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How many winners do you need for a return on a Lucky 15?

You need just one winner to get a return on a Lucky 15. This is because you will win the 1 horse single bet.  Of course, unless the odds of that winner are over 15/1, then you are not going to get back all of your stake, but at least you get back some of it. The real fun begins when you get more than one winner, this is bcause the more winners the higher the returns as each winning selection is covered in more individual bets that make up the Lucky 15 bet.

How it works:

So, if one horse wins you just get the returns for that horse.

If two horses win then you get the two single bets, plus the double bet as winnings.

If three horses win, then you get the three singles, three doubles and the treble winnings.

If all four horses win then you are in for good returns as all 15 bets will pay you a return.

More Examples:

10p L15 = £1.50
25p L15 = £3.75
50p L15 = £7.50
£1 L15 = £15.00
£2 L15 = £30.00

How much is a 50p each-way Lucky 15?

As we have explained, a Lucky 15 is made up of 15 bets, costing 15 times your unit stake in total.  So, if you are going to bet Each Way, your stake is doubled the same as a straight Each Way bet.     

For example, a £1 Each Way Lucky 15 costs £1 x 15 for the win bet and £1 x 15 for the Place bet which equals £30. 

In a betting shop:

Most high street bookmakers have a dedicated slip for Lucky 15 bets.

Simply put your selections, race times and meetings on this slip fill in the unit stake and total stake boxes and hand to a cashier.

If you want best odds guaranteed (BOG), ask the cashier and if they are available for those races the slip will be marked up with the prices accordingly.

If BOG is not available you can also take the current odds if they are available, otherwise, bets are settled at starting price (SP).

Is Lucky 15 a good bet?

As multiple or exotic bets go, the Lucky 15 is one of the better ones along with the Patent because of the following reasons:

The full cover element of the bets means that even if just one of your selections wins you get at least part of your stake back so all is not lost. 

The real fun begins as you watch your second selection and third win their races, when you realise that you're close to winning the Lucky 15 bet.

Do you get a bonus on a Lucky 15?

Some bookmakers offer a bonus on Lucky 15 bets.  The bonus offered mainly falls into two camps:

Consolation Bonus:
If only one selection wins, as a consolation returns can be paid to double or even treble the odds.

Winners Bonus:
If all four selections win, a bonus of 10% or 20% can be added to your total returns depending on the bookmaker.

Here are a selection of online bookies who offer Lucky 15 Bonuses (you will need to check their latest offer/terms before placing a bet):

Is a Lucky 15 better than a Yankee?

It is a matter of preference but here at Free Racing Tips, we consider the Lucky 15 to be preferable to a Yankee for the following reasons.

If only one of your selections wins in a L15, you get something back and the bookmakers could give you the consolation of enhanced odds. Whereas with the Yankee only one winner equates to a losing bet.

If all the selections win in a Lucky 15 you could get bookmakers bonuses to increase your winnings. With a Yankee, there are no bonuses on offer.

Here is a £1 Lucky 15 vs £1 Yankee comparison, assuming four horses, all at 3/1

How is a Lucky 15 worked out?

The more winners you get, the more bets come in, and the more winnings are returned.  Here's a table that explains which bets win for each out come in a race:

To calculate the returns, you need to add 2 to the odds of each winning selection then multiply them together and multiply by the stake, then you subtract the unit stake.   You could use our calculator below or work it out for yourself using our examples:

Sounds complicated? Let me give you it in numbers.

Example 1: £1 Lucky 15 on horses with 3/1 odds (costs £15).  All horses win!

4 winners = 4 winning singles, 6 winning doubles, 4 winning trebles and 1 winning four-fold.

Your four horses all win so you add 2 to each of these odds making 5.

Multiply the four together 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 = 625
Multiply this by the unit stake (1) 625 x 1 = 625
Minus the unit stake 625 – 1 = 624

Your return is £624. Take off the total stake of £15, and you have made a profit of £609. Your bookmaker may give you a 10% or 20% bonus on this win depending on their terms and conditions.

What if you only have 1, 2 or 3 winners?

In that case, simply leave the losers out of the calculation.

1 winner = 1 winning single

For 1 winner at 3/1 the calculation becomes 5 (3/1 + 2) x 1 (unit stake) = 5

Minus the unit stake 5 – 1 = 4.

Your return is £4, take off the total stake of £15 and you have made a loss of £11. Your bookmaker may settle this bet at double or triple the odds of the winner making reducing the loss on your 3/1 winner to £8 and £5 respectively.

2 winners = 2 winning singles, 1 winning double.

For 2 winners both at 3/1 the calculation becomes 5 (3/1 + 2) x 5 (3/1 + 2) x 1 (unit stake) = 25

Minus the unit stake 25 – 1 = 24

Your return is £24, take off the total stake of £15 and you have made a profit of £9.
3 winners = 3 winning singles, 3 winning doubles and 1 winning treble.

For 3 winners all at 3/1 the calculation becomes 5 (3/1 + 2) x 5 (3/1 + 2) x 5 (3/1 + 2) x 1 (unit stake) = 125

Minus the unit stake 25 – 1 = 124

Your return is £24, take off the total stake of £15 and you have made a profit of £109.

What happens if you have a non-runner in a Lucky 15?

If you have placed Lucky 15 and one of your selections is a non-runner, your bet still stands.

It is just settled without the non-running selection. The four-fold will become a Treble, all Trebles containing the non-runner will become Doubles, all Doubles, containing the non-runner, will become a Singles.

For Example

You make four selections, horses 1, 2, 3 and 4 and place a Lucky 15 on them.

Then after placing the bet horse 4 pulls out of the race making it a non-runner so what happens now?

Well, you get your single unit stake back for horse 4 not running and then all multiple bets that include 4 are reduced accordingly.

So, your four-fold of horses 1, 2, 3 and 4 becomes a treble of horses 1, 2 and 3.

Any treble including horse 4 becomes a double and any double with horse 4 becomes a single.

In the above scenario, you now have the following bets still running:

Seven Singles

• 2 x horse 1
• 2 x horse 2
• 2 x horse 3
• 1 x horse 4 ( unit stake returned on this one)

Six Doubles

• 2 x horses 1 and 2
• 2 x horses 1 and 3
• 2 x horses 2 and 3

Two Trebles

• 2 x horses 1, 2 and 3