How much does a Lucky 31 cost?

A Lucky 31 costs 31 times your unit stake: £31 at £1 a bet, £62 at £2 and £15.50 at 50p. The 31 bets are 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds and 1 five-fold accumulator.

How many winners do I need in a Lucky 31?

One winner returns something because the Lucky 31 includes singles, and many bookmakers pay a sole winner at double odds. Two winners add a double, three add the trebles, four add the four-folds, and five land the five-fold plus any all-winners bonus. With moderate prices you usually need two or three winners to break even.

What is the difference between a Lucky 31 and a Canadian?

Both use 5 selections. A Canadian, also called a Super Yankee, is 26 bets with no singles, so it needs two winners to return anything. A Lucky 31 is 31 bets because it adds 5 singles. It costs 5 units more but returns something from a single winner.

Can I do an each way Lucky 31?

Yes. An each way Lucky 31 is 62 bets, 31 win and 31 place, so £1 each way costs £62. It returns something from any selection that places without winning, which suits horse racing and golf selections at bigger prices.

How does a Lucky 31 compare to a Lucky 15?

A Lucky 15 uses 4 selections and 15 bets, and a Lucky 31 uses 5 selections and 31 bets. The Lucky 31 costs more, covers the fifth selection in every combination and usually carries a 20% all-winners bonus instead of 10%. Choose the Lucky 31 if you have five selections you like, and the Lucky 15 if you only have four.

What is the maximum return from a Lucky 31?

There is no fixed maximum: it depends on the odds and the bookmaker's maximum payout. Five winners at 10/1 on a £1 Lucky 31 return £55 from singles, £1,210 from doubles, £13,310 from trebles, £73,205 from four-folds and £161,051 from the five-fold, £248,831 before any bonus. In practice, bookmakers' payout limits cap returns like this.

Do Lucky 31 bonuses apply to football bets?

Usually not. Most UK bookmakers apply the sole-winner and all-winners bonuses to Lucky 31 bets on horse racing only. On football, golf and other sports you get the standard return from the 31 bets. Check your bookmaker's terms before you bet.

Lucky 31 Calculator | Work Out Your Returns for Free

Q: What is the Lucky 31 all-winners bonus?

If all five selections win, many UK bookmakers add a 20% bonus to the total return from all 31 bets. That is bigger than the usual 10% on a Lucky 15 because five winners is harder to land. Some bookmakers offer more on promoted race days, so check the terms first.

Lucky 31 Calculator

Calculate your Lucky 31 returns across all 31 bets: 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds and a five-fold accumulator. Includes the usual bonuses, each way bets and void runners. One winner always returns something. Free, instant and no sign-up.

31 bets5 selectionsSingles included20% all-winners bonusEach way

All bookmakers listed hold a UK Gambling Commission licence. New customers only. 18+. Offers change often, so check the terms on the bookmaker’s site before you bet.

How to Use the Lucky 31 Calculator

Set your unit stake.Your total outlay is unit stake × 31: £31 at £1 and £15.50 at 50p. Use the quick buttons for common stakes.
Choose win or each way.Each way doubles the bets to 62. Pick the place terms from the race card.
Leave the bonus box ticked, or untick it.Many UK bookmakers pay double odds on a sole winner and a 20% bonus if all five win. Untick the box to see the return without bonuses.
Enter the odds for all five selections.Fractional or decimal both work, and the decimal price shows under each box.
Set the results.Leave every result on Won for the maximum return, then mark each selection Won, Placed, Void or Lost once the results are in. The panel shows the return from singles, doubles, trebles, four-folds and the five-fold.

What Is a Lucky 31 Bet?

A Lucky 31 is a full cover bet that turns 5 selections into 31 separate bets: 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds and 1 five-fold. Every combination of the five selections, at every size from one to five, is included.

The number 31 comes from adding up the combinations: 5 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 1 = 31. The key advantage over a straight five-fold is the singles: as long as one selection wins, you get something back.

The Lucky 31 sits in the middle of the Lucky family, bigger than a Lucky 15 (4 selections, 15 bets) and smaller than a Lucky 63 (6 selections, 63 bets). It is most popular in UK horse racing, where punters pick five runners across an afternoon and want cover for every outcome rather than relying on a five-fold.

Lucky 31 Bet Breakdown

5 singles: one bet on each selection at full odds. A single winner at 6/1 on a £1 unit stake returns £7. This is the safety net: even if four selections lose, the fifth still pays.
10 doubles: every pair from five selections. Two winners land 1 double, three winners land 3 and four winners land 6.
10 trebles: every group of three. Three winners land 1 treble, four winners land 4 and five winners land all 10.
5 four-folds: every group of four. You need four winners for any return here: four winners land 1 and five winners land all 5.
1 five-fold: all five together. All five must win. It is the smallest staked part of the bet with by far the biggest potential return.

Lucky 31 Bonuses Explained

Sole winner consolation (double odds)

When exactly one selection wins and the other four lose, many UK bookmakers pay the winning single at double the odds. A sole winner at 4/1 is paid at 8/1, so £9 back on a £1 unit stake instead of £5. Some bookmakers pay a percentage uplift instead, so confirm the terms before you bet.

All-winners bonus (20%)

If all five selections win, many bookmakers add 20% to the total return from all 31 bets. It is bigger than the usual 10% on a Lucky 15 because five winners from five is harder to land. On a big five-fold, the bonus can be worth hundreds of pounds.

Lucky 31 vs Lucky 15 vs Canadian

Lucky 15 (4 selections, 15 bets): costs 16 units less. If you only have a strong view on four selections, it gives full cover without the cost of a fifth leg. Compare them with our Lucky 15 calculator.
Canadian, or Super Yankee (5 selections, 26 bets): the same five selections without the singles. It costs £5 less at £1 a bet but needs two winners to return anything. See the effect of dropping the singles with our Canadian calculator.
Lucky 63 (6 selections, 63 bets): the next step up, with a sixth selection and a bigger all-winners bonus at many bookmakers. It costs roughly double at the same unit stake. Try our Lucky 63 calculator.

Worked Example: Lucky 31 With 3 Winners

You place a £1 Lucky 31 (£31 in total) on five horses:

Selection 1: 6/1, won
Selection 2: 3/1, lost
Selection 3: 5/1, won
Selection 4: 8/1, lost
Selection 5: 4/1, won

With winners 1, 3 and 5, the winning bets are:

3 winning singles: (7.00 × £1) + (6.00 × £1) + (5.00 × £1) = £18
3 winning doubles: 1+3 (7 × 6 = £42) + 1+5 (7 × 5 = £35) + 3+5 (6 × 5 = £30) = £107
1 winning treble: 1+3+5 (7 × 6 × 5 = £210)

The total return is £18 + £107 + £210 = £335, a profit of £304 on £31. No bonus applies because two selections lost. Most of the profit comes from the treble, which is how a Lucky 31 pays off with three winners. These are the default prices in the calculator: set selections 2 and 4 to Lost to see it.

Lucky 31 Betting Tips

Spread your five across different races. Picking from five different races limits the damage from one bad event, such as a heavily backed favourite pulling up or a meeting being abandoned.
Mix the prices. Five odds-on favourites give small multiples even if all five win. One or two selections at 6/1 or bigger lift the doubles, trebles and four-folds a lot when they come in.
Check the bonus terms. Lucky 31 bonuses vary by bookmaker and are sometimes improved on festival days. Our bookmaker reviews cover each operator’s promotions.
Think about each way. An each way Lucky 31 is 62 bets and double the stake, but pays something when selections place without winning. Our each way calculator shows the place odds for a single runner.
Model the outcomes first. Try 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 winners in the calculator before you bet so you know your break-even point. With moderate prices, you typically need two or three winners to cover a £31 stake.

Lucky 31 for Other Sports

The Lucky 31 comes from horse racing, but you can place one on any sport where bookmakers take full cover bets, including football, rugby, golf and cricket. The usual bonuses (double odds on a sole winner, 20% if all win) generally apply only to horse racing, so untick the bonus box in the calculator for other sports.

In football, a Lucky 31 suits five matches where you want cover rather than relying on one five-fold. Bookmakers usually require each selection to come from a different event when you place a full cover bet.