Using the Exotics Staker Tool
How to stake duets and quinellas
Publish Date: 8 Oct 2026 · @Kingy
The Duet & Quinella Staker works out the stake on every combo in a duet or quinella, then shows exactly where you stand whichever way the race is run. This guide walks through it with four worked examples, using illustrative fixed-odds prices.
1. Why exotics need their own staking
A win bet has one outcome per horse, so staking it is simple. Duets and quinellas are bets on pairs, and the number of pairs climbs quickly: three horses make three combos, four make six, five make ten.
Two things make these bets harder to stake by hand:
A duet can pay more than once. A duet pays if both horses finish in the first three. If three of your horses fill the placings, all three pairs between them pay. So the result of a duet bet depends on how many combos land, not just which one.
Prices differ a lot between combos. Backing every combo for the same amount means the short-priced pairs return little and the long ones return a lot. Most punters want something more even than that.
The Staker handles both. You choose the horses and a staking method, type in the prices, and it sizes each stake and lays out every outcome.
2. The tool in four steps
Bet and runners. Choose Duet or Quinella, then how to build the combos:
Box: every pair of the ticked runners.
Banker: one key horse paired with each of the others.
Pick combos: tap just the pairs you want.
Enter each runner's saddlecloth number. The name and rated price (or win %) are optional, and Runners in race only matters if you use them.
Staking. Choose a method and an amount:
Each combo to win $X: stake = X ÷ (price − 1). Whichever combo lands wins $X on its own bet.
Each combo to collect $X: the combo returns $X including its stake.
Dutch: you finish $X ahead whichever combo lands.
Flat: the same stake on every combo.
Split a total: a fixed outlay spread so each combo returns the same.
Manual: type your own stakes.
Combos and prices. Type your bookmaker's fixed-odds price for each combo. Tick Saver on any combo you want to act as insurance (example 2).
Your bet. The panel at the bottom shows total outlay, the result if one combo lands, the result if nothing lands and, for duets, the result when two or three combos pay together.
Leave Round stakes to on Cents if you want each combo to hit its target exactly. Rounding to the dollar on a long-priced combo can cut the stake, and the win, noticeably.
3. Worked example 1: a four-horse duet box, each combo to win $30
You like runners 1, 4, 7 and 9 and want each duet combo staked to win $30. Choose Duet and Box, tick the four runners, pick Each combo to win $X with $30, and enter the prices.
Combo | Price | Stake | Collect | Net if only this lands |
1 – 4 | $3.60 | $11.54 | $41.54 | +$11.85 |
1 – 7 | $6.00 | $6.00 | $36.00 | +$6.31 |
4 – 7 | $7.50 | $4.62 | $34.65 | +$4.96 |
1 – 9 | $9.50 | $3.53 | $33.54 | +$3.85 |
4 – 9 | $13.00 | $2.50 | $32.50 | +$2.81 |
7 – 9 | $21.00 | $1.50 | $31.50 | +$1.81 |
Total outlay: $29.69.
Each combo wins its $30 on its own bet. The net column then takes off the five stakes that lost, which is why it is smaller. With only one combo landing, the net result ranges from +$1.81 to +$11.85.
The overlap is where a duet box earns its keep. If three of your four horses fill the placings, three combos pay at once:
Combos that pay | Net result |
None | −$29.69 |
1 combo | +$1.81 to +$11.85 |
3 combos | +$68.96 to +$82.50 |
In a box, two combos can't pay without the third, so there is no "2 combos" row. Open Show every finishing combination in the tool to see all ten possibilities. The best one here is 1, 4 and 7 filling the placings, which collects $112.19.
4. Worked example 2: the same box with a saver
In example 1, the short-priced 1 – 4 at $3.60 takes the biggest stake. Many punters would rather treat a combo like that as a saver: if it lands, you get your money back, and the bet's real target is the longer combos.
Tick Saver on 1 – 4. The Staker sizes it so that if it lands it returns the whole outlay, its own stake included. The other five combos stay at "to win $30".
Combo | Price | Stake | Collect | Net if only this lands |
1 – 4 (saver) | $3.60 | $6.98 | $25.13 | $0.00 |
1 – 7 | $6.00 | $6.00 | $36.00 | +$10.87 |
4 – 7 | $7.50 | $4.62 | $34.65 | +$9.52 |
1 – 9 | $9.50 | $3.53 | $33.54 | +$8.41 |
4 – 9 | $13.00 | $2.50 | $32.50 | +$7.37 |
7 – 9 | $21.00 | $1.50 | $31.50 | +$6.37 |
Total outlay: $25.13, down from $29.69.
What changes compared with example 1:
The saver's stake drops from $11.54 to $6.98.
If the saver lands alone, you break even instead of finishing +$11.85.
Every other single combo now nets about $4.50 more, because less money is tied up in 1 – 4.
If three horses fill the placings, the net result is +$66.03 to +$75.91.
The saver costs you the upside on the short combo and pays you back on all the others. It suits a combo you think is likely to land but too short to bet on its own merits.
5. Worked example 3: a duet banker
This time you're confident runner 1 places and want it with 4, 7 and 9. Choose Banker, tick all four runners and pick 1 as the banker. That gives three combos instead of six. Staking stays at each combo to win $30.
Combo | Price | Stake | Collect | Net if only this lands |
1 – 4 | $3.60 | $11.54 | $41.54 | +$20.47 |
1 – 7 | $6.00 | $6.00 | $36.00 | +$14.93 |
1 – 9 | $9.50 | $3.53 | $33.54 | +$12.47 |
Total outlay: $21.07.
With a banker, two combos can pay together: runner 1 places alongside two of the others.
Combos that pay | Net result |
None | −$21.07 |
1 combo | +$12.47 to +$20.47 |
2 combos | +$48.46 to +$56.47 |
Compared with the full box, the banker costs $8.62 less and each single combo nets more. The trade-off is that the whole bet depends on runner 1 finishing in the first three.
6. Worked example 4: dutching quinella combos to one figure
A quinella pays only on the first two, in either order, so only one combo can ever land. That makes it ideal for dutching: you can finish with the same result whichever combo comes in.
Say you want three specific quinella combos, 1 – 4, 1 – 7 and 4 – 7, and you want to finish $50 ahead if any of them lands. Choose Quinella and Pick combos, tap those three pairs, and set the method to Dutch with $50.
Combos that pay | Net result |
None | −$21.07 |
1 combo | +$12.47 to +$20.47 |
2 combos | +$48.46 to +$56.47 |
Compared with the full box, the banker costs $8.62 less and each single combo nets more. The trade-off is that the whole bet depends on runner 1 finishing in the first three.
6. Worked example 4: dutching quinella combos to one figure
A quinella pays only on the first two, in either order, so only one combo can ever land. That makes it ideal for dutching: you can finish with the same result whichever combo comes in.
Say you want three specific quinella combos, 1 – 4, 1 – 7 and 4 – 7, and you want to finish $50 ahead if any of them lands. Choose Quinella and Pick combos, tap those three pairs, and set the method to Dutch with $50.
Combo | Price | Stake | Collect | Net if it lands |
1 – 4 | $10.00 | $6.32 | $63.20 | +$50.04 |
1 – 7 | $15.00 | $4.21 | $63.15 | +$49.99 |
4 – 7 | $24.00 | $2.63 | $63.12 | +$49.96 |
Total outlay: $13.16. Any one of the three landing leaves you $50 ahead, give or take a few cents of rounding.
The same idea works for a boxed quinella of up to five horses (ten combos). If you add too many short-priced combos, though, the combined prices stop adding up and no dutch can return $50 on all of them. The Staker tells you when that happens, so you can drop a combo or switch methods.
Dutching works for duets too. Because a duet can pay more than one combo, the $50 becomes the minimum result when something lands, rather than an exact one.
7. Using rated prices to judge each combo
This step is optional. It shows how each combo's price compares with a model estimate, but the Staker never filters anything out: it stakes every combo you choose. Type each horse's price into the last runner column, whether that's the report's RATED price or your own assessment, or use the $ / % switch to enter a win % instead. Then set Runners in race.
Three columns then appear:
Model %: the estimated chance this combo lands.
Fair $: the price that chance is worth (1 ÷ chance).
Value: how your price compares. Overlay means the price is longer than fair; Under means it's shorter.
Here is example 1's duet box with rated prices of $4.17, $5.56, $9.09 and $14.29 (win chances of 24%, 18%, 11% and 7%) for runners 1, 4, 7 and 9 in a 12-runner field:
Combo | Model % | Fair $ | Your price | Value |
1 – 4 | 27.1% | $3.68 | $3.60 | Under −2% |
1 – 7 | 17.5% | $5.72 | $6.00 | Overlay +5% |
4 – 7 | 13.7% | $7.31 | $7.50 | Overlay +3% |
1 – 9 | 11.3% | $8.83 | $9.50 | Overlay +8% |
4 – 9 | 8.8% | $11.37 | $13.00 | Overlay +14% |
7 – 9 | 5.5% | $18.34 | $21.00 | Overlay +14% |
The shortest combo, 1 – 4, is slightly under its fair price, which makes it a natural saver as in example 2. The board also estimates the chance that at least one combo in the bet lands: 60.3% for this box.
These figures come from a standard method (Harville) that builds pair chances from win chances. It tends to run a little generous to favourites in the placings, so treat it as a guide to which combos look good or poor value, not as a precise price.
The Value column is information, not a rule. A combo under its fair price can still earn its place: as a saver, like 1 – 4 in example 2, or because you know something about a horse that the numbers don't. The board also estimates the chance that at least one combo in the bet lands: 60.3% for this box.
These figures come from a standard method (Harville) that builds pair chances from win chances. It tends to run a little generous to favourites in the placings, so treat it as a guide to which combos look good or poor value, not as a precise price.
8. Checklist before you place the bet
Bet type right: duet (any two of the first three) or quinella (first two, either order).
Every combo has your bookmaker's current fixed-odds price. Prices move, so check them again just before you bet.
Rounding set to Cents if you want exact targets.
Any saver ticked, and the "Saver lands" figure on the board reads $0.00.
Total outlay is an amount you're comfortable losing, because "None" is always a possible outcome.
The Staker does arithmetic only. It doesn't predict results, and none of the figures in this guide are results or returns from real bets.
For information and analysis only. 18+. Gambling Help 1800 858 858. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place?
Comments