the last leg.
• Decide between equal profit, break-even or a stake in between before the game starts, not in a tense moment.
• Compare the result with any cash out offer, remembering to add the original stake back to the profit.
• Check that the hedge stake fits your bankroll plan, since a full hedge can need several times the original stake.

Sports betting is legal only in some countries and US states, and India has prohibited online money games since 1 May 2026, so check the law where you are and use a licensed operator. If hedging has turned into a way of coping with stress about your bets, our responsible gambling page lists limit tools and places to get help.