Patent Calculator

Work out the returns on a Patent: seven bets across three football selections, singles included.

A Patent calculator shows you the outlay and returns across all seven bets in a full-cover system, letting you see exactly what happens if only one, two or three selections win.

What Is a Patent?

A Patent is a full cover bet on three selections with singles included: three singles, three doubles and one treble, seven bets in all. Those singles are the point of it — a Patent gives you something back even when only one selection wins. It is the smallest full-cover system that offers cover on single winners, which makes it popular with bettors who want some protection against the possibility that only one of their three selections lands.

The Patent sits between the Trixie and bigger systems like the Lucky 15. A Trixie covers you with four lines but pays nothing on a single winner — the smallest payout comes when two of your three selections win. A Patent adds the three singles for extra cost but guarantees you get something back if any one selection wins. That cover against single winners is why some bettors prefer it despite the higher outlay, but it comes at a price: the three extra singles mean a Patent costs more than a Trixie on the same selections.

Like all full-cover bets, a Patent treats each line separately and adds the returns together at the end. If all three selections win, the singles, doubles and treble all land and their payouts combine into a substantial return. If only one wins, the single on that selection pays. If two win, both the singles on those selections pay and the one double between them pays. The flexibility — multiple ways to generate a return — is what distinguishes a full cover from a simple accumulator, which demands every selection win.

How a Patent Is Calculated

A Patent works by creating all possible combinations of your three selections and settling them independently. The three singles are straightforward: each selection is backed on its own and returns stake times decimal odds. The three doubles pair up selections — Selection A with B, B with C, and A with C — and each double returns stake times the product of those two odds. The treble combines all three and returns stake times the product of all three odds.

The total outlay is seven times your unit stake, because you are betting on seven separate lines. If your unit stake is EUR 1.00, the total cost is EUR 7.00. If your unit stake is EUR 2.00, the total cost is EUR 14.00. This linear scaling makes it easy to forecast: however many euros you stake per line, multiply by seven to find the total outlay. Every line is then settled on its own using the decimal odds you entered, and the returns from all seven lines are added together to give you the overall profit or loss. This is different from an accumulator, where a single loss brings down the entire bet; in a Patent, each line stands alone and contributes whatever it wins or loses to the total.

The strength of this approach is that it covers you across multiple scenarios. One winner pays because the single on that selection pays. Two winners pay because the two singles pay and the double between them pays. Three winners pay because everything wins. A Patent thus guarantees a return in more situations than a Trixie, but costs more to own. The calculation is simple: multiply the decimal odds of the relevant selections for each line, multiply by the unit stake to get the payout on that line, then add all seven payouts together.

What the Calculator Shows You

The calculator returns several key figures. Total outlay is seven times your unit stake and tells you the cost of the Patent upfront — the amount you risk. Return if all three win is the sum of all seven payouts if every selection wins, showing you the total money returned. Profit subtracts your stake from the return to show the net win. The calculator also lets you set each selection to Win, Loss or Void to model what happens if one or more selections are voided or fail to land, so you can see the return in each scenario.

Worked Example

Take a Patent on three selections at a EUR 1.00 unit stake. The selections are Sporting to beat Boavista at 1.60, Rangers to beat Motherwell at 2.20, and Salzburg to beat Rapid Vienna at 3.00. With seven lines, your total outlay is EUR 7.00.

If all three selections win, the calculator returns EUR 32.28, which is a profit of EUR 25.28. Notice how those three selections at 1.60, 2.20 and 3.00 produce a return that more than quadruples the outlay. This is why Patents appeal to bettors who fancy a cluster of results and want protection against partial failure — the upside on three winners is substantial, and the singles protect you if only one lands.

Now consider what happens if Salzburg loses. The two surviving singles — Sporting and Rangers — and the one double between them still pay. The Patent returns EUR 7.32, which is a profit of EUR 0.32. That is barely profitable, and illustrates the point: one winner rarely covers the seven-line outlay. Two winners, however, can generate a return worth having, which is why the Patent sits between the no-single-cover Trixie and bigger systems.

What the 7 Bets in a Patent Actually Are

A Patent consists of seven distinct bets: three on single selections, three pairing them in doubles, and one combining all three in a treble.

Total Outlay for a Patent at Different Unit Stakes

Since every line in a Patent costs the same unit stake and there are exactly seven lines, the total outlay scales linearly. Whatever you stake per line, multiply by seven.

When One Winner Is Not Enough

A Patent’s defining feature is that it pays on a single winner, but bettors often overestimate what that payout looks like. Because it contains singles, a Patent is the smallest full cover bet that can return money on a single winner — but that return is rarely a profit. One winner at a short price pays back less than the seven-line outlay, so a Patent usually needs two winners before you are genuinely ahead.

Using the worked example with Sporting at 1.60, Rangers at 2.20 and Salzburg at 3.00, if Salzburg loses, the two surviving singles and the one double between them still pay, returning EUR 7.32 for a profit of EUR 0.32. That is barely profitable against an outlay of EUR 7.00. Most single winners at typical football prices will not cover the full seven-line stake, so treat the singles as damage limitation rather than a payday. They reduce your losses when only one selection wins, but genuinely profitable returns come when two or more land. A Patent protects you better than a Trixie when only one selection wins, but the price of that protection is the extra cost of the three singles.

When a Patent Makes Sense

A Patent is appropriate when you have three selections you fancy and want insurance against partial failure but are willing to pay for it. The cost of that insurance is the difference between a Patent and a Trixie: a Trixie takes your three selections and covers only the doubles and treble, paying nothing on a single winner. A Patent adds the three singles to that structure, guaranteeing a return if even one selection lands. That protection is valuable when your confidence varies across the three selections, or when you have one fancied selection and two longer shots to go with it.

Ask whether the cover is worth the cost. For short-priced selections, the singles may struggle to return enough to justify the extra outlay; for longer-priced selections, the singles become more valuable. The worked example shows that two winners at 1.60 and 2.20 combined with a loss already return more than the outlay, which is why Patents make sense when you genuinely fancy multiple selections but want fallback returns if not all land.

Bankroll management is crucial. A Patent costs seven times your unit stake, so choose a unit stake you can afford across multiple bets. A EUR 1.00 unit stake on a Patent costs EUR 7.00. Scale your stake to fit your bankroll — if EUR 1.00 per line is too steep, lower it to a level you can sustain. Never force a Patent into a bankroll that cannot comfortably absorb the outlay, because it is not worth disrupting your overall staking plan to chase a system bet.

Common Mistakes

Many bettors assume one winner guarantees a profit, when it usually just softens the loss. Others forget the outlay is seven times the unit stake, not three, and miscalculate what they have risked. Some choose a Patent over a Trixie without asking whether the singles are worth the extra cost — they are not always. Finally, backing three short prices on a Patent is a common trap; even when all three winners land the return can be modest, and a single winner pays almost nothing.

Patent vs Trixie

The Patent and Trixie share the same three selections but differ in structure and cost.