Enter three decimal prices and the stake you want on each line. The calculator settles all seven bets in a Patent, the three singles, the three doubles and the treble, and reports your outlay alongside the return for every combination of winners. One winner is enough to bring money back, which is the difference a Patent is paying for.
The Seven Bets Behind the Name
A Patent covers three selections seven ways. Each selection gets a single. Each pair gets a double. All three go into one treble.
Line the seven up against a Trixie on the same three prices and the difference is those three singles. A Trixie has four bets and needs two winners before anything settles. A Patent has seven bets and starts paying at one.
Your unit stake rides on each line, so the stake you type gets multiplied by seven. Bettors who read the £5 box and not the £35 total are the reason bookmakers put the confirmation screen there.
A Worked Example
Three selections at decimal 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0, with £5 on each of the seven bets.
- Total outlay: 7 bets × £5.00 = £35.00.
- All three win: total return £205.00, profit £170.00.
- Same three prices as a Trixie: 4 bets × £5.00 = £20.00 outlay, £167.50 return, £147.50 profit.
- One winner: its single settles and everything else voids, so the return is a fraction of what you put down.
Set the two all-win rows beside each other. The Patent costs £35.00 and pays £170.00 of profit. The Trixie costs £20.00 and pays £147.50. You commit more, you win more in cash, and the extra money is buying results where the Trixie hands back nothing.
Reading the Outlay Against the Return
Start with the total, not the unit. Seven multiplies faster than people expect, and a £10 Patent is a £70 commitment before a ball is kicked.
Look next at where the return sits when things go badly. With one winner, a Patent pays that selection’s single and voids the rest, so a short-priced winner leaves you well down on the bet even though the slip shows a return. Two winners bring in one double plus two singles, which is where a Patent starts to look like the sensible version of a treble.
The all-win row is the one that flatters the bet, and it is also the least likely row on the sheet. Compare it with the Trixie Calculator and the Round Robin Calculator, which strips the treble out and leaves doubles only, before deciding which shape suits the three selections in front of you.
The Insurance Has a Price, and the Price Has Margin
The three singles take your outlay from £20.00 to £35.00 in the example above, and they only earn that difference back on the days your treble was never going to land. Across a run of bets where all three legs win often enough, the Patent’s higher outlay drags the return per pound below the Trixie’s.
The singles are not free of the bookmaker’s cut either. Every one of the seven lines is built from prices that already contain margin, and the doubles and treble stack it leg over leg, the same compounding the Parlay Calculator demonstrates on accumulators. The Hold / Vig Calculator quantifies a single market: two prices of 1.90 and 1.90 carry an overround of 5.26% and a hold of 5.00%. Seven bets drawn from three such markets pay that cut repeatedly.
Some bookmakers advertise consolations or bonuses on multiple bets. Terms differ between firms and this calculator does not model any of them, so read the offer before you assume it applies to a Patent.
Further Reading
- All betting calculators: the full library of 34 free tools
- Staking and bankroll: how should you stake?
- Losing runs and variance: what to expect
What is a Patent bet?
A Patent is seven bets from three selections: three singles, three doubles and one treble. Your unit stake applies to each line, so a £5 Patent costs £35.00. Because the singles are included, one winner produces a return, unlike a Trixie or a straight treble on the same three names.
What is the difference between a Patent and a Trixie?
The three singles. A Trixie is four bets and needs two winners to pay anything. A Patent is seven bets and pays from one winner. On three selections at 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 with a £5 unit, the Trixie costs £20.00 and returns £167.50 if all three land, while the Patent costs £35.00 and returns £205.00.
Do you make a profit if only one selection wins in a Patent?
Rarely. That winner’s single settles and the other six lines lose, so you collect the single’s return against an outlay seven times your unit stake. At £5 a line you have committed £35.00, and one short-priced winner will not cover it. The singles limit the damage rather than turning a bad day into a good one.
Is a Patent worth the extra stake?
It depends how confident you are in all three legs. Backing three selections you rate on their own merits makes the Trixie’s lower outlay work harder, since the all-win return of £167.50 comes off a £20.00 stake rather than £35.00. Including one speculative leg is where the singles start earning the money you spent on them.