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 Type | No. of Bets | Selections |
|---|---|---|
| Singles | 4 | A, B, C, D |
| Doubles | 6 | AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD |
| Trebles | 4 | ABC, ABD, ACD, BCD |
| Four-fold | 1 | ABCD |
| Total | 15 | All 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:
- Bournemouth to beat Aston Villa – 9/4
- Coventry to win at Watford – 4/1
- Shrewsbury to win at Cambridge – 2/1
- 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:
- Five singles: Each selection is bet on individually.
- 10 doubles: All possible combinations of two selections are bet on.
- 10 trebles: All possible combinations of three selections are bet on.
- Five four-folds: All possible combinations of four selections are bet on.
- 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:
- Six singles: Each selection is based on individual bets.
- 15 doubles: All possible combinations of two selections are bet on.
- 20 trebles: All possible combinations of three selections are bet on.
- 15 four-folds: All possible combinations of four selections are bet on.
- Six five-folds: All possible combinations of five selections are bet on.
- One six-fold accumulator: All selections must win for this part of the bet to be successful.
