Hedge calculator
How much do I bet to lock in a profit?
A 100 stake at +250 that has since moved. Laying the other side locks a result now, and what it locks depends entirely on the price you can lay at:
| Lay at | Lay stake | Locked | Return on total staked |
|---|---|---|---|
| -400 | 280.00 | -30.00 | -7.89% |
| -250 | 250.00 | -0.00 | -0.00% |
| -140 | 204.17 | +45.83 | +15.07% |
| +180 | 125.00 | +125.00 | +55.56% |
The direction surprises people: a longer lay price needs a smaller lay stake, so it keeps more. Laying at +180 locks +125.00, while laying at -400 locks -30.00 — a loss taken deliberately rather than a profit secured, because covering the position costs more than the open bet stands to make. Hedging does not create value. It converts a variable outcome into a fixed one, and the price of that conversion is whatever the market charges at the moment you ask.
The reason to do it anyway is rarely the money. A position that is too large for the bankroll behind it is worth closing at a cost, and so is one whose remaining upside no longer justifies the account attention it is drawing.
Where the number comes from
Everything above was computed by the same engine that prices bets, at the moment this page was built — not typed into a template. The build fails if a figure appears here and not in the engine's own output.