A Placepot calculator tells you what a perm costs before you write it. Two horses in each of the six races is 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 64 lines. At 50p a line that’s £32. Most people guess lower.
The free calculator above counts the lines, the cost and, once the last race is run, how many of your lines came in and what they pay.
Placepot calculator: lines and perms
The Placepot asks you to find a placed horse in each of the first six races at a meeting. You can pick more than one horse per race, and every combination is a separate line. Lines multiply, so one extra horse in one race doubles or triples the whole bet. Compare:
- 2 in every race: 64 lines, £32 at 50p.
- 1, 2, 2, 3, 1, 2: 24 lines, £12 at 50p.
- 3 in every race: 729 lines, £364.50 at 50p.
The usual approach is a banker in the races you’re sure of and cover in the ones you’re not. One horse in a race is cheap, but if it doesn’t place, the whole ticket is gone.
How many places count
Places depend on the number of runners in each race:
- Up to 4 runners: only the winner counts.
- 5 to 7 runners: first and second.
- 8 to 15 runners, and 16 or more in non-handicaps: first three.
- 16 or more in a handicap: first four.
A non-runner’s lines move to the favourite in that race. That can save a ticket, or sink it if the favourite misses the places.
Working out what you’ve won
The dividend is declared to a £1 stake and divided by the stakes on winning lines. If your 64-line ticket had one winning line and the dividend is £250, your 50p line pays £125, a profit of £93. Two winning lines would pay double. Enter the number of placed horses in each race, then the dividend, and the calculator does the rest.
The Placepot is a pool bet, so dividends depend on how many tickets survive. A favourite-heavy day might pay £20, a day of upsets thousands. For fixed-odds bets on the same horses, try the each way calculator.
Big perms add up fast. Decide the total you’ll spend before you add horses. BeGambleAware.org is free and confidential if it stops being fun.