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Page 1 of 3  When dutching the field, what we are saying is that we wish to place back bets on each selection in such a way that no matter which runner wins, we will make money. We can do this on a horse race or soccer or any market we choose. How can we work out the stakes required?
Dutching is popular amongst people who would like to back two or more selections when the outcome is not so certain. For instance, in a field with nine runners, you might feel that the outside five have no chance but can't decide between the top four in the betting.
Let's have a look at a horse race. In this race, there are four runners and you can see the current back prices alongside.
| Selection |
Price |
| Penny Farthing |
2.6 |
| Rogue Runner |
4 |
| Hot Pants |
5 |
| Brave Hunter |
5.6 |
When dutching, we want to buy 100% probability for less than 100% of the price. In a perfect market, the implied probabilities of the above runners will add up to 100%. In reality, they usually add up to more than that.
In the market above the implied probabilities add up to 101.3%
| Selection |
Price |
Implied Probability |
| Penny Farthing |
2.6 |
38.5% |
| Rogue Runner |
4 |
25.0% |
| Hot Pants |
5 |
20.0% |
| Brave Hunter |
5.6 |
17.9% |
| |
Total |
101.3% |
However, with the magic of the betting exchanges we can ask for different odds than those on offer. For instance, if I ask for the following odds the book is below 100% and I will make money if the prices are matched.
| Selection |
Price |
Implied Probability |
| Penny Farthing |
2.7 |
37.0% |
| Rogue Runner |
4.2 |
23.8% |
| Hot Pants |
5.1 |
19.6% |
| Brave Hunter |
5.7 |
17.5% |
| |
Total |
98.0% |
And these are not too different from the current back prices! If we place these bets in the market early enough then we might get the orders filled. In practice, you will not always get the prices you want and some tidying of your book may be required before the race starts. But this comes with practice and is made easier by software such as Bet Angel Professional which can calculate all this for you.
Back to our race above, let's say we want to make £5. We can see the book is now 98% so our £5 is the 2% profit. So, the working stake required equals the profit required divided by the book percentage profit = £5/0.02 = £249.78. We now simply divide this amount by the price of each selection and we will arrive at the individual stakes required. But because the prices add up to only 98%, we will make our 2% profit, or £5 as you can see below!
| Selection |
Price |
Implied Probability |
Stakes |
| Penny Farthing |
2.7 |
37.0% |
£92.51 |
| Rogue Runner |
4.2 |
23.8% |
£59.47 |
| Hot Pants |
5.1 |
19.6% |
£48.98 |
| Brave Hunter |
5.7 |
17.5% |
£43.82 |
| |
Total |
98% |
£244.78 |
Whichever horse wins, we win £249.78 but it only costs £244.78!!
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