Rule 4 Deductions Explained: Scale, Timing and Returns
Two things decide the size of your deduction, and neither of them is your own price: the price of the horse that came out, and the moment it came out. Your own odds only decide how much money the percentage is applied to.
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What Rule 4 actually adjusts
The rule exists because a field that loses a runner is an easier race for the survivors, and the prices you already took were struck against the bigger field. Paddy Power puts the mechanism in one sentence:
“Rule 4 is simply a deduction that is made to winning bets, when the race is impacted by a horse not running”
The name comes from Tattersalls Rules on Betting, where it is the fourth rule on the list, and it is applied across the British and Irish industry rather than being one operator's house policy.
What it adjusts is narrower than most summaries suggest. It is not a percentage of your stake and it is not a reduction of your odds on the bet slip. William Hill states the boundary explicitly:
“Rule 4 deductions apply both to win bets and each way/place bets - but only your winnings are affected by the Rule 4 deduction, not your original stake”
Sky Bet says the same from the customer's side:
“No, your full stake will be returned whatever the level of deduction on any winnings”
This is the single most misreported fact about Rule 4, and getting it wrong changes the arithmetic substantially. On a £20 bet at 7/4 with a 20p deduction, taking the deduction from the winnings costs £7 and taking it from the total return would cost £11.
The deduction scale
The deduction is set by the withdrawn runner's price. Sky Bet states the direction:
“The exact amount taken out of your winnings is based on the price of the withdrawn horse at the time of withdrawal”
And Paddy Power states the shape of the curve:
“Effectively, the shorter the odds of the non-runner, the bigger the Rule 4 deduction becomes”
| Price of the withdrawn runner | Decimal | Deduction per £1 of winnings |
|---|---|---|
| 1/9 or shorter | 1.11 or shorter | 90p |
| 2/11 to 2/17 | 1.18 to 1.12 | 85p |
| 1/4 to 1/5 | 1.25 to 1.20 | 80p |
| 3/10 to 2/7 | 1.30 to 1.29 | 75p |
| 2/5 to 1/3 | 1.40 to 1.33 | 70p |
| 8/15 to 4/9 | 1.53 to 1.45 | 65p |
| 8/13 to 4/7 | 1.62 to 1.57 | 60p |
| 4/5 to 4/6 | 1.80 to 1.66 | 55p |
| 20/21 to 5/6 | 1.95 to 1.83 | 50p |
| Evens to 6/5 | 2.00 to 2.20 | 45p |
| 5/4 to 6/4 | 2.25 to 2.50 | 40p |
| 8/5 to 7/4 | 2.60 to 2.75 | 35p |
| 9/5 to 9/4 | 2.80 to 3.25 | 30p |
| 12/5 to 3/1 | 3.40 to 4.00 | 25p |
| 16/5 to 4/1 | 4.20 to 5.00 | 20p |
| 9/2 to 11/2 | 5.50 to 6.50 | 15p |
| 6/1 to 9/1 | 7.00 to 10.00 | 10p |
| 10/1 to 14/1 | 11.00 to 15.00 | 5p |
| Bigger than 14/1 | Bigger than 15.00 | None |
- Decimal
- 1.11 or shorter
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 90p
- Decimal
- 1.18 to 1.12
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 85p
- Decimal
- 1.25 to 1.20
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 80p
- Decimal
- 1.30 to 1.29
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 75p
- Decimal
- 1.40 to 1.33
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 70p
- Decimal
- 1.53 to 1.45
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 65p
- Decimal
- 1.62 to 1.57
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 60p
- Decimal
- 1.80 to 1.66
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 55p
- Decimal
- 1.95 to 1.83
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 50p
- Decimal
- 2.00 to 2.20
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 45p
- Decimal
- 2.25 to 2.50
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 40p
- Decimal
- 2.60 to 2.75
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 35p
- Decimal
- 2.80 to 3.25
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 30p
- Decimal
- 3.40 to 4.00
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 25p
- Decimal
- 4.20 to 5.00
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 20p
- Decimal
- 5.50 to 6.50
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 15p
- Decimal
- 7.00 to 10.00
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 10p
- Decimal
- 11.00 to 15.00
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- 5p
- Decimal
- Bigger than 15.00
- Deduction per £1 of winnings
- None
The top of the table is the cliff edge. A withdrawn odds-on favourite at 1/3 takes 70p of every pound you win, which turns a winning bet into a token return. The bottom of the table is the reason most non‑runners cost you nothing:
“For withdrawn horses with prices bigger than 14/1, they were already very unlikely to win the race - so no deduction is made”
The 5p band is also treated differently by different operators. William Hill's published terms waive it outright in one case:
“If the total deduction on the market is 5p in the £, the deduction will be waived”
Because that is a house term rather than an industry rule, read your own operator's page before assuming a small deduction has been dropped.
When a withdrawal triggers it
A withdrawal only produces a Rule 4 inside a defined window. Before the window, the bet is an ante-post bet with completely different consequences. After the window, the race has started.
“Rule 4 deductions only occur when a horse is withdrawn from the race after the final declaration stage and before coming under starter's orders”
Sky Bet gives the timing of the opening edge:
“Usually the final declaration stage is 24 hours before the race but it can be 48 hours before a race”
| When your bet was struck | If your selection is withdrawn | If another runner is withdrawn |
|---|---|---|
| Before final declarations, ante-post | Stake lost, no refund | No Rule 4 deduction |
| After declarations, price taken | Stake returned | Rule 4 deduction applies to winnings |
| After the market reformed | Stake returned | No deduction for earlier withdrawals |
- If your selection is withdrawn
- Stake lost, no refund
- If another runner is withdrawn
- No Rule 4 deduction
- If your selection is withdrawn
- Stake returned
- If another runner is withdrawn
- Rule 4 deduction applies to winnings
- If your selection is withdrawn
- Stake returned
- If another runner is withdrawn
- No deduction for earlier withdrawals
That first row is the trade-off nobody mentions in the same breath as Rule 4. Ante-post bets escape the deduction and pay for it with the stake:
“You can get a racing betting exception to Rule 4s if you bet on the ante-post markets”
Recalculating your return
Three steps, and the order matters because the deduction attaches to winnings only.
Settlement laboratory
Deduct from the winnings, then add the stake back
return = stake + (stake × price × (1 - deduction))Twenty pence in the pound is 20 per cent of £35, which is £7. The £20 stake is untouched and comes back in full, so the return is £28 of winnings plus £20.
Three worked cases show how quickly the withdrawn runner's price dominates the result.
| Your winning bet | Withdrawn runner | Deduction | Return before | Return after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20 at 7/4 | 4/1 | 20p | £55.00 | £48.00 |
| £50 at 10/1 | 2/5 | 70p | £550.00 | £200.00 |
| £50 at 10/1 | 16/1 | None | £550.00 | £550.00 |
- Withdrawn runner
- 4/1
- Deduction
- 20p
- Return before
- £55.00
- Return after
- £48.00
- Withdrawn runner
- 2/5
- Deduction
- 70p
- Return before
- £550.00
- Return after
- £200.00
- Withdrawn runner
- 16/1
- Deduction
- None
- Return before
- £550.00
- Return after
- £550.00
The middle row is the one to keep in mind. The same bet, the same result, and the difference between a withdrawn 2/5 favourite and a withdrawn 16/1 outsider is £350 of your money.
More than one withdrawal
Deductions accumulate, up to a published ceiling:
“If two or more horses are withdrawn, Rule 4 states the maximum deduction is 90p per £1 or 90%”
Paddy Power publishes the same ceiling:
“In races where more than one horse is withdrawn, the deduction will not exceed 90p per £1 (or 90%)”
Ninety pence is the cap, which is worth stating plainly because higher figures circulate. What the deduction is calculated on when a market has been re-priced in between is the detail that decides real cases:
“In the case of withdrawals in reformed markets, the total deduction over the two or more horses (i.e. one in the original and one in the reformed market) will be calculated on the prices in the original market”
In practice that means your deduction is fixed by when you bet. Take Sky Bet's own published sequence: one runner comes out at 7/4 in the morning while another sits at 6/1, so bets struck before that point carry 35p plus 10p, a combined 45p. Bets struck after the market reformed and before the second runner came out at 5/2 carry 25p. Bets struck after the second reform carry nothing. Same race, same result, three different returns depending on the minute the bet was accepted.
Each-way, multiples and ante-post
Three coverage questions come up constantly and all three have published answers.
Each-way and place bets. The deduction is not restricted to the win part:
“Rule 4 deductions apply both to win bets and each way/place bets - but only your winnings are affected by the Rule 4 deduction, not your original stake”
Multiples. Only the affected leg is adjusted, not the whole bet:
“In multiple bets, the deduction only applies to the parts of the bet specifically involving the withdrawn horse”
Ante-post. No deduction, and no refund either if your own selection is the one that fails to run:
“Rule 4 doesn't apply to ante-post bets (bets placed before the final declaration stage), which is one of the main benefits of betting ante-post”
Best Odds Guaranteed sits alongside all three. Where the promotion applies, the comparison is between your taken price with the deduction applied and the starting price, and the better of the two is paid. The promotion's own eligibility windows and exclusions decide whether it was live on your bet at all.
Which price the deduction is based on
The scale runs on the withdrawn runner's price at the moment of withdrawal, which makes that price commercially significant to the operator. The Gambling Commission has published a case on exactly that point, and it is the part of the subject that operator help pages do not cover.
“We have previously stated that we would be concerned if there was evidence that bookmakers had deliberately shortened the odds of known or likely non-runners in order to maximise Rule 4 deductions for their own commercial gain to the disadvantage of consumers”
That concern was not hypothetical. The regulator recorded a finding in a 2015 race:
“Based on the evidence available, we concluded, and Ladbrokes accept, that a Ladbrokes trader had deliberately shortened the price on Tango Sky in order to maximise Rule 4 deductions”
The regulator also set out the remedy it would consider if standards slipped again, which tells you the two reference points that matter:
“applying Rule 4 based on the price of the withdrawn horse at time of bet placement or the price of the withdrawn horse at its official withdrawal time as recorded by the British Horseracing Authority”
For a bettor this is a practical check rather than an accusation. If a deduction looks larger than the price you saw on the withdrawn runner, the British Horseracing Authority records the official withdrawal time, and the operator is expected to publish rules you can read:
“are your rules in relation to Rule 4 accessible and written in plain and clear language?”
Settled-bet check
Run this before deciding a deduction was wrong. Most disputes evaporate at step three.
- Confirm the deduction shown against the settled bet, in pence per pound.
- Identify the withdrawn runner and the price it was trading at when it came out, not its price the night before.
- Match that price to the band in the scale above.
- Check the time your bet was accepted against the time of each withdrawal.
- Confirm the deduction was taken from winnings only and the stake came back whole.
- If the race had two or more withdrawals, check the combined figure against the 90p ceiling.
- If Best Odds Guaranteed applied, check whether the starting price would have paid more than your reduced price.
A deduction that survives all seven steps is arithmetic, not a settlement error. One that fails step five or step six is a documented question worth raising with the operator in writing, with the withdrawal time and the deduction applied side by side.
Ownership boundary
This page owns the Rule 4 scale and the recalculation. Neighbouring pages own the rest:
- Fractional odds calculator for reading the fractions in the scale.
- Dead heat betting rules for the other deduction that can apply to the same bet.
Two deductions can hit the same winning bet
A Rule 4 reduces the winnings and a dead heat reduces the stake that is settled at full odds. They are separate calculations and they can both apply.
Evidence manifest4 primary sources mapped to this guideView sources
Each source below is retained with the claims it supports. Operator sources describe published terms, not independent first‑hand performance.
- Paddy Power help centre, horse racing withdrawn horse Rule 4 (opens in a new tab)
- Rule 4 is simply a deduction that is made to winning bets, when the race is impacted by a horse not running
- Effectively, the shorter the odds of the non-runner, the bigger the Rule 4 deduction becomes
- In races where more than one horse is withdrawn, the deduction will not exceed 90p per £1 (or 90%)
- You can get a racing betting exception to Rule 4s if you bet on the ante-post markets
- Sky Bet help centre, Rule 4 deductions (opens in a new tab)
- Rule 4 deductions only occur after the final declarations for a race are made
- Usually the final declaration stage is 24 hours before the race but it can be 48 hours before a race
- The exact amount taken out of your winnings is based on the price of the withdrawn horse at the time of withdrawal
- If two or more horses are withdrawn, Rule 4 states the maximum deduction is 90p per £1 or 90%
- No, your full stake will be returned whatever the level of deduction on any winnings
- In the case of withdrawals in reformed markets, the total deduction over the two or more horses (i.e. one in the original and one in the reformed market) will be calculated on the prices in the original market
- William Hill support, Rule 4 deduction explained (opens in a new tab)
- Rule 4 deductions only occur when a horse is withdrawn from the race after the final declaration stage and before coming under starter's orders
- For withdrawn horses with prices bigger than 14/1, they were already very unlikely to win the race - so no deduction is made
- Rule 4 deductions apply both to win bets and each way/place bets - but only your winnings are affected by the Rule 4 deduction, not your original stake
- If the total deduction on the market is 5p in the £, the deduction will be waived
- In multiple bets, the deduction only applies to the parts of the bet specifically involving the withdrawn horse
- Rule 4 doesn't apply to ante-post bets (bets placed before the final declaration stage), which is one of the main benefits of betting ante-post
- Gambling Commission, important lessons for the betting industry on Rule 4 application (opens in a new tab)
- We have previously stated that we would be concerned if there was evidence that bookmakers had deliberately shortened the odds of known or likely non-runners in order to maximise Rule 4 deductions for their own commercial gain to the disadvantage of consumers
- Based on the evidence available, we concluded, and Ladbrokes accept, that a Ladbrokes trader had deliberately shortened the price on Tango Sky in order to maximise Rule 4 deductions
- applying Rule 4 based on the price of the withdrawn horse at time of bet placement or the price of the withdrawn horse at its official withdrawal time as recorded by the British Horseracing Authority
- are your rules in relation to Rule 4 accessible and written in plain and clear language?
FAQ
What is a Rule 4 deduction?
It is a fixed reduction applied to the winnings on a horse racing bet when a runner is withdrawn after final declarations. The size is set by the withdrawn runner's price at the moment of withdrawal and is quoted in pence per pound of winnings.
Does Rule 4 come out of my stake?
No. Operators state that the full stake is returned whatever the level of deduction, and that only the winnings are affected. A £20 bet at 7/4 with a 20p deduction returns £48, made up of £28 winnings and the £20 stake.
What is the maximum Rule 4 deduction?
90p in the pound. That ceiling applies when two or more runners are withdrawn, and the single largest band on the published scale is also 90p, for a withdrawn runner priced at 1/9 or shorter.
At what price does Rule 4 stop applying?
Above 14/1. Operators state that a withdrawn runner priced bigger than 14/1 was already unlikely enough to win that no deduction is made, and the 10/1 to 14/1 band takes only 5p in the pound.
Does Rule 4 apply to each-way bets?
Yes. Published rules state the deduction applies to win bets and to each-way and place bets alike, and in a multiple it applies only to the parts of the bet involving the affected race.