Lucky 15 Tips For Today

Today's Lucky 15 Bet

One of the most popular multiple bets in horse racing is the Lucky 15. If you are looking for a multiple bet that guarantees a return from one winner but still offers the prospect of a big win, look no further than the Lucky 15. We gather all selections advised by various professional horse racing experts and put the four most popular tips in to our Lucky 15 bet.

Here is the Lucky 15 explained in simple terms for both the novice and the more experienced punter.

What is a Lucky 15?

A Lucky 15 bet involves linking together 4 selections in all possible combinations plus a single bet on each horse. It is a variation on the popular Yankee bet that combines 4 horses in 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a four-horse accumulator. The big incentive for the Lucky 15 is that, should only one of your selections win, you are paid out at double the odds! There is also a 10% bonus on your winnings, should all four selections win.

How does a lucky 15 work?

Here is the Lucky 15 explained in more detail. Your four selections are numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. Any winning bets are calculated from the following;
4 x single bets on horses 1, 2, 3 and 4
6 x doubles on horses 1&2, 1&3, 1&4, 2&3, 2&4, 3&4
4 x trebles on horses 1,2&3, 1,2&4, 1,3&4, 2,3&4
1 x four-fold (accumulator) on horses 1,2,3&4
Total 15 bets or 15 x your unit stake.

Lucky 15, Lucky 31 and Lucky 63

The Lucky 15 bet guarantees a return on your stake for just one winner. For example, if you were backing four horses, each starting at 7-1, the double odds one winner concession would repay all your initial 15 point stake. i.e. 7-1 becomes 14-1, 14 points plus your 1 point stake = 15 points.

The Yankee is still popular with punters backing short-priced favourites. A Yankee bet requires 2 of your selections to win to get a return. You could still get a return on your Yankee bet if you have a non-runner. In this instance, the bets involving the non-runner become singles, doubles and a treble.

There are also “Lucky” bets available for combinations of five and six horses. The Canadian covers 5 horses in 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-folds and a five-horse accumulator (26 bets in total). A Lucky 31 adds 5 single bets to the total, paying out at double the odds if you only have one winner. The Lucky 31 also adds a 20% bonus to your winnings, should all 5 horses win.

The Lucky 63 is a “souped-up” version of the old Heinz 57 bet. The Heinz consists of 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, 6 five-folds and a six-horse accumulator. A further 6 single bets take your stake up to 63 bets in total. If 5 out of 6 horses win, some bookmakers will pay a 10% bonus to your overall winnings as a consolation. Check the terms and conditions with your bookmaker. There is a 25% bonus if all 6 selections win.

With each of the Lucky bets, you ONLY get paid double the odds if you have one winner. The enhanced odds do not apply if you have a non-runner as this alters the structure of your bet.

Each Way Lucky 15

Many punters still like the option to bet each-way, particularly if they are betting on the big festival meetings like Royal Ascot, Cheltenham or Aintree. You can place an EW Lucky 15 as it is essentially the same, but with 30 separate bets. For example, a £1 Lucky 15 will cost you £15 but a £1 each-way Lucky 15 will cost you £30. You can of course split your stake i.e. 50 pence each-way Lucky 15 to keep your outlay at £15 in total. Not all bookmakers apply the bonus offers to each-way Lucky 15 bets so you will have to check their terms and conditions.

The place part of the bet is calculated in accordance with usual rules. One-fifth of the odds for first, second and third in non-handicap races of eight runners or more. Bookmakers pay one-quarter of the odds in handicaps of eight or more runners. You will be paid out for fourth place in handicaps of sixteen or more runners.

Best Lucky 15 Bonus

Most of the leading bookmakers offer some extra incentives for punters on their Lucky 15, Lucky 31 and Lucky 63 bets. The most notable exception is Paddy Power who have no bonuses currently advertised for these wagers. There are some cracking bonuses to be had elsewhere and we recommend shopping around before placing your bets.

There are two types of Lucky bet bonuses. The first is the consolation for having just one winner in your bet. In this instance, the bonus kicks in and typically doubles the odds for that winner i.e. If you have one winner at 5-1 in a Lucky 15 and the remaining three selections all lose, the bonus will pay double the odds (10-1). This does not apply if one of your selections is a non-runner.

The second Lucky bet bonus is for correctly naming all four, five or six winners in your Lucky 15, Lucky 31 or Lucky 63. This is typically a 10% bonus for a successful Lucky 15, a 20% bonus for a Lucky 31 and a 25% bonus for a Lucky 63. The bonuses only apply to the win part of each-way Lucky 15, Lucky 31 or Lucky 63 bets. Here is our breakdown of the best offers on the market.

Betfred Lucky 15 bonus leads the way...

Not only is the Betfred Lucky 15 Bonus greater than any of their rivals, so too is the Betfred Lucky 31 Bonus and the Betfred Lucky 63 Bonus!

Betfred will pay a generous 3x the odds if you have just one winner in your Betfred Lucky 15. This may not appear overly generous if you are betting on short-priced favourites but it is very significant if your selections are 5-1 or better. Just one winner covers your Lucky 15 Bet! The Betfred Lucky 15 is available on all UK and Ireland horse and greyhound racing including virtual racing.

If you place a Lucky 31 and have just one winner out of five selections, Betfred will pay 4x the odds on that winner. This is double the Lucky 31 bonus that you will be able to find elsewhere! When it comes to the Betfred Lucky 63, they will pay 5x the odds on a single winner. That turns a 5-1 shot into a 25-1 shot!

With such generous bonuses on offer for a single winner, Betfred stand out as the place to go for your Lucky bets. Their bonus for naming all four, five or six winners is in line with the best of their rivals at 10%, 20% and 25% respectively. The only minor quibble with Betfred is that they do not offer Best Odds Guaranteed on these bets.

Bet365 Lucky 15 bonus the best of the rest...

If you don’t yet have a Betfred account, the best you will achieve on the Lucky 15, Lucky 31 or Lucky 63 Bonus is 2x the odds. The industry standard on the “all correct” bonus is 10% on all four winners in a Lucky 15, 20% a Lucky 31 and 25% a Lucky 63. One of the major bookmakers deviates from these figures, the Bet365 Lucky 15 bonus is 15%.

There is nothing to choose between the other leading bookmakers. William Hill, Coral and Ladbrokes offer the standard bonus for 1 winner and for “all correct” wagers. The same is true of Betfair, BetVictor, SkyBet and BlackType, although the latter does not guarantee best odds.

Big Lucky 15 Winners

There have been many big winners from the Lucky 15 bet, and not all of them needed all four horses to win. A London IT worker won £72,000 from a £6 Lucky 15 bet in 2013, thanks largely to the 40-1 victory of Lamego at Wincanton. Pinkneys Prince (16-1) won at Uttoxeter and Ficelle (14-1) at Brighton ensured a massive pay-out.

It was a similar story for a Dublin punter the same year when Imagine If (25-1) at Southwell, Risk and Roll (6-1) at Southwell and Blame Me Forever (25-1) at Chelmsford all won in his 3 euro Lucky 15. Unfortunately, he was denied a 245,000 euro pay-out when Field Exhibition was beaten at Limerick.

One punter landed 25,000 euros in 2015 by correctly selecting Winterval (5-2) and Go Sakhee (3-1) at Nottingham and Ginger Jack (9-2) and Save The Bees (7-2) at Carlisle. His winning 7 euro Lucky 15 was topped up by an inspired 40 euro accumulator!

The more adventurous can take encouragement from a win of £250,000 for a 67-year-old factory worker from London on a £1 Lucky 31 bet last year. He placed his bet on Arctic Fire (22-1), Penhill (14-1), Pacha Du Polder (22-1) and Champagne Classic (25-1) at the Cheltenham Festival in March. He would have won £1million had Dodging Bullets won the closing race of the day!

At the same meeting, a punter from County Louth won 33,500 euros when all four of his selections won in a Lucky 15. Shattered Love (6-1), Delta Work (10-1), Balko Des Flos (12-1) and The Storyteller (7-1) triggered the 10% bonus for all four winners.