Most guides to bet types stop at “a multi combines several selections and the odds multiply”. That is true, and it is useless. It leaves out the only number that decides whether a bet is worth placing: the gap between the price offered and what the outcome is actually worth. This page covers every bet type at betr bookmaker (single, multi, Same Game Multi, Same Race Multi, each way, Tote Single, futures) with the arithmetic underneath each one.
The maths applies market-wide. What differs between bookmakers is how much margin each takes and which combination products it offers.
How Australian decimal odds work
Australia runs on decimal odds, and the thing to know first is that the decimal figure includes your stake. A $10 bet at $2.50 returns $25.00: $15.00 profit plus your original $10 back. It is not $25 on top; punters arriving from fractional or American odds get this wrong constantly.
From there, one formula does most of the work:
Implied probability = 1 ÷ decimal odds. So $4.00 implies 1 ÷ 4.00 = 0.25, a 25% chance.
| Decimal odds | Implied probability | $10 returns | $10 profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1.20 | 83.3% | $12.00 | $2.00 |
| $1.50 | 66.7% | $15.00 | $5.00 |
| $2.00 | 50.0% | $20.00 | $10.00 |
| $2.50 | 40.0% | $25.00 | $15.00 |
| $3.00 | 33.3% | $30.00 | $20.00 |
| $5.00 | 20.0% | $50.00 | $40.00 |
| $10.00 | 10.0% | $100.00 | $90.00 |
| $21.00 | 4.8% | $210.00 | $200.00 |
Note the curve’s shape. $1.50 to $2.00 costs 16.7 percentage points of probability; $5.00 to $10.00 costs only 10. The dollar figure doubles, the probability behind it barely moves — which is what makes big-odds multis feel more achievable than they are.
Overround: the margin baked into every price
Add up the implied probabilities of every outcome in a market and you never get 100%. You get more. The excess is the overround, the bookmaker’s built-in edge.
Simplest case: a two-way market with both sides at $1.90. Each implies 1 ÷ 1.90 = 52.63%. Together that’s 105.26%, an overround of 5.26%. The margin actually kept is 1 − (1 ÷ 1.0526) = 5.00%. In a true 50/50 contest the fair price is $2.00 both ways; you’re offered $1.90, and the missing 10 cents in every dollar is the fee.
Racing carries far more. Across an eight-horse field, if the implied probabilities total 118%, the overround is 18% and the effective margin is 1 − (1 ÷ 1.18) = 15.3%. More runners means more places to hide margin, which is why big-field win markets are the most expensive bets on the board.
No bookmaker publishes its margin, betr included. The only check available is the same market at two or three books before you bet. See how betr’s prices compare with other Australian bookmakers.
Bet types at a glance
| Bet type | What it combines | Maximum legs | Where it’s available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | One selection, one market | 1 | All racing and sports markets |
| Multi (accumulator) | Selections across different events | Not published by betr | Racing and sport, fixed odds |
| Same Game Multi (SGM) | Selections within one match | 12 | AFL, NRL, NFL, NBA, MLB, EPL, cricket |
| Same Race Multi (SRM) | Selections within one race | 4 | Thoroughbred, greyhound, harness |
| Each way | Win and place on one runner | 2 components | Racing |
| Tote Single | One selection at the pool dividend | 1 | Australian and NZ racing |
| Futures / ante-post | Outright result, priced in advance | 1 | Group 1 racing, league outrights |
| Cash Out | An exit, not a bet type | — | Selected racing singles, fixed-odds multis, some sports |
Singles
One selection, one price, one result. Boring, and mathematically the best value on the board, because you pay the margin once. Everything across betr’s thoroughbred, greyhound and harness racing markets and its AFL, NRL and cricket betting markets can be backed as a single.
What is a multi bet, and how does a multi bet work?
A multi (accumulator, parlay) combines several selections into one bet. Every leg must win. The odds multiply, and so do the probabilities, which is where people lose the thread. Four legs at $1.80, $2.10, $1.65 and $2.50:
- 1.80 × 2.10 = 3.78
- 3.78 × 1.65 = 6.237
- 6.237 × 2.50 = 15.5925, so the multi pays $15.59
- A $10 stake returns $155.93, a profit of $145.93
Now in probability. Those legs imply 55.6%, 47.6%, 60.6% and 40.0%. Multiplied: 0.556 × 0.476 × 0.606 × 0.400 = 0.064. That $155.93 has a 6.4% implied chance of arriving. Three of the four legs are odds-on or close to it, and the combination is still a 1-in-16 shot.
The part that matters more: if each leg carries the 5% margin from the two-way example, the multi carries 0.95 to the power of four, or 0.8145, so the effective margin on a four-leg multi is about 18.5%. The edge compounds exactly as the odds do, and eight legs is worse again. This is why every betting app pushes multis and none pushes singles.
Same Game Multi at betr
A Same Game Multi combines selections from inside one match (match result, a player’s disposal count, total points, first try-scorer) into a single price. betr allows up to 12 legs, on AFL, NRL, NFL, NBA, MLB, EPL and cricket.
The difference from a standard multi is that the legs aren’t independent, and the pricing engine knows it. Back a team to win and back their leading forward to score, and those outcomes are correlated: the second is far likelier when the first happens. Naive multiplication would overpay you, so the engine shortens the combined price. That’s why a 12-leg SGM pays much less than the same 12 selections spread across 12 matches.
This isn’t a betr quirk or a rip-off; it’s the only way the product can exist. But it misleads you twice over, through compounding margin and through an invisible correlation adjustment. You cannot check an SGM price against anything, which is exactly what makes it profitable to offer.
betr also markets Wildcards, which activates or amends an SGM while an AFL match runs; the mechanics aren’t published, so we won’t invent them. Placing an in-play bet online remains prohibited in Australia; see how in-play betting works at betr. Both features are built for the betr app.
Same Race Multi
The racing equivalent. A Same Race Multi combines up to 4 legs inside one race: one runner to win, a second top two, a third top three. The same correlation logic applies, more severely: one horse winning directly changes what every other horse can finish. Four legs is the cap at betr, and leg for leg it’s one of the higher-margin products available.
Each way betting explained
An each-way bet is two bets on one runner: half your money on the win, half on the place. A “$20 each way” bet costs $20 in total, split $10 win and $10 place. Not $20 each.
Australian each-way differs from the British version. There’s no fractional 1/4 or 1/5 arrangement; the place leg settles at a separate quoted place price. Say a horse is $11.00 the win and $3.20 the place, and you go $20 each way:
| Result | Win leg | Place leg | Total return | Net on $20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | $110.00 | $32.00 | $142.00 | +$122.00 |
| Finishes placed | $0.00 | $32.00 | $32.00 | +$12.00 |
| Unplaced | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | −$20.00 |
How many positions pay depends on field size. Broadly, three places on fields of eight or more, two on smaller fields, none on very small ones. Each way is a hedge, and hedges cost money: a smaller win return for a consolation, with margin paid on both legs.
Fixed odds versus Tote Single
betr offers both. The difference is when your price is decided.
Fixed odds lock the price the moment you bet. If the horse drifts from $6.00 to $9.00 before the jump, you’re still paid at $6.00 — but you knew your return before the race ran.
Tote Single is pari-mutuel: your money joins a pool, the operator takes a deduction, and what’s left is split among winning tickets. Nobody knows the dividend until settlement. Tote can pay well above the fixed price on a runner the pool has underbet, and well below it when the money piles onto a favourite. betr’s Racing Live Tracker carries both Fixed Win/Place and Tote Single on Australian and NZ thoroughbred racing.
Rule of thumb: fixed odds when you want certainty or you’ve caught an early price you rate; tote when you’re on something the crowd isn’t.
Cash Out
Cash Out settles a bet before the event finishes, for an amount betr offers you. It’s available on selected racing singles, fixed-odds multi bets and selected sports events — not everything, and the full eligibility list isn’t published.
The arithmetic worth carrying: a cash-out offer always sits below the mark-to-market value of your bet. Say $50 on that four-leg multi at $15.59, a potential $779.63, with three legs landed and the last priced at $2.50. The mirror value is $779.63 ÷ 2.50 = $311.85: what you’d hold if you could lay the last leg off at the same price with nobody taking a cut.
The offer comes back under that. At $270 (an illustration, not a betr quote) you’d pay roughly 13% of your position’s value to exit, a second margin on top of the one inside every leg. That can be money well spent when circumstances change or a position grows uncomfortably large. Taken habitually, it just bleeds you.
Futures and ante-post markets
Futures, also sold as ante-post, all-in or outrights, are bets on a result weeks or months away: a Group 1 winner, a premiership, a Brownlow. Prices are longest early and shorten as the field clarifies. Three warnings: your money is tied up throughout; most are “all-in”, so your stake isn’t refunded if your selection never starts; and outright margins are among the widest offered.
betr promotes a product called G1 Futures. Beyond the name and the obvious implication, betr does not publish the mechanics, and we won’t guess at settlement rules that could cost you money. Read the market’s own terms in the app first.
What makes a bet worse than it looks
- Overround. Every price is short of fair — around 5% on a two-way market, up to three times that on a big-field win market.
- Compounding on multis. Four legs at 5% each is roughly 18.5% against you. The longer the multi, the further from fair the price, and the more spectacular the payout looks.
- Cash Out. A second margin, charged at the exit, and one that only makes sense occasionally.
- Bonus bets. Stake-not-returned: a $50 bonus bet at $3.00 pays $100, not $150. See why bonus bets are stake-not-returned.
None of that makes betting irrational. It makes it expensive, and the expense is knowable in advance. You win some. You lose more. Limits, timeouts and self-exclusion sit in your account settings; see deposit limits and self-exclusion tools.
Where this gets contested at betr
Knowing your bet types doesn’t help if settlement goes wrong, and betr’s public feedback there is poor: 1.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 26 reviews, 92% of them one star, and 1.2 out of 5 on ProductReview from 71 reviews. Both samples are small, and the punters who bother to post have usually had something go wrong — a caveat that applies to every bookmaker’s review page.
The complaints relevant here are voided winning bets and wagers customers say vanished from the bet slip. Multi-leg products are where such disputes are hardest to settle: one contested leg decides the whole bet, and a correlation-adjusted price can’t be checked externally. Screenshot anything unusual as you place it. Full picture in our hands-on assessment of betr.
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FAQ
How do decimal odds work?
Multiply your stake by the decimal figure for your total return, stake included. A $10 bet at $2.50 returns $25.00, which is $15.00 profit plus the $10 back. Divide 1 by the odds for the percentage chance: $2.50 implies 40%.
What is a multi bet?
A multi combines two or more selections into one bet where every leg must win. The odds multiply, so the payout grows fast. The margin compounds along with them: four legs each carrying 5% give the book roughly an 18.5% edge.
What is a Same Game Multi?
An SGM combines several selections from inside one match into a single price. betr allows up to 12 legs, on AFL, NRL, NFL, NBA, MLB, EPL and cricket. Because the legs are correlated, the combined price is shortened relative to straight multiplication.
How does each-way betting work?
Your stake splits in half: one half on the win, one on the place, at two separately quoted prices. A “$20 each way” bet costs $20 total. If the runner wins, both legs pay. If it only makes the frame you collect on the place leg, and if it finishes nowhere you lose the lot.
What is implied probability?
The chance an outcome has according to its price: 1 ÷ decimal odds. A $4.00 selection implies 25%. Add every outcome in a market and the total exceeds 100% — that excess is the overround, and it’s how the book profits regardless of result.
Is Cash Out worth taking?
Sometimes, but the offer always sits below the fair value of your position, because margin is applied at the exit as well as the entry. Reasonable when a position grows uncomfortably large; as a habit it steadily erodes returns.
What’s the difference between fixed odds and tote?
Fixed odds lock your price at placement, so the return is known in advance. Tote Single pays a pool dividend calculated after the race, once deductions are taken. It can beat the fixed price on an underbet runner and pay well under it on a heavily backed favourite.
18+ only. Betting carries risk; the maths above is here to make that concrete. Set a deposit limit before you need one, and use BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register, if betting has stopped being a choice. For free and confidential support, call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.