A bet of 8/13 is not uncommon, and it’s especially common in football matches where one team is clearly favoured. You won’t make much money with a bet at 8/13 unless you’re placing a large wager!

I wrote about the upcoming Real Madrid v Sevilla game and Betfred was offering odds of 8/13 on Madrid to win the game. Of course, that made me think about the lack of value in football betting markets, but that’s a rant for another day! You’re probably wondering how much you could make from a bet at 8/13 – read on for full details and example returns.

The amounts quoted above are based on Win bets only. The returns do not include the original amount staked. If you place an each-way bet and it wins, you get back the win and the place winnings, plus your original stake.

For reasons that I can’t explain, you see 8/13 more frequently on European football markets. Matches in La Liga, Seria A and France’s Ligue 1 tend to be peppered with them.

The only real advantage to odds this low is that they indicate a strong favourite. However, you need to look at all the odds on offer and weigh up your options. In almost every single case, when one team has odds of 8/13, their opponents will be on 7/2. In the real world, this means they have a 61% chance of winning.

So now you know a little bit more, let’s get to the maths! This is actually a very simple formula.

EXAMPLE 8/13 BET (WIN)

Yes, they are short odds but a win is a win and you can still make a profit. As a guide, for every £1 you place on a winning bet with odds of 8/13, you will make a profit of 62p. You’ll also get your stake back.

8/13 EXAMPLE RETURNS (WIN)

£1 = 62p
£2 = £1.23p
£5 = £3.08
£10 = £6.15
£25 = £15.38
£50 = £30.77
£100 = £61.54

The first number (8) is the amount you’ll win from wagering the second number (13). So for every £10 that you bet, you will get back £6.15 if your bet wins. You basically get back less than you’ve risk on the bet, but importantly you must remember that your original stake is returned on top of the £6.15, giving a total return of £16.15 for a £10 risk.

For instance, a £30 winning bet at 8/13 will payout £18.46 (plus your £30 stake is returned). If you increase the stake to £50 you’ll get £30.77 back (plus £50 stake).

EXAMPLE 8/13 BET (EACH WAY)

There is an option to bet each way on most markets including 8/13. However, it is generally advised not to do this unless the odds are over 6/1.

Most bookmakers payout 1/4 on each-way places, basically a quarter of the odds. However, there has been a move to reduce this and only offer 1/5 of the odds. And when you are already betting on such short returns. For example, if you placed £10 each way (£20 in total) on odds of 8/13 you would get back £11.23 in TOTAL if you won the place part of the bet.

You would lose the win part of your stake, leaving you with the each-way winnings of just 1.23p plus that part of the stake back. That is a loss of £8.77 on your original total stake. It really isn’t worth it.

So there you have it, 8/13 explained in simple terms. There’s a payout guide above for some common bets placed at those odds. However, you can also use our online bet calculator to work out other odds and stake combinations.

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