A dead heat calculator settles the bet that confuses people most at the end of a tight finish: what happens when your horse ties. The free calculator above takes your stake, the odds, the position of the tie and how many runners shared it, then shows the return for the win part and the place part. It’s set to £10 each way at 8/1 in a dead heat for first between two horses.
That returns £71 instead of £116.
Dead heat calculator: the rule in one line
Your stake is divided by the number of runners in the dead heat, multiplied by the paying places they share, and then settled at full odds.
For a two-way dead heat for first, the win stake is halved. £10 at 8/1 becomes £5 at 8/1, so £45 comes back. The place part isn’t affected, because both horses still finish in the places: £10 at a fifth of the odds pays £26. Total £71.
Dead heats for a place
This is where each way bets get tricky. If two horses dead heat for 3rd in a race paying three places, there’s one paying place left for two runners. Your place stake is halved: £5 at 13/5, so £13 back. The win part has already lost.
If the dead heat is for 2nd in that same race, two horses share 2nd and 3rd, which is two places for two runners. Nothing is reduced, and the place part pays in full. That’s the bit people miss. What matters is how many paying places the tied horses cover, not just where they tied.
A three-way dead heat for 3rd would leave one place for three runners, so the place stake is cut to a third: £8.67 back.
Other sports
The same rule is used for golf top-five or top-ten markets and any other bet on a finishing position where ties happen. In golf, five players tied for 9th in a top-ten market share two places, so a winning stake is cut to two-fifths.
For Rule 4 deductions and multiples with dead heats, use the bet calculator. The each way calculator handles normal each way returns, and the horse racing bet calculator covers full slips.
A dead heat cuts returns, never stakes. It’s still worth knowing before the photo is called. BeGambleAware.org is free and confidential if it stops being fun.