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Free tool

Kelly
Calculator

Enter a bankroll, a price, and your estimated win probability. We show the full, half, and quarter Kelly stakes, plus the limits of the formula.

Questions, answered

What does the Kelly calculator do?+

It applies the Kelly formula to a bankroll, a price, and the probability you enter. It does not verify that your probability is right.

Should I use full Kelly?+

Full Kelly is aggressive and can swing hard when an estimate is wrong. Fractional Kelly or flat stakes are usually calmer choices.

When should I avoid Kelly staking?+

Avoid it when your probability is a guess, stale, copied from a screen, or driven by emotion. Bad inputs make bad stake sizes.

Full Kelly
$83.33
8.33%
Half Kelly
$41.67
4.17%
Quarter Kelly
$20.83
2.08%
Break-even
40.0%
+5.0pp vs input

At +150, the listed price breaks even at 40.0%. The formula uses your entered probability; it does not verify that number. 21+ · Bet responsibly

When NOT to Kelly

  • Kelly assumes you KNOW your edge. This calculator does not prove one exists.
  • Garbage-in-garbage-out: a bad probability estimate makes the stake output bad.
  • Overbetting a misjudged edge ruins bankrolls faster than flat staking.
  • Most people should use fractional Kelly or flat stakes.

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How it works

  • American odds convert to decimal odds. The break-even probability is 1 ÷ decimal odds.
  • Kelly uses your entered probability against that price to size a bankroll fraction.
  • The calculator shows full Kelly and smaller fractions. It is a formula, not a recommendation.

The honest explainer

What the Kelly number actually is

Kelly answers one narrow question: if your probability estimate is exactly right, what fraction of bankroll maximizes long-run compound growth? It is a growth-rate maximizer — not a safety device, and not evidence that an edge exists.

Full Kelly is violently volatile even when your estimate is perfect: long, deep drawdowns are part of its math. That's why the calculator leads with fractions — half Kelly captures roughly three-quarters of the growth at half the variance.

Worked example

Bankroll $1,000, price +100, your estimate 53%: f = (0.53 × 1 − 0.47) ÷ 1 = 6% — $60 full Kelly, $30 half, $15 quarter. Now notice the fragility: if your true win rate is 50%, not 53%, you're aggressively sizing coin flips and paying variance for zero expectation. Three percentage points of self-deception is the entire difference.

When NOT to use it

  • Many bets at once: full Kelly sized per-bet over-commits the portfolio — simultaneous positions need smaller fractions.
  • Correlated positions (same team, same game, same narrative) — Kelly's math assumes independence it isn't getting.
  • Any probability you couldn't defend to a skeptic with evidence. The calculator computes; it does not validate. (The panel above covers the rest.)