Free Bet Calculator

3^rd July 2024

This release includes a major update to the JavaScript controlling the Free Bet Calculator website. The jQuery framework that previously dealt with numerous incompatibilities and quirks across different browsers and operating systems, has been replaced with a highly optimised tailored solution. The result is a 42% reduction in the amount of JavaScript loaded, with no loss of functionality, and no reduction in browser compatibility.

There are also minor styling tweaks, with a new X/Twitter icon, and updated information buttons that should be more intuitively clickable.

The … symbol has been removed from below selection numbers, because it only acted as a secondary indication that other options were available, such as Rule 4. A blue button that turns grey when no other options are available, is the primary indicator, but for anyone colour blind, the removal of Win Odds makes it clear when other options don’t apply.

Due to the extensive testing required for such a major release, a number of minor bugs that have crept in over the years, have also been identified and fixed.

If the website appears to be broken following this update, a forced page reload may be required to refresh previously cached content.

11^th March 2024

The way in which ‘legacy’ devices are supported has changed, and as a result page load times should reduce for the 99% of visitors using ‘modern’ devices. For anyone still using an old mobile phone or tablet, which roughly equates to anything made before 2014, this release is unlikely to have any effect.

15^th February 2024

The first in a series of updates aimed at improving performance and usability, particularly on low-end mobile devices with limited memory and processing power. This release includes HTML and stylesheet optimisations that may require a page reload to refresh previously cached content, if the website doesn’t display correctly.

30^th January 2024

This release contains performance updates, security enhancements and accessibility improvements, alongside a major upgrade of system frameworks.

18^th December 2023

This release consists of various framework upgrades, some performance improvements, and a minor layout adjustment on wide screens.

20^th June 2023

This release introduces a new feature that makes it easier to share bet details by email, printing or copying to another application via the system clipboard. For instructions on how to share bet details, please refer to the Share Bet section of the Help page.

The changes required to print formatted bet details has also led to the improvement of other printed content. For example, if your browser’s print feature is used while viewing the bet calculator’s settings, those settings will now be printed without any partially obscured background content.

Most web pages have been restructured and restyled slightly to improve consistency, and allow various script and stylesheet optimisations. This has significantly reduced the increase in page size due to the new bet sharing feature, but some users may need to force a page reload to refresh previously cached content, if the website doesn’t display correctly.

A couple of obscure bugs have been fixed, relating to the update of joint favourite input validation ranges, and the re-enabling of animated effects.

14^th February 2023

This release contains minor usability improvements that primarily affect users of mobile devices.

The responsiveness to touch and keypad actions has been improved, most notably on slow mobile devices.

Explanations of underlined terms in italics, now appear on touchscreen devices while the word or phrase is being touched. Previously these explanations would only appear when hovering a cursor over the text, with no equivalent native functionality in mobile browsers.

The list of supported operating systems and browsers has been updated on the Accessibility page, with compatibility confirmed for all of the latest versions. Android 2 has been removed even though the website will still work, because the old Android browser doesn’t support the latest secure connection requirements, and consequently a security warning is displayed when entering the site.

1^st December 2022

A minor release to fix an issue that may affect the ability to change Settings on Apple iPads running iOS 13 and later.

17^th January 2022

A bug has been fixed that prevented some of the results from a bet comparison being displayed after the number of selections had been altered.

In response to a user request, the Liverpool RTC bet has been added to both the Free Bet Calculator and the collection of Quick Bet Calculators. If you are not familiar with this bet and would like to know more, you will find a brief description in the Betting Glossary.

14^th April 2021

This is another technical release that removes support for a legacy browser, and introduces more modern technology to improve efficiency. This enhances performance for newer browsers, and simplifies the development and testing of new features.

Support for Internet Explorer 9 has been removed due to the lack of visitors now using this browser. Since Internet Explorer 10 & 11 don’t require any special treatment, this signals the end of any workarounds for legacy Internet Explorer browsers. In future any visitors using Internet Explorer 9 will be automatically redirected to Old Bet Calculator (2010) in order to calculate their bets.

The contents of the fbcSettings cookie used to store betting preferences and bookmaker’s rules, has been moved to the more efficient local storage, which is supported by all modern browsers.

7^th December 2020

This release addresses various legacy issues requiring workarounds, which are no longer necessary for newer browsers and operating systems, so are now applied conditionally. This should improve performance and responsiveness in a number of browsers, but particularly on iOS 9.3 and later.

Styling consistency has been improved on modern Firefox browsers, especially on Linux-based operating systems.

Numerous styling and layout adjustments have also been included, along with more general optimisations to further improve site performance.

28^th September 2020

With the exception of the Old Bet Calculators, nobody has visited the website using Internet Explorer 8 for over 6 months, so support for this browser has finally been removed. This is primarily to simplify future development, but it will also reduce page load times. Any visitors still using Internet Explorer 8 are now automatically redirected to Old Bet Calculator (2010), so they can still calculate their bets, but won’t be able to access newer parts of the site.

This release also contains various minor bug fixes, accessibility improvements and styling tweaks, plus a range of optimisations that should further reduce page load & rendering times, particularly on slower mobile devices.

11^th June 2020

This release contains some bug fixes and usability improvements.

The first bug fix addresses the incorrect positioning of tooltips related to the dead heat and joint favourite selection options. The second bug fix corrects the column navigation ‘overshoot’ when comparing bet types on the website’s tablet layout.

All sections of the Betting Glossary and Help pages are now permanently expanded, making it possible to browse the entire page without opening each section in turn. To minimise scrolling when searching for a particular item, new dropdown indexes allow you to skip directly to the relevant point on a page. A ‘floating’ Top button also enables a quick jump back to the top of the page.

14^th August 2018

A minor release to fix an issue concerning the validation of bet details when using Microsoft’s Edge browser.

11^th July 2018

This release consists of various framework upgrades, along with a minor bug fix, and the removal of the Facebook ‘Like’ button from the website.

The bug fix only concerns Microsoft Phone users, or anyone still using an old Android 4 browser. It resolves an issue that allowed a stake to be submitted to the bet calculator in an incorrect format, which would then get reported as an error indicating that “The minimum stake is 0.01”.

The Facebook Like button has been removed primarily due to privacy concerns, following Facebook’s admission that their Like button code is used to track non-users.

1^st November 2017

This release consists of a major upgrade to the underpinnings of the Free Bet Calculator website, enabling a significant number of improvements in performance and efficiency when using a modern browser. As a consequence, the level of support for legacy browsers has been reduced, so for example, animated effects may appear less smooth when using Internet Explorer 8 (note: this feature can be disabled via the Settings if you prefer).

There may be compatibility issues if using an old version of a less popular browser, since these can’t be tested, but a range of legacy browsers (including Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 10 and Opera 12), have been tested successfully. Since these old browsers are no longer supported by their developers, testing only takes place following major system upgrades, in order to verify the browser compatibility details listed on the Accessibility page. Any issues identified during this phase of testing won’t be fixed, but the list of compatible browsers will be updated.

The Old Bet Calculators remain unchanged, and are still used by approximately 2.5% of visitors, but anyone relying on an old browser that doesn’t receive security updates, should seriously consider upgrading.

25^th September 2017

The Free Bet Calculator has been transferred to a new platform with even better performance, reliability and security, plus support for some of the latest web technologies that will be required for upcoming releases.

Support has also been improved for the pinning of web pages using the add to home screen / pin to start / pin tab functionality that is available on many devices, including those running iOS, Android, Windows 10 and OS X. For example, if you want to add the Lucky 15 Bet Calculator to the home screen of your device, the name of the shortcut now defaults to “Lucky 15”, instead of the full page title.

31^st May 2017

A new optimised icon font has been introduced that is significantly smaller than the old one, and will reduce page load times. This font contains the icons used to highlight various interactive elements throughout the site, such as the main menu items and context-sensitive help.

Various other aspects of the website’s styling have also been improved, including the logo and various buttons.

In response to a user request, the Bookies Nightmare bet has been added to the Free Bet Calculator, and a dedicated Bookies Nightmare Bet Calculator has been added to the collection of Quick Bet Calculators. If you are not familiar with this bet and would like to know more, then there is a description in the Betting Glossary.

1^st March 2017

This release consists of minor content updates, framework upgrades, and various tweaks to reduce page sizes and optimise system performance even further.

12^th April 2016

The bet calculators will now work with Google Chrome’s built-in language translator. The layout of some elements may be affected where the translated text is longer than the original English text, particularly on devices with small screens, but this shouldn’t affect functionality. Any layout issues resulting from language translation can normally be mitigated, and often eliminated, by rotating mobile devices into their landscape orientation, or by maximising the browser when running on a PC.

The method used to display calculated amounts has been modified, so that very large theoretical returns are reported without any loss of precision. Also, if the calculation of a ‘fantasy bet’ exceeds the system limit of 79 octillion (7.9 x 10²⁸), a more suitable error message now replaces the catch-all bad request.

The bug has been fixed that allowed the number of places associated with a dead heat, to become lower than the selection’s finishing position, when changing the status from Won to Placed. The number of places is now automatically increased to the minimum for a placed horse (i.e. 2), although the user may still need to change the dead heat details to reflect the actual number of places for a particular race. If the number of places really is lower than the selection’s finishing position, then the selection has of course lost, in which case a dead heat can’t apply.

10^th March 2016

This release introduces the ability to compare the potential profit from the most popular types of bet using the new Compare Bet Types calculator, which is now available in the Quick Bet Calculators section of the website.

For example, you can enter the details of 4 selections, and calculate Singles, Doubles, Trebles, Accumulator, Yankee, Yap, Lucky 15 and Flag in a single operation. All of the calculated amounts are tabulated to allow a direct comparison between each bet type.

Alternatively, if you have placed multiple bets on the same selections without going full cover, you can just pick out the returns for each of your bets, without the need for separate calculations.

1^st December 2015

The open beta phase has finally ended, and the new bet calculator has become the main entry point to the Free Bet Calculator website.

The previous bet calculator has been renamed Old Bet Calculator (2010), and has moved to the Old Bet Calculators area of the website, for anyone who still wishes to use it.

In response to a user request, the following new bets have also been added:-

• Fivespot
• Pontoon
• Magnificent 7

If you are not familiar with these bets and would like to know more, then there is a description of each one in the Betting Glossary.

The website’s bookmark icon (otherwise known as shortcut icon or favicon) has been updated to reflect the latest colour scheme, and further tweaks have been made to the website’s styling.

There are no bug fixes in this release, since there aren’t any known bugs remaining, but if you have encountered any issues, please report them via the Feedback form.