Lucky 31 Bet Explained

Written by Steven Hubbard
Verified by BettingLounge team
Last updated 27/02/2024

What is a Lucky 31 Bet?

A Lucky 31 bet is made up of five selections and, being a very popular bet on horse racing betting sites, this is usually five horses to win a race. It gets more complicated than that, though, as these five selections are then spread out across 31 individual parts of the bet:

  • 5 singles
  • 10 doubles
  • 10 trebles
  • 5 four-fold accumulators
  • 1 five-fold accumulator

This means the stake is multiplied by 31 and in order to get any return, at least one of the selections needs to come through. Of course, the ultimate goal is for all of the selections to win. A Lucky 31 bet can also be compared to a Super Yankee - sometimes called a Canadian bet - except there are five singles included as well, making up the full 31 lines included.

How a Lucky 31 Bet Works

As explained above, a Lucky 31 bet is made up of five selections, which is usually five horses to win separate races. Instead of just placing five singles bets, though, a Lucky 31 bet means these five selections make up the - as the name suggests - 31 individual parts of the bet.

This also means that the stake is multiplied by 26. If a punter decided to place 10p on a Lucky 31 bet, it would therefore result in a total stake of £3.10. The Lucky 31 bet is constructed in the following way on the top UK betting sites: 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-fold accumulators and 1 five-fold accumulator.

This means that a Lucky 31 bet will pay out a return as long as just one of the legs wins. The more selections win, the more lines will be winners and the more the punter will get in return. It depends on the odds of the selections, of course, but around three winners will often turn a profit in a Lucky 31. Naturally, the best possible result for a Lucky 31 bet is for all five of the selections to be winners.

Horse racing is the most common sport used for a Lucky 31 bet, but it is offered for other sports such as greyhounds, football and so on too. This means you can also use this bet type on the best football betting sites.

How to Place a Lucky 31 Bet

It might sound complicated, but placing a Lucky 31 bet is actually a very easy process on betting sites. In fact, it works just like any other betting type, as you simply have to add the five selections to your bet slip. Then, once you have added the selections, you just need to look for the Lucky 31 option in the bet slip and enter your stake.

It is important to remember that the stake will be multiplied by 31 when placing a Lucky 31 bet, which means the full outlay can get quite large. To give an example, a £1 bet on a Lucky 31 bet would result in a £31 outlay in total, which is a significant amount of money, but a large potential profit would be up for grabs.

Furthermore, horse racing punters who want to place a Lucky 31 bet should also remember that their stake will be doubled if they want to cover the each-way option. So how exactly could a Lucky 31 bet work in practice? Let's take a look at a specific example, based on a punter choosing five horses to win separate races. The bet would then look as follows:

  • 5 Singles

    • Horse A to win
    • Horse B to win
    • Horse C to win
    • Horse D to win
    • Horse E to win
  • 10 Doubles

    • Horse A + Horse B to win
    • Horse A + Horse C to win
    • Horse A + Horse D to win
    • Horse A + Horse E to win
    • Horse B + Horse C to win
    • Horse B + Horse D to win
    • Horse B + Horse E to win
    • Horse C + Horse D to win
    • Horse C + Horse E to win
    • Horse D + Horse E to win
  • 10 Trebles

    • Horse A + Horse B + Horse C to win
    • Horse A + Horse B + Horse D to win
    • Horse A + Horse B + Horse E to win
    • Horse A + Horse C + Horse D to win
    • Horse A + Horse C + Horse E to win
    • Horse A + Horse D + Horse E to win
    • Horse B + Horse C + Horse D to win
    • Horse B + Horse C + Horse E to win
    • Horse B + Horse D + Horse E to win
    • Horse C + Horse D + Horse E to win
  • 5 Four-Fould Accumulators

    • Horse A + Horse B + Horse C + Horse D to win
    • Horse A + Horse B + Horse C + Horse E to win
    • Horse A + Horse B + Horse D + Horse E to win
    • Horse A + Horse C + Horse D + Horse E to win
    • Horse B + Horse C + Horse D + Horse E to win
  • 1 Five-Fold Accumulator

    • Horse A + Horse B + Horse C + Horse D + Horse E to win

A Lucky 31 is known as a full coverage type of wager. This means that each of the five total selections that are included is covered in full, meaning just one leg needs to win for a payout. Let's say that in our bet, all five of the horses picked out for the Lucky 31 are at evens (1/1).

This means the potential payout for the Lucky 31 bet with a £1 stake per line will be as follows:

  • 0 selections win – £0 return with a loss of -£31
  • 1 selection wins – £3 return with a loss of -£28
  • 2 selection wins – £8 return with a loss of -£23
  • 3 selection wins – £26 return with a loss of -£5
  • 4 selection wins – £80 return with a profit of £49
  • 5 selection wins – £242 return with a profit of £211

Of course, it is highly unlikely that all five horses would be offered at evens. But as a general rule of thumb, people can expect to need around three of their five selections to be a winner if they want to make a profit out of a Lucky 31 bet.

Lucky 31 bet FAQs

Steven is an experienced iGaming content writer who has been working in the industry since 2018. He is passionate about sports betting and enjoys writing about all aspects of the industry, including bookmaker reviews, betting tips and strategies, and news and analysis. If you have any questions about online gambling in the UK, please don't hesitate to contact him.