Hedge Calculator
18+ · Gambling can be addictive. The house edge means you lose over time.
- Equal-profit hedge
- $333.33
- Locks in +$66.67 whichever side wins (66.7% of your stake)
- Break-even hedge
- $200.00
- Hedge wins: $0. Original wins: +$200.00
Profit table
Your total profit for each hedge size, after both stakes. Partial hedges keep some upside and some risk.
| Hedge | Hedge stake | Original wins | Hedge wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| No hedge | $0.00 | +$400.00 | -$100.00 |
| 25% hedge | $83.33 | +$316.67 | -$58.33 |
| 50% hedge | $166.67 | +$233.33 | -$16.67 |
| Break-even | $200.00 | +$200.00 | $0.00 |
| 75% hedge | $250.00 | +$150.00 | +$25.00 |
| Equal profit | $333.33 | +$66.67 | +$66.67 |
How to use it
- Pick the odds format you use. Switching converts the odds you typed.
- Enter your original stake and odds. For a parlay or future, use the combined odds you got.
- Enter the odds you can get now on the other side (the outcome that makes your bet lose).
- Read the equal-profit and break-even hedge stakes, or check the table for a partial hedge.
- Optional: type the cash-out your bookmaker offers to see whether hedging pays more. Copy the URL to share the result.
How the hedge stake is calculated
Write the original bet as stake S at decimal odds d1 and the hedge as stake H at decimal odds d2. Your total profit after both bets settle is:
hedge wins: H × (d2 - 1) - S
Set the two equal and solve for H to get the equal-profit hedge. Set the second one to zero to get the break-even hedge:
break-even: H = S ÷ (d2 - 1)
American odds convert to decimal as 1 + odds/100 for positive prices and 1 + 100/|odds| for negative ones. Fractional a/b is 1 + a/b.
Worked example
$100 on a +400 underdog (decimal 5.00). It's close to winning and the other side is now -200 (decimal 1.50).
| Hedge | Hedge stake | Original wins | Hedge wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | $0.00 | +$400.00 | -$100.00 |
| Half of equal | $166.67 | +$233.33 | -$16.67 |
| Break-even | $200.00 | +$200.00 | $0.00 |
| Equal profit | $333.33 | +$66.67 | +$66.67 |
$100 × 5.00 ÷ 1.50 = $333.33, which locks in +$66.67 whatever happens.
What hedging costs you
A hedge doesn't make a bet more profitable on average. It's a second bet, and the bookmaker's price on it includes a margin. If the real chance of the hedge side winning is p, the hedge stake H has an expected value of H × (p × d2 - 1), which is below zero whenever the price is shorter than fair. What you buy with that cost is certainty: a smaller, guaranteed result in place of a bigger swing.
That's why a partial hedge is often the middle ground: you pay the margin on less money and keep part of the upside. The table in the calculator shows every step from no hedge to a full one. If the price you're hedging at is itself a long way off the fair odds, compare bookmakers first; the odds calculator shows the implied probability of any price.
Cash-out vs hedge
A cash-out of C on a bet that would return R = S × d1 gives you C - S profit for sure. An equal-profit hedge at d2 gives R × (1 - 1/d2) - S for sure. They're the same when:
So a $300 cash-out on the example bet (return $500) is the same as hedging at 2.50 decimal. The -200 price (1.50 decimal) is shorter than that, so here the cash-out pays more: +$200.00 against +$66.67. Enter any offer in the calculator to compare.
Mistakes common hedge calculators make
- Reporting the total return of the hedge as profit, which overstates what you lock in by your original stake.
- Worked examples whose two outcomes don't actually come out equal. Ours shows both outcomes for every hedge size, so you can check.
- Only one answer (the equal hedge), with no break-even or partial hedges and no cash-out comparison.
- American odds only, or no way to share the result. Every input here is in the URL.
The formulas on this page are derived above and checked against a numeric solver in our test script. No outside data is used.
Where to use it
Compare esports and CS2 bookmakers on our CS2 betting sites list, or crypto sportsbooks and casinos on crypto casinos. Check what a game keeps with the house edge calculator. Set a budget first, and see our responsible gambling page if it stops being fun.
FAQ
- How do you calculate a hedge bet?
- Convert both prices to decimal odds. To lock in the same profit whichever side wins, stake original stake x original odds / hedge odds on the other side. $100 at 5.00 hedged at 1.50 needs $333.33 and locks in $66.67 either way.
- What is a break-even hedge?
- The smallest hedge that gets your stake back if your original bet loses: original stake / (hedge odds - 1). If the original bet wins you keep its profit minus the hedge stake.
- Is hedging a bet a good idea?
- It lowers your risk, not your expected loss. The hedge is a second bet with the bookmaker's margin built in, so on average it costs you a little. It makes sense when the swing between the two outcomes is more than you are comfortable with, such as the last leg of a big parlay.
- Should I cash out or hedge?
- Compare the profit each one locks in. A cash-out offer of C on a bet that would return R is the same as hedging at decimal odds R / (R - C). If another bookmaker offers longer odds than that on the other side, hedging there pays more.
- Can you hedge a parlay or a futures bet?
- Yes. Enter the combined odds you got on the parlay or future as the original odds, and the current price on the outcome that beats you as the hedge odds. The math is the same as for a single bet.