You have a bet running and you would rather not sweat it. This works out the exact stake to put on the other side so that both outcomes return the same amount — and the odds at which your original bet becomes a guaranteed profit instead of a gamble.
You staked ₦1,000 at 2.50, so if it wins you collect ₦2,500. The other side is now available at 4.00.
Identical either way — that is the point of hedging to equal profit. You have traded the chance of ₦1,500 profit for a certain ₦875.
A hedge is only free money if the other side is priced long enough. The break-even hedge price is your original odds divided by your original odds minus one:
3.00 — anything above locks a profit1.667 — commonly available once your selection drifts1.25 — easy, which is why long-odds bets are the natural hedgesIf the hedge price is below that number, hedging locks a loss. That is not automatically wrong — paying a known amount to remove an unknown risk is a legitimate decision — but you should make it knowingly rather than discovering it afterwards.
Cashing out means accepting the bookmaker's offer, at a price they set. Hedging means doing the arithmetic yourself and placing your own bet. The cash-out figure is normally worse than an equivalent hedge, because the bookmaker charges you for the service. Calculating the hedge tells you what the cash-out offer should be worth, so you can see what is being taken.
Hedging is not free of friction: some bookmakers restrict stakes on the other side, and the odds move while you place it. Treat the number here as a target, not a guarantee.
Divide what your original bet would return by the odds on the other side, and stake that. ₦1,000 at 2.50 returns ₦2,500; at 4.00 the other side, you stake ₦625 so both outcomes return ₦2,500 on a ₦1,625 outlay.
When the other side is available at your original odds divided by your original odds minus one, or better. Backing at 2.50, that is 1.667 and above. Below it, you are buying certainty rather than locking profit.
No. Cash out settles your bet at a price the bookmaker sets. Hedging is your own bet on the other side, at a price you chose, and you can calculate its exact effect in advance.
Only the part still running. Once the earlier legs have landed, the remaining selection is a single bet and can be hedged with this calculator using the price you effectively hold.