Calculate the exact hedge stake to guarantee profit or reduce risk on any open betting position. Works for futures hedges, promo conversions, live bet hedges, and middling opportunities.
Hedging means placing a second bet on the opposing side of an open wager to reduce risk or lock in guaranteed profit. When your original position has a large unrealized gain — a futures bet on a team that's now in the championship, for example — a hedge lets you walk away with real cash no matter what happens next.
1. Winning futures bet: You placed a long-shot futures bet in the preseason and your team is now in the title game. A hedge converts that unrealized gain into guaranteed cash, eliminating the all-or-nothing risk of the final game.
2. Favorable line movement: You bet Team A -3 at the start of the week and the line has moved to -6.5. Hedging Team B +6.5 at a different book creates a middle — a window where both bets can win if the margin lands between 4 and 6.
3. Promo conversion: Sportsbooks issue bonus bets that are only worth cash if they win. Hedging a bonus bet against itself at another book guarantees roughly 60–75% of the face value as real cash regardless of outcome — converting monopoly money into profit.
For a clean two-outcome hedge: take your original winning payout and divide by the decimal odds of the hedge side. That is your hedge stake. The result is identical profit on both sides. If the payout amounts are unequal, you have a partial hedge — you still eliminate the loss scenario while maximizing one outcome over the other.
A middle is a hedge designed to win both sides simultaneously. By betting opposite sides at different point spreads or totals, you create a scoring range where both bets cash. Even when the middle doesn't hit, you typically lose only the vig on whichever side loses. Successful middles are essentially free additional profit on top of a position you've already hedged to near break-even.