Lucky 31 Bets Explained

Lucky 31 Bookmaker Bonuses

Bet365 offers a large all-winners bonus of 20%. Boosts are still awarded when using free bets gained via the Bet365 bonus code when signing up for a new account. Note that bookmakers change their offers and terms occasionally, so for the most up-to-date information, we've linked our sources below:

• help.bet365.com/search?SearchTerm=lucky%2015
• www.betfred.com/promotions/sports/horse-racing-greyhounds-one-winner-bonuses
• www.betfred.com/promotions/sports/horse-racing-greyhounds-all-correct-bonuses
• support.skybet.com/s/article/Bet-Types-Available
• help.coral.co.uk/en/sports-help/sports-queries/available-bet-types
• boylesports.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012276073-Horse-Racing-Rules
• betdaq.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360016980760-Part-3-The-BETDAQ-Sportsbook-General-Rules
• unibet-uk.helpsite.cloud/results?query=lucky%2015

How To Place A Lucky 31 Bet with Bet365

Step 1: Select the relevant sport you want to bet on. For this example, we have selected American football.

Step 2: Then, select the five American football outcomes for your betting slip. Once they are selected, the bet will first be set up as a five-fold accumulator. Press the ‘Show More Multiples’ arrow to unlock all the other available bets.

Step 3: Then select the Lucky 31 option before adding your stake amount. Now, you are ready to place your Lucky 31.

Lucky 31 Bet v Canadia Bet v Super Yankee Bet

A Lucky 31, Candian and Super Yankee all involve five selections but differ in the number of bets placed. The primary difference is that a Lucky 31 includes single bets, meaning you get a return if any one of your selections wins. In contrast, you need at least two successful selections with a Super Yankee or Canadian to get a return.

How It Works

Unlike some combination bets, this one does allow singles to help boost your prize pot, and with only five winners needed to unlock all the levels on this betting ladder, many view the Lucky 31 as a neat balance between risk and reward.

With there only being 31 different bets, it also means the overall stake is lower than other options. A modest 20p per line would mean just £6.20 in terms of outlay – a little more than most punters place on a weekend football single.

Not only that, but this is also a type of bet that sees a bookmaker bonus attached to it. For example, if all five selections are correct and each of the 31 separate bets are declared winners, do not be surprised to see an extra 20% added to your winnings.

Five selections are required to get your Lucky 31 underway; five selections can also make up a Parlay. There is no difference in quantity, but when it comes to the Parlay, there is nothing in the way of a safety net.

With the Parlay, you must see all five legs be declared a winner; the Lucky 31 needs just one to be a winner. That single in isolation might not be enough to convert your stake into profits; it might be the longshot that has surprisingly crossed the line.

Like so many other betting combinations, the Lucky 31 tends to reward variance in your strategy. Why go for five short-priced favourites when you do not necessarily need every selection to become a winner?

Of course, the underlying principle is the same with the Lucky 31 as with the Patent, Yankee or Goliath. The more your selections are winners, the more you can take from the bookmakers.

Lucky 31 Example

In this instance, we will place a 20p stake on each of the 31 bets – totalling £6.20. The objective will be to return as much profit as possible, and although we know singles will contribute to the pot, just a single win from any horse is unlikely to break even.

Using 20p stakes, you would need a horse priced at 16/1 to be a profitable winner. Should this be the case, the 31 stakes at 20p would return £6.60 worth of winnings and a profit of just 40p.

Therefore, we need to step up the prizewinning ladder before things get really interesting. If Horse A and Horse B were to be first past the post, three of the 31 bets would be a winner.

The two singles: A and B plus one double, AB. Odds of 1/1 and 2/1 in the prize pot, but with an overall stake of £6.20, the 20p per line will return £2.20 – meaning that you are now £4 out of pocket.

However, if Horses A, B and C were declared winners, things would be different. Three singles of A, B and C would be declared winners, as many doubles would also be ticked off – AB, AC, BC and the treble of ABC.

Seven bets out of 31 are in the winning column. Odds of 1/1, 2/1 and 3/1 are all in the prize pot, and this combination is profitable. An outlay of £6.20 has seen those seven winning bets return £11.80 to your betting account or wallet – a profit of £5.60.

If you were to pick Horses A through to D as winners, then you may be bemoaning your luck that Horse E did not also get over the line, but at the same time, there may be a One Loser Bonus added to soften the blow.

How do bonuses work on a Lucky 31?

The percentage may depend on the bookmaker involved, but we will offer a 10% bonus instead of a clean sweep in this example. If Horses A through D were winners, 15 of the 31 bets would be ticked off.

This would comprise four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one-four fold. With the odds above and without the bonus, £6.20 is soon converted to £71.80 and a profit of £65.60 – profit before the sizeable bonus has been added.

Add 10% to the equation, and the total return is boosted to £78.98, while the profit is now climbing up to £72.78. However, there is still one other way to strike it lucky: an all-winners bonus.

What happens with a Clean Sweep?

If the clean sweep of all five horses has been completed, then so have each of the 31 bets in your favour. The odds of the horses involved mean overall winnings of £503.80 and a profit of £497.60.

If there was a bonus for falling short, there should also be a bonus for winning the lot, and once again, this is set by the bookmakers. In this instance, we will add 20% for a job well done. £503.80 becomes £604.56, £497.60 becomes £598.36.

Should this all be a little confusing for you, our free Lucky 31 calculator will help you demystify the combinations required for you to come out on top. However, the general rule is that the more winners you predict, the more you will see a profitable return.

As always, the odds determine the threshold between winning and losing, but if you can get at least three of your selections in the winner's circle, this can be a profitable exercise before you have even activated the bonuses.
You can use our Lucky 31 example here on our Lucky 31 calculator to see how this particular bet plays out and the respective returns and profits should a different number of bets come in. To use this feature, simply change the ‘Outcome’ column on different bets to ‘Lost’ and our bet calculator will automatically adjust your returns and profits.

Reasons for making a Lucky 31 Bet

Now that we have explained a Lucky 31 bet, here are three reasons why you would place one:

• Combining With Confidence: The Lucky 31 can come in useful if you have a high degree of confidence for your selections and you also believe that they have a good chance of winning. By covering different bets, you can profit if not all your selections come good.
• The Ideal Balance: The largest downside to all combination bets is the increased cost. However, the Lucky 31 is considered to offer the perfect equilibrium between the cost of the wager and the rewards it could potentially offer.
• Potential Consistent Returns: Even if one single is all you tick off, it will still mean a return to your betting account. For this reason alone, the Lucky 31 can be part of a long-term risk management strategy.

The Lucky 31 has proved popular with punters, both new and experienced, but like all betting types, the benefits must be highlighted, as well as any potential drawbacks. Therefore, we will now look at each category's two most prominent points.

Final Thoughts

The Lucky 31 offers punters the ability to manage risk along the way – something that you would not find within a Parlay. This ability to mitigate losses often tempts punters into placing a bet of this kind.

The more selections a bet offers, the more the cost. The Lucky 31 is not the cheapest of bets, but it is not the most expensive either and as long as you do all the necessary maths beforehand and select your picks with confidence, this can be a rewarding way to beat the bookmakers.