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

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

A Lucky 15 bet comprises 15 bets of equal value on four selections. When you place a Lucky 15, you bet on four singles, six doubles, four trebles, and one four-fold accumulator simultaneously. Any (or all) of those selections can hit.

Bet TypeNo. of BetsSelections
Singles4A, B, C, D
Doubles6AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD
Trebles4ABC, ABD, ACD, BCD
Four-fold1ABCD
Total15All combos above

Read on to learn how to work a Lucky 15 out and when to use this bet at your favorite betting site.

Note: This guide uses examples in fractional odds (e.g., 8/1) and British pounds (£), which are common in UK betting. Depending on your region or betting site, odds may appear in decimal (e.g., 9.00) or American format (e.g., +800), and currency may vary. While Lucky 15 bets are especially popular for UK horse racing and football (soccer), the structure can apply to other sports and regions.

How Does a Lucky 15 Bet 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.

How a Lucky 15 Bet Works in Football

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 Lucky 15 Bets

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.

In horse racing, 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 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.

How Does a Lucky 15 Bet Differ From a Yankee?

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.

When to Place a Lucky 15 Bet

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 can use free bets 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.

What is a Lucky 31 Bet?

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.

What is a Lucky 63 Bet?

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.
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