What is a Lucky 15 Bet & How Does it Work?

Because there are 15 bets in one Lucky 15 wager, the total stake is always 15 times the unit stake, so a £1 Lucky 15 would cost £15.

Look at how a Lucky 15 bet across four racing selections might play out with a £1 unit stake. Here are the four example selections:

• Be My Honey (2.00 York) – 8/1
• Time Traveller (2.35 Haydock) – 6/1
• Mountain Peak (3.15 Beverley) – 10/1
• Azawry (4.55 Haydock) – 3/1

If Time Traveller (6/1) and Mountain Peak (10/1) both won and the other two selections lost, you would win a total of £95. Here's how:

Singles Total: £18 (£7 + £11)

• Time Traveller - £7
• Mountain Peak - £11

Double Total: £77.00

• Time Traveller/Mountain Peak - £77 (£1 x 7.0 x 11.0)

Total Return: £95.00 (£18 + £77)

If Be My Honey had also won, the total return would have been significantly greater at £959 (three singles + three doubles + a treble).

If all four selections had won, the return would have been £4,799 (four singles + six doubles + four trebles + a four-fold accumulator).

In the next section, we break down a Lucky 15 with three winners, this time using football as an example.

The Lucky 15 bet is most commonly used to bet on racing, but can also be spread across a set of fixtures at football betting sites.

Let’s explain how a £1 Lucky 15 football bet on a Saturday afternoon might look with the following selections:

1. Bournemouth to beat Aston Villa – 9/4
2. Coventry to win at Watford – 4/1
3. Shrewsbury to win at Cambridge – 2/1
4. Stockport to win at Harrogate – 11/4

Besides Bournemouth, which drew with Aston Villa, three of the four selections above won

Here's what the Lucky 15 bet would return:

Singles Total: £11.75 ( £5 + £3 + £3.75)

• Coventry - £5
• Shrewsbury - £3
• Stockport - £3.75

Doubles Total: £45.00 (£15 + £11.25 + £18.75)

• Coventry/Shrewsbury - £15 (£1 x 5.0 x 3.0)
• Shrewsbury/Stockport - £11.25 (£1 x 3.0 x 3.75)
• Coventry/Stockport - £18.75 (£1 x 5.0 x 3.75)

Treble Total: £56.25

• Coventry/Shrewsbury/Stockport - £56.25 (£1 x 5.0 x 3.0 x 3.75)

Total Return: £113

£11.75 (singles total) + £45 (doubles total) + £56.25 (treble total) = £113

Each-way selections in a Lucky 15 are separated into two bets (win and place—similar to a partial payout if your selection finishes close to the top), which doubles the number of bets in your Lucky 15 to 30. So a £1 each-way Lucky 15 will cost £30 in total.

At horse racing betting sites, the place portion of each-way bets usually pays out at reduced odds—typically 1/5 or 1/4 of the original odds—depending on the number of runners and your bookmaker’s terms. (Note: “1/4 odds” means you’ll receive one-quarter of the listed betting odds if your selection places, not wins.)

Football's concept of each-way betting is typically applied to First Goal Scorer and Anytime Goal Scorer markets. For a First Goal Scorer bet, you'll receive full odds if the player scores first, and 1/4 or 1/5 of the odds if the player scores at any time but not first. The same reduced payout structure can apply to Anytime Goal Scorer bets, depending on the bookmaker.

The Lucky 15 comprises 15 bets on four separate selections, while a Yankee bet includes four selections but no singles.

A Yankee instead comprises 11 bets: six doubles, four trebles, and a four-fold. Therefore, the total cost of the bet is 11x the unit stake rather than 15x.

A Lucky 15 is a great betting option when you have several selections across different markets.

It’s a fun option for big race meetings like the Cheltenham Festival, where you may be able to take advantage of betting offers to spread a Lucky 15 across a day's racing.

The advantage of a Lucky 15 bet over an accumulator (a parlay or a multi) is that you can make a nice profit without every selection needing to win.

On the other hand, your total stake for a Lucky 15 will usually be bigger than an accumulator, so you generally stand to lose more if you get all four selections wrong.

A Lucky 31 bet is similar to a Lucky 15, but instead consists of 31 separate bets on five selections:

1. Five singles: Each selection is bet on individually.
2. 10 doubles: All possible combinations of two selections are bet on.
3. 10 trebles: All possible combinations of three selections are bet on.
4. Five four-folds: All possible combinations of four selections are bet on.
5. One five-fold: All selections must win for this part of the bet to be successful.

A Lucky 63 consists of 63 separate bets on six selections:

1. Six singles: Each selection is based on individual bets.
2. 15 doubles: All possible combinations of two selections are bet on.
3. 20 trebles: All possible combinations of three selections are bet on.
4. 15 four-folds: All possible combinations of four selections are bet on.
5. Six five-folds: All possible combinations of five selections are bet on.
6. One six-fold accumulator: All selections must win for this part of the bet to be successful.