Rule 4 deduction calculator
A horse was withdrawn after you bet and your winnings came back smaller. Enter your bet below to see the deduction, what you were paid, and how an exchange like Betfair would have treated the same bet.
What Rule 4 is, in four lines
- If a horse is withdrawn after your bet is struck and too late for a new market to form, bookmakers take a set amount off your winnings.
- Your stake always comes back. The deduction is pence in the £ of profit, based on the withdrawn horse's price: 90p for a very short price, down to 5p at 10/1 to 14/1, and nothing for longer prices.
- Several withdrawals add together, up to 90p in the £. William Hill waives a total of just 5p.
- Bets placed after a new market has formed are not hit by horses already withdrawn. (William Hill's terms say a further withdrawal can still affect them, based on the current price.)
Why does it exist? A withdrawn favourite makes every other horse's chance better, so a bet at the old price would be too generous. Rule 4 claws some of that back. Sometimes it takes too much and sometimes too little: that is what the Is it fair? page is about.
Where to go next
- The full deduction scale and why it carries a health warning.
- True stories: a 50p deduction off a 16/1 winner, a wrong horse withdrawn, a Derby row.
- What to do if you think your deduction is wrong.