Enter five selections at decimal odds and a unit stake. The calculator returns the outlay across all 31 bets, the return if every selection wins, and how far the total falls when one or two of them go down. Each of the 31 bets carries its own stake, so a £1 unit costs £31 before any football is played.
What a Lucky 31 Covers
A Lucky 31 takes five selections and builds every combination the five allow: 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds and the 1 five-fold accumulator. Thirty-one bets, each funded separately.
The singles are the reason the bet exists in this shape. A straight five-fold on the same five names returns nothing the moment one leg goes down, while a Lucky 31 in that position keeps 15 bets live: 4 singles, 6 doubles, 4 trebles and 1 four-fold, the same 15-bet structure a Lucky 15 builds on four selections.
That cushion costs five extra unit stakes on top of the 26 combination bets. It only pays for itself when the surviving prices are big enough to clear those five stakes.
A Worked Example
Five selections at decimal odds of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 2.0 and 1.8, with a £1 unit stake.
- Outlay: 31 bets × £1.00 = £31.00. The bet count multiplies the unit stake, which is where the figure comes from.
- All five selections win: total return £351.80.
- Profit on the all-win: £351.80 – £31.00 = £320.80.
- The five-fold inside it: 2.0 × 2.5 × 3.0 × 2.0 × 1.8 = 54.0, so that one bet contributes £54.00 of the £351.80.
- One loser: 15 of the 31 bets stay live, 4 of them singles.
- Two losers: 7 bets stay live – 3 singles, 3 doubles and 1 treble.
Raise the unit to £5 and the structure does not change, but the outlay becomes 31 × £5.00 = £155.00.
How to Read the Results
Check the outlay line before anything else. Bettors type a stake they are comfortable with and then meet a number 31 times larger at confirmation, which is the most common way this bet type goes wrong.
The return figure steps down hard as winners drop out. Five winners pays £351.80 on this card. One loser removes the 16 bets that contained it, including the £54.00 five-fold and four of the five four-folds, and the survivors have to rebuild a £31 outlay from doubles and singles.
Look at the short prices separately. The 1.8 selection pays £1.80 back on its £1 single, which is the whole of its contribution once the rest of the card falls apart. Singles at that level trim a losing week rather than rescuing it, and a card built mainly from odds-on prices gets very little from the five extra stakes.
Where the Margin Goes
Twenty-six of the 31 bets combine at least two prices, and each price carries the bookmaker’s cut. A 1X2 market priced 2.50 / 3.40 / 2.90 implies 40.00%, 29.41% and 34.48%, adding to 103.89% – an overround of 3.89% and a hold of 3.75% of turnover. Stack five markets like that inside a five-fold and the cut compounds at every leg. The Hold / Vig Calculator measures the margin on one market; the Parlay Calculator shows what chaining them does to the combined price.
The figures above carry no bookmaker bonus or consolation terms. Where your bookmaker applies them, the payout will differ from the calculator’s arithmetic, so read the settlement rules on the bet slip.
The calculator prices the odds you type in. Whether five selections at 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 2.0 and 1.8 are worth backing at all is a separate question, and no multiples calculator answers it.
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
How many bets are in a Lucky 31?
Thirty-one, built from five selections: 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds and 1 five-fold accumulator. Each of the 31 is a separate bet with its own stake, so the amount leaving your account is the unit stake multiplied by 31. At £1 a unit that is £31.00, and at £2 a unit it is £62.00.
What is the difference between a Lucky 31 and a Lucky 15?
Selection count. A Lucky 15 covers four selections across 15 bets, and a Lucky 31 covers five selections across 31. Both include singles, so both return something when a single leg wins. Adding a fifth selection more than doubles the number of bets, which more than doubles the outlay at the same unit stake.
How much does a £1 Lucky 31 cost?
£31.00. The unit stake applies to every one of the 31 bets rather than to the bet as a whole, so £1 a unit means £31 staked. Bettors who want a £10 total exposure need a unit stake of about 32p. Check the outlay field before confirming, because bookmakers display the total rather than the unit.
Do you need all five selections to win a Lucky 31?
No. The five singles mean one winner returns something, and with four winners 15 of the 31 bets stay live. Whether those returns beat the £31 outlay depends on the prices: at 2.0 and 1.8 they will not, at 5.0 and above they might. Gecko Edge models the win probability behind each price rather than the payout structure around it.