What is a Canadian bet and how does it work?

In a Canadian at least two selections must be successful to get a return. The trebles, four-folds and five-fold ensure that if you get more than two winners your returns can jump in big increments as more of the multiple bets win. It’s most often used in horse racing betting.

How does a Canadian bet work?

The 26 bets of a Canadian cover your five selections as follows:

Why should I place a Canadian bet?

If you have five selections in different events that you think will win a Canadian is an alternative to an accumulator that offers you some return even if two, three or four picks win rather than all five.

Another positive with a Canadian bet is that it saves you the effort of assembling all the various multiples involved yourself. Just pick your four horses and select Canadian on the betting slip.

Drawbacks of a Canadian

The main drawback of a Canadian is the lack of flexibility. Every bet has to have the same unit stake so as a punter you’re not able to stake more on your doubles than your five-fold, or stake more on the multiples that involve your most-fancied selection.

How to calculate Canadian bet winnings

The easiest method is to use a Canadian bet calculator. If you’d like to know how to work it out yourself take the following steps:

If you’re using fractional odds convert them into decimal odds by dividing the top number by the bottom and then adding one. (For example, 2/1 becomes 3.0 and 9/4 becomes 3.25.)
For doubles, trebles, four-folds and your five-fold multiply the decimal odds for the relevant selections together and then multiply the result by your unit stake.

How does an each-way Canadian work?

In an each-way Canadian every bet is an each-way bet This means the total number of bets is 52 and the unit stake is double that of a regular Canadian.

The benefit of an each-way Canadian is that it gives you a payout for each of your selections that places as well as each one that wins.

What is the difference between a Canadian bet and a Lucky 31?

The main difference between a Canadian and a Lucky 31 is that the latter also includes five single bets. This takes the total number of bets from 26 in a Canadian to 31 in a Lucky 31.

A bettor might opt for a Lucky 31 over a Canadian when they think that the returns on offer for their chosen selections as single bets are each worth backing with 1x their unit stake.