The Lay at the Start approach to multis is pretty simple. You just lay each leg of your multi as though it was an individual bet. You could even work out the lay stake using our simple calculator.

Where the multi-matcher comes in useful is in finding the best selections and calculating the EV.

Here is an example:

BetEasy had a ‘refund if 1 leg fails’ offer on NBA multis. If I placed a 4-leg multi on the 4 teams in the ‘Selection’ column I could then lay them on Betfair using the amounts in the ‘Lay Stake’ column.

My potential Betfair profit or loss on each match is shown in the last two columns.

The top section of the calc shows my potential overall result for all of the different variations of outcomes:

In this case i would make $50.03 if all 4 selections won. This is due to the fact that stakes are compounded in the multi, but not in the individual lays.

If they all lost i would make $141.82. This is due to the fact that i would have 4 winning bets at Betfair, but only one losing bet at BetEasy.

My biggest potential loss would occur if only one team lost (the one with the lowest odds). Having one team lose is the worst possible outcome with this approach.

If two teams lose you may make a profit or a loss depending on the odds.

You can quickly see what your best and worst potential outcomes would be by looking at the ‘Profit Range’ section.

If you want to change the teams in your multi you can select/deselect in the bottom section:

Lay at the Start multis will have their highest EV if you choose teams at low odds (but make sure you are above the minimum for the promo).

Choosing teams with higher odds will increase your chances of a jackpot LLLL result, but you potential losses on almost every result will increase substantially, so it is best to avoid this situation.

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