Bookmaker margin and payout explained

The margin is the bookmaker's built-in edge. It is the reason the implied chances in a market add up to more than 100%. Payout is the same idea from your side: the share of all money staked that the prices would return if every outcome were backed in the right proportions.

A worked example

Take a two-way market priced at 1.91 on both sides. Each price implies 52.36%, so the book adds up to 104.71%. The extra 4.71% is the margin, also called the overround.

Payout is 1 divided by that total: 1 ÷ 1.0471 = 95.5%.

A football match result has three outcomes, and the method is the same. Prices of 2.10, 3.40 and 3.60 imply 47.62%, 29.41% and 27.78%. They sum to 104.81%, which gives a payout of 95.4%.

Why a few points matter

Payout is the long-run return you should expect on average if the prices are fair. These figures show the expected cost of 100 bets of £10 each, £1,000 staked in total:

These are averages, not forecasts. Real results swing widely over a run of bets, and no payout figure means you will get that money back.

How to use the Payout column

Every comparison table on this site has a Payout column for the market you are viewing. It is worked out from that bookmaker's own prices for that market, and rows are sorted with the best payout first.

A high payout tells you the bookmaker is charging less on that market overall. It does not mean every outcome is the best price. For a single bet, the price on your chosen outcome is what counts, and the highest price in each column is highlighted.

Taking the margin out

To estimate a fair price, divide each implied chance by the total. With the football example above, 47.62 ÷ 104.81 gives a fair chance of 45.4%, or a fair price of 2.20. Our value bets guide uses this to find prices above the market's consensus.