The Dutching Calculator: Formula, Examples & How to Use It
Dutching is only as powerful as your ability to calculate the right stakes quickly. Get it wrong and you're either under-exposing one outcome or blowing your bankroll on a market that was never going to pay out evenly. This guide walks you through the dutching formula, shows you a real worked example, and gives you a ready-to-use HTML calculator you can copy and paste into any page.
What Is the Dutching Formula?
The core principle of dutching is simple: distribute your total stake across multiple outcomes so that your net return is identical regardless of which outcome wins. To do this mathematically, you use the inverse of each outcome's odds.
The formula for any single outcome's stake is:
Or expressed more simply, step by step:
- Calculate the inverse of each outcome's decimal odds (i.e.,
1 / decimal_odds) - Add all those inverse values together to get the sum of inverse odds
- Divide each inverse by that sum
- Multiply the result by your total stake for that round
The key insight is that (1 / odds) represents your "share" of the market — a 2.00 odds outcome has an implied probability of 50%, so it should receive 50% of your total stake.
Worked Example: 3-Outcome Football Match
Let's apply the formula to a Premier League match:
Manchester United vs Liverpool | Odds:
- Home Win (Man Utd): 2.10
- Draw: 3.50
- Away Win (Liverpool): 3.80
Our total stake for this market is £100.
Step 1 – Calculate Inverse Odds
- Home: 1 / 2.10 = 0.4762
- Draw: 1 / 3.50 = 0.2857
- Away: 1 / 3.80 = 0.2632
Step 2 – Sum of Inverse Odds
0.4762 + 0.2857 + 0.2632 = 1.0251
Note: This sum is above 1.0 (i.e., 102.51%). The 2.51% above 100% is the bookmaker overround — the built-in margin. After accounting for it, your profit on a winning outcome will be slightly reduced compared to the "even" scenario. This is normal and expected.
Step 3 – Calculate Individual Stakes
- Home Win: (0.4762 / 1.0251) × £100 = £46.45
- Draw: (0.2857 / 1.0251) × £100 = £27.87
- Away Win: (0.2632 / 1.0251) × £100 = £25.68
Total staked: £46.45 + £27.87 + £25.68 = £100.00 ✓
Step 4 – Verify Payouts
- Home wins: £46.45 × 2.10 = £97.55 (loss of £2.45 — the overround)
- Draw wins: £27.87 × 3.50 = £97.55
- Away wins: £25.68 × 3.80 = £97.55
Every outcome returns £97.55. The £2.45 difference from your £100 stake is the bookmaker's edge on this market. On an exchange with a 0% overround (like Betfair at its most liquid), every outcome would return exactly £100 minus commission.
Why the Overround Matters
Most high-street bookmakers build in an overround of around 105–110%. On a 3-outcome football market, this means dutching at traditional bookmakers will always produce a small guaranteed loss if you back all outcomes. This is fundamentally different from arbitrage, where price discrepancies between bookmakers can eliminate the overround.
The solution? Use betting exchanges (Betfair, Smarkets) for dutching. Exchange odds are much closer to true probability, and the overround is typically only 1–3%. This makes dutching far more viable as a long-term strategy.
Try the Dutching Calculator
Enter up to 5 outcomes below. Fill in the decimal odds for each and your total stake. The calculator will instantly show you how much to put on each outcome.
Dutching Stake Calculator
Ready to Start Dutching?
Use the formula above with a betting exchange like Betfair to keep the overround low and your potential profit higher. Compare the best exchange odds across the market before placing your bets.
Open a Betfair Account