Hedge Betting Calculator
Work out the stake that locks the same profit whichever side lands.
Bet $180.00 on the other side
That locks in $20.00 of profit whichever side wins.
Hedging trades $180.00 of upside for the certainty of $20.00. Staking $60.00 instead would just return your original stake if the hedge lands, keeping more upside on the original.
Enter the stake already down, the price you took, and the price now available on the other side. The calculator returns the hedge stake that pays the same either way, what you lock in, and how it compares with letting the original bet ride.
Done with the math? Bet a real market.
These numbers are live on the BettorEdge marketplace right now, at prices set by bettors, not the house.
Related tools
Now get these prices for real.
The math is free. Better odds are on BettorEdge. Sign up for a shot at up to $100. No deposit needed.
How the Hedge Betting Calculator works
What hedging actually does
Hedging is backing the other side of a bet you already hold so the outcome no longer matters. It converts an uncertain position into a known one. That is valuable when the certainty is worth more to you than the upside, and expensive when it is not, which is the trade this calculator makes explicit.
When hedging is worth it
The usual case is a live futures ticket or the last leg of a parlay, where one bet now carries far more money than you would ever stake on that game. Reducing that exposure is a reasonable decision even at a small cost. The other case is a genuine arbitrage, where the two prices together guarantee a profit.
When hedging costs you
If the hedge price is worse than fair, and it usually is once the vig is included, hedging locks in less than the bet is worth. Doing it repeatedly on ordinary bets converts a positive expectation into a guaranteed smaller one. Certainty is a real product, but you are paying for it.
Partial hedging
You do not have to equalise. Staking less than the full hedge keeps some upside on the original while cutting the downside, and the break-even figure below shows the stake that simply returns your original risk. Between that and the full hedge is a spectrum, not a switch.
What hedging looks like in practice
Four common situations, run through the calculator above. Notice the last one: when the hedge price is poor, equalizing the outcomes locks in a guaranteed loss. Hedging is not automatically the safe choice, it is a purchase of certainty at a price you should look at first.
| Situation | Hedge stake | Locked | If you let it ride |
|---|---|---|---|
Futures ticket $100.00 at +1200, hedge at -200 | $866.67 | $333.33 | $1,200.00 or -$100.00 |
Last parlay leg $50.00 at +900, hedge at -140 | $291.67 | $158.33 | $450.00 or -$50.00 |
Even-money bet $100.00 at +100, hedge at -120 | $109.09 | -$9.09 | $100.00 or -$100.00 |
Hedge priced badly $100.00 at +200, hedge at -250 | $214.29 | -$14.29 | $200.00 or -$100.00 |
Given the three numbers you enter, these results are exact arithmetic, with no modeling assumptions behind them. Whether hedging is the right call is a judgement about your own risk, not a math question.
If both sides together already guarantee a profit, the arbitrage calculator splits a fresh stake optimally. To judge whether the original bet was good in the first place, use the closing line value calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate a hedge bet?+
Take the total return of your original bet, that is stake multiplied by decimal odds, and divide it by the decimal odds of the hedge. The result is the stake that pays the same amount whichever side wins.
How much should I hedge?+
Enough to bring your exposure back to a size you would have bet in the first place. Full hedging removes all variance and all upside; partial hedging keeps some of both. There is no single correct answer, only the trade between certainty and expectation.
Does hedging guarantee a profit?+
Only when the two prices together form an arbitrage. More often hedging guarantees an outcome rather than a profit, and if the hedge price is poor that guaranteed outcome can be a loss. The calculator flags which case you are in.
Should I hedge my futures bet?+
It is worth considering when the ticket has grown into far more money than you would normally have on one game. The cost is the upside you give up, which this calculator shows next to the locked figure so you can weigh both.