247 bets · 8 selections
Goliath bet calculator: all 247 bets from eight selections, worked out
A Goliath is eight selections combined into 247 bets, from 28 doubles up to a single eightfold. It is the largest of the standard full-cover multiples, and no singles are included.
How a Goliath is made up
A Goliath covers every combination from doubles to the eightfold across eight selections. That comes to 247 separate bets, so a £1 Goliath costs £247.00 rather than £1 — and £494.00 if you place it each way.
| Line type | Number of bets | Share of the bet |
|---|---|---|
| doubles | 28 | 11.3% |
| trebles | 56 | 22.7% |
| fourfolds | 70 | 28.3% |
| fivefolds | 56 | 22.7% |
| sixfolds | 28 | 11.3% |
| sevenfolds | 8 | 3.2% |
| eightfold | 1 | 0.4% |
| Total | 247 | 100% |
A worked Goliath example
Take eight selections between evens and 5/1, staked at £0.05 a line with every selection winning. The figures below come from the same calculation the tool above runs.
- Unit stake
- £0.05
- Total stake
- £12.35
- Returns
- £7,440.39
- Profit
- +£7,428.04
| Selection | Fractional | Decimal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2/1 | 3.00 |
| 2 | 3/2 | 2.50 |
| 3 | 3/1 | 4.00 |
| 4 | 5/2 | 3.50 |
| 5 | 1/1 | 2.00 |
| 6 | 4/1 | 5.00 |
| 7 | 7/4 | 2.75 |
| 8 | 5/1 | 6.00 |
When a Goliath is the right bet
Two hundred and forty-seven lines makes the Goliath the biggest bet most bookmakers will take as a named multiple. Unit stakes are necessarily tiny: 5p a line costs £12.35, 10p costs £24.70, and £1 a line would cost £247. Anyone placing this bet is working in pennies per line.
The distribution is heavily weighted towards the middle. Seventy of the 247 lines are fourfolds and 56 each are trebles and fivefolds, so five winners from eight is roughly where the bet starts to pay properly. Two winners lands a single double and returns a rounding error against the stake.
That shape makes the Goliath a bet about breadth rather than confidence. It suits a big Saturday card where you have eight runners you like at fair prices and no strong opinion about which will win. It does not suit a situation where you have three strong fancies and have padded the bet out to eight, because the five padding selections dilute every line they touch.
Reduction through non-runners is where the calculator really earns its place. With eight selections, two or three withdrawals are not unusual, and each one drops every affected line by a fold. A Goliath with one non-runner becomes a Super Heinz on the remaining seven; with two, it is a Heinz on six. Marking the void legs gives you the exact figure rather than an estimate.
It is worth being clear-eyed about what a Goliath is. At 247 lines it is closer to a lottery ticket bought in instalments than to a considered multiple, and the marketing framing of covering every combination disguises how heavily the returns depend on getting five or more of eight selections right. If the appeal is the size of the possible return rather than a genuine opinion on eight runners, a much smaller bet on your four strongest selections will usually produce a better expected outcome for the same money.
What it does well
- The widest coverage available in a named multiple
- Five or more winners produce very large returns
- Well suited to a big card with many fair-priced fancies
What it costs you
- 247 units forces very small unit stakes
- Two winners return almost nothing
- Padding selections dilute every line they appear in
Goliath questions
How many bets are in a Goliath?
Two hundred and forty-seven: 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 fourfolds, 56 fivefolds, 28 sixfolds, eight sevenfolds and one eightfold.
How much does a Goliath cost?
247 times the unit stake. At 5p a line that is £12.35; at 10p it is £24.70. Each way doubles the bet to 494 lines.
How many winners does a Goliath need to show a profit?
It varies with the prices, but as a rough guide five winners from eight is where the bet typically starts paying properly, because that is where the fourfolds and fivefolds settle in volume. Two winners land only one double.
Is a Goliath worth placing?
Only when you genuinely rate all eight selections at fair prices. Padding the bet out to reach eight dilutes every line those selections appear in, and with 247 lines the dilution is severe.
What happens with non-runners in a Goliath?
Each withdrawn selection settles at 1.00 and drops every line containing it by one fold. One non-runner leaves the equivalent of a Super Heinz on seven; two leaves a Heinz on six.