Your stake
Ready reckoner
- Maths reviewed by Josh Miller
- Tested by Diana Westfield
A betting ready reckoner is the laminated sheet that used to sit behind every betting shop counter: one stake down the top, every price down the side, the return next to it. This one does the same job for whatever stake you like. Pick win or each way, choose the place terms, and the whole ladder from 1/5 up to 200/1 fills in. Type a price into “Jump to a price” and it highlights that row and gives you the figure on its own.
Reading the ready reckoner
Every return includes the stake, because that’s how slips and shop screens show it. So £10 at 5/1 reads £60, of which £50 is profit. On the win table the profit is shown next to it. The last column is the implied chance from the price, the probability the odds suggest before the bookmaker’s margin is taken out: 5/1 is 16.7%, evens 50%.
The each way table has two figures because there are two outcomes. Take £5 each way on a 10/1 shot with 1/4 odds a place, £10 in total. It wins and you get £55 for the win part and £17.50 for the place part, £72.50 back. It finishes third and only the place part pays: £17.50, a £7.50 profit on the £10. Finish fifth in an eight-runner race and it’s nothing.
Win or each way?
Look down the “places only” column and you’ll see where each way stops making sense. At 2/1 with 1/4 terms, a placed horse returns £15 on a £10 each-way bet (£20 out), so you lose money even when it places. Each way gets interesting from about 4/1 upwards, and on big handicaps where the place terms are generous. The CasinoCalcs each way calculator handles one bet in detail, including dead heats and Rule 4, and how to bet on horse racing explains place terms by field size.
A ready reckoner for every stake
The shop sheets came in £1 and £10 versions and you multiplied in your head. Here you just type 2.50 or 17 and the table redoes itself. If you’re in Ireland or Europe, it’ll switch to euros, and you can print the table for the pub or the racecourse (the print button only prints the table).
A reckoner is for single bets. For doubles, trebles and accumulators the prices multiply, so use the bet calculator. To see the same prices as decimals, American odds and percentages, there’s the betting odds chart.
Know what each bet costs before you place it. BeGambleAware.org has support if betting is getting on top of you.