🏇🏿 Dutching Calculator for Horse Racing

Dutching calculator

Odds format

1. Your horses and their odds

Like the tote board: 5/2, 3-1, 7, evens

29% chance by the oddsBet $8 · collects $28
25% chance by the oddsBet $7 · collects $28
18% chance by the oddsBet $5 · collects $27.50

2. Total to spend

3. Your bets

Any of your 3 wins: you collect about $27.50

That's $7.50 profit on $20. If none of them wins, you lose the $20. To break even they need to win 72% of the time.

Horse 1$8 to Win
Horse 2$7 to Win
Horse 3$5 to Win

Racing odds keep moving until the gate opens, and the final odds set your payout, so work it out again right before you bet.

SmartBet does this on every race, with live odds. It recalculates as the odds move and checks your split against our 10,000-run race sims.

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How dutching works

A horse at odds of 3/1 returns $4 for every $1 bet on it. Put a bigger share of your money on the shorter prices and a smaller share on the longer ones, sized so every horse returns the same, and it no longer matters to you which of them wins. Each horse's share is in proportion to its chance by the odds, which is 1 divided by (odds + 1).

Say you like three horses at 5/2, 3/1, 9/2 and want to spend $20. Their chances by the odds add up to 72%, so the split pays a profit whichever of them wins:

$8 to Win on Horse A at 5/2, which returns $28
$7 to Win on Horse B at 3/1, which returns $28
$5 to Win on Horse C at 9/2, which returns $27.50

Any of the three winning returns $27.50 to $28 on your $20. None of them winning loses the $20.

When a split can't pay

Add up your horses' chances by the odds. Under 100%, a split makes a profit if one of them wins; the further under, the bigger the profit. At 100% or more, no split of any size can, because you'd be paying for more than every outcome is worth. The calculator says so and shows which horse to drop.

Small budgets have a second problem: the $2 minimum and whole-dollar bets. A long shot that should get $1.40 of a $20 split has to get $2, and that can cost more than the split makes. Spending a little more, or dropping the long shot, fixes it.

Dutching at the track: the odds move

US racing is pari-mutuel: the odds are the betting pool divided up, and they keep changing until the gate opens. Your payout is set by the final odds, not the odds when you bet. So work the split out as late as you can, and be wary of thin margins: if your horses get bet down, a small profit can turn into a small loss.

Dutching or an exacta box?

Dutching pays when one of your horses wins. An exacta box pays only when two of them finish first and second, in either order: harder to hit, but it can pay far more. When you like a few horses but can't separate them, dutching is the steadier bet. See the longshots guide for when a price is worth taking at all.

Questions

What is dutching?

Dutching is splitting one bet across several horses so that whichever of them wins, you collect about the same. Each horse gets a share of the money in proportion to its chance by the odds: more on the shorter prices, less on the longer ones.

Is dutching a guaranteed profit?

No. You profit only if one of your horses wins; if none of them does, you lose the whole stake, the same as any bet. And in US racing the odds are pari-mutuel: they keep moving until the gate opens, and the final odds decide what you are paid, so a split that showed a profit can pay less.

How many horses should I dutch?

Usually two or three. Every horse you add raises your chance of cashing but lowers what you collect, and once the horses’ chances by the odds add up to 100% or more, no split can make a profit.

Why are the bets in whole dollars?

Because that is how US tracks take Win bets: whole dollars with a $2 minimum at most tracks. The calculator builds the split a dollar at a time so the worst case stays as high as whole dollars allow, and tells you when rounding eats the profit.

What is the break-even percentage?

It is your horses’ combined chance by the odds. A 3/1 shot is priced to win 25% of the time; dutch it with a 5/2 (about 29%) and the pair needs to win about 54% of the time for the bet to break even over many races.

Can I dutch with live odds?

Yes. SmartBet in the TrackWiz lobby works out the split on any race with the live odds, recalculates as they move, and compares your horses’ break-even percentage with how often they won in our 10,000-run race sims.

Bet only what you can afford to lose. If gambling stops being fun, our responsible wagering guide lists free, confidential help.