# QuinnBet Rule 4 Deductions: How Non-Runners Affect Your Bet (2026) _QuinnBet Rule 4 deduction handling for May 2026 — the standard UK Tattersalls scale, BOG interaction, and worked examples. How Rule 4 applies to qualifying bets, each-way settlements, and ante-post conversions._ *Source: [https://stablebet.co.uk/bookmakers/quinnbet-rule-4/](https://stablebet.co.uk/bookmakers/quinnbet-rule-4/) · last updated 2026-05-05* ## What Rule 4 Is **Rule 4** is the UK racing-industry mechanic for adjusting bookmaker pay-outs when one or more horses are withdrawn from a race after betting has opened. The principle is simple: if a fancied horse is withdrawn, the remaining runners' implied probabilities of winning shift, so the prices punters took on the remaining runners need to be adjusted downward to reflect that. Rule 4 is industry-standard across all UK bookmakers — the **Tattersalls Rule 4 scale** sets fixed deduction rates based on the SP of the withdrawn horse. QuinnBet applies the standard Tattersalls scale; there's no operator-specific deviation, but the way Rule 4 interacts with QuinnBet's BOG (which it does — and uniquely so — read on) is worth understanding before placing. The key Rule 4 facts for QuinnBet punters: - **Standard Tattersalls scale** applied — same deductions any UK operator would apply - **Pence-per-pound of profit** — the deduction reduces winnings (not stake), expressed as pence per £1 of profit - **Withdrawn-horse SP determines the rate** — shorter-priced withdrawn horses trigger larger deductions - **Withdrawals after final declarations** trigger Rule 4; withdrawals before final declarations don't (the market re-prices instead) - **Multiple withdrawals** can stack deductions up to the cap (90p in the £) - **BOG interaction** — covered separately on the next page; Rule 4 deduction is applied to the price taken **before** BOG settles to SP, not after This page covers the QuinnBet Rule 4 mechanic in detail: the Tattersalls deduction scale, worked examples, how the deduction interacts with each-way and accumulator bets, and where the BOG-Rule 4 interaction matters most. For most punters, Rule 4 is a "thing that happens occasionally and reduces winnings by 5-20p in the £" — but knowing the mechanics in advance avoids surprise at settlement. For a worked-calculator interface, see the [Rule 4 Calculator](/betting/calculators/rule-4-calculator/) — useful for modelling how withdrawals would affect specific bets you've placed or are considering. ## How QuinnBet Rule 4 Settles ### The Tattersalls Rule 4 deduction scale The standard UK Rule 4 deduction scale (used by every UK bookmaker, QuinnBet included): | Withdrawn horse SP | Deduction (pence in the £) | |---|---| | 1/9 or shorter | 90p | | 2/11 to 2/17 | 85p | | 1/4 to 1/5 | 80p | | 3/10 to 2/7 | 75p | | 2/5 to 1/3 | 70p | | 8/15 to 4/9 | 65p | | 8/13 to 4/7 | 60p | | 4/5 to 5/8 | 55p | | 20/21 to 5/6 | 50p | | Evens (1/1) to 6/5 | 45p | | 5/4 to 6/4 | 40p | | 13/8 to 7/4 | 35p | | 15/8 to 9/4 | 30p | | 5/2 to 3/1 | 25p | | 10/3 to 4/1 | 20p | | 9/2 to 11/2 | 15p | | 6/1 to 9/1 | 10p | | 10/1 to 14/1 | 5p | | Longer than 14/1 | No deduction | The deduction is **pence in the £ of profit**, not stake. So if you backed a horse at 5/1 for £10 and Rule 4 of 20p in the £ applies, the deduction is on your £50 profit (£10 stake × 5/1 = £50 profit), not on your £10 stake. The deduction works out as £10 — your settlement is £40 profit + £10 stake = £50 total returned (rather than the full £60 you'd have got without Rule 4). ### Worked examples **Example 1: Single Rule 4 deduction, mid-priced withdrawal** You back Horse A at 6/1 for £20. After your bet but before the off, Horse B is withdrawn. Horse B's SP at withdrawal would have been 5/2 (25p Rule 4 deduction). Horse A wins. - Profit before Rule 4: £20 × 6 = £120 - Rule 4 deduction: £120 × 0.25 (25p) = £30 - Profit after Rule 4: £120 − £30 = £90 - Total returned: £90 + £20 stake = £110 Without the withdrawal you'd have collected £140; the Rule 4 deduction took £30 off the win. **Example 2: Multiple withdrawals (deductions cap at 90p)** If two horses are withdrawn, the deductions stack, but they are capped at 90p in the £ total. So if Horse B (5/2 SP, 25p) and Horse C (1/1 SP, 45p) are both withdrawn before the off, the combined deduction is 70p (25 + 45). Stacked withdrawals at very short prices can hit the 90p cap, in which case your profit is reduced to 10% of what you'd have got otherwise. **Example 3: Rule 4 doesn't apply when the withdrawal is at long odds** You back Horse A at 5/1 for £10. Horse D is withdrawn at 16/1 SP. No Rule 4 deduction applies (SP longer than 14/1 = no deduction). Your bet settles normally. ### When Rule 4 applies - **After final declarations** — withdrawals between final-declaration time and the off trigger Rule 4 - **Before final declarations** — the market re-prices instead; no Rule 4 Final declarations are typically 24 hours before the off in UK racing (longer for some race types). Ante-post withdrawals well before final declarations don't trigger Rule 4 on the day-of-race book, but ante-post bets themselves typically lose if your selection is withdrawn (unless NRNB has been activated). ### Each-way Rule 4 handling For each-way bets, Rule 4 applies separately to the win leg and the place leg. The deduction is calculated on the place-fraction-adjusted profit, so a 20p deduction on a 6/1 each-way bet (1/4 odds places, place leg priced at 6/1 ÷ 4 = 3/2): - Win leg profit: £6 per £1 stake; minus 20p in £ = £4.80 per £1 stake - Place leg profit: £1.50 per £1 stake; minus 20p in £ = £1.20 per £1 stake The mechanic works the same way as singles — pence per pound of profit, applied to whichever leg(s) actually pay. ### Accumulator and Lucky-X Rule 4 handling Each leg of an accumulator that has a Rule 4 deduction has the deduction applied separately. So a treble of 3/1, 4/1, 5/1 with a 20p Rule 4 deduction on the second leg settles: - Leg 1: £1 × 4 = £4 (no deduction) - Leg 2: £4 × 5 = £20 minus 20p = £16 - Leg 3: £16 × 6 = £96 Different from a "20p off the final accumulated profit" calculation — the deduction is applied at the leg where the withdrawn horse was, then the remaining legs compound from the reduced base. ## Rule 4 and BOG — How They Interact ### The order of operations Rule 4 and Best Odds Guaranteed interact in a specific order at QuinnBet (and at most UK operators that retain BOG): 1. **You take a price** on a horse — say 6/1 for £20 2. **A horse is withdrawn** — Rule 4 of 20p in the £ applies 3. **Rule 4 is deducted from the price you took** — your effective price drops from 6/1 to (6 × 0.80) = 4.8/1 4. **SP returns** — say at 7/1 (drifter) 5. **BOG comparison** — your post-Rule-4 price (4.8/1) is compared against post-Rule-4 SP (7 × 0.80 = 5.6/1) 6. **BOG settles at the higher** — 5.6/1 in this case (post-Rule-4 SP) ### Why this matters The Rule-4-then-BOG order means you can still benefit from BOG on a drifter even when Rule 4 has applied. The deduction reduces both the price you took and the SP, so the BOG comparison is on like-for-like post-deduction prices. Worked example. £20 bet at 6/1; Rule 4 of 20p applies; SP drifts to 8/1. - Price taken: 6/1 → post-Rule-4 = 4.8/1 - SP: 8/1 → post-Rule-4 = 6.4/1 - BOG settles at the higher: 6.4/1 - Win: £20 × 6.4 = £128 profit + £20 stake = £148 returned Without BOG and without Rule 4: would've returned £140 (£20 × 6 + £20). With BOG and Rule 4: £148. So BOG actually compensated for the Rule 4 hit in this case — the drift was wider than the deduction. ### When BOG can't fully compensate If the price doesn't drift, Rule 4 reduces both the taken price and SP equivalently — and BOG settles at one or the other (whichever is higher post-deduction). In a steady-priced market, BOG just confirms the price you took (post-deduction); the Rule 4 hit is real and unmitigated. So BOG **doesn't reverse Rule 4** — it caps the downside on the price-taken side. If your horse drifts post-Rule-4, BOG captures the drift uplift; if the price doesn't move, the deduction stays. ### What if BOG doesn't apply? For markets where BOG is excluded (ante-post, Tote, Lucky-X multiples, free-bet stakes), Rule 4 applies straightforwardly to the price taken. The post-Rule-4 price is what you collect on; no SP comparison. ### Practical advice - **For day-of-race singles and each-way**: don't worry too much about Rule 4. BOG cushions the worst of it on drifters; the deduction itself is rarely larger than 20-25p in the £ on routine withdrawn-runner scenarios. - **For ante-post bets converting to day-of-race**: when the ante-post bet picks up day-of-race BOG status, the Rule 4-BOG interaction kicks in if a runner is withdrawn before the off. - **For Lucky-X and accumulators**: Rule 4 applies leg-by-leg with no BOG cushion. Larger deductions on multiple legs can compound visibly into the final return. - **For very short-priced withdrawals** (1/3 SP and shorter): deductions are 70p+ in the £ — the bet is significantly hit. Worth understanding the worst-case before placing on featured handicaps. ### Comparison to Betfred / Bet365 Rule 4 application QuinnBet's Rule 4 application matches the industry standard at Betfred, Bet365, Paddy Power, and the rest of the UK majors. The Tattersalls scale is universal; the BOG-Rule-4 order of operations is also standardised across operators that retain BOG. The only variation is the **caps**: some operators apply per-bet Rule 4 caps (e.g. "no Rule 4 on bets settled under £X total return"), but these are rare and verify-direct rather than standard. Assume QuinnBet applies the standard scale without operator-specific caps — verify direct on the live terms page if you're placing a bet where Rule 4 cap status would materially affect your return. For the technical mechanics of Rule 4 across operators, see the [Rule 4 Calculator](/betting/calculators/rule-4-calculator/) for modelling deduction scenarios. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Does QuinnBet apply Rule 4? Yes — the standard Tattersalls scale, identical to every UK Gambling Commission-licensed operator. Rule 4 deductions are applied automatically at settlement when a horse is withdrawn after final declarations. ### Is the deduction taken from my stake or my winnings? Winnings (profit), not stake. The deduction is expressed as pence per £1 of profit. So a £20 bet at 5/1 with 20p Rule 4 has the deduction applied to the £100 profit (£20 × 5/1), not the £20 stake. Deduction = £20 × 0.20 × 5 = £20. You collect £80 profit + £20 stake = £100 total returned (rather than £120 without Rule 4). ### Does Rule 4 stack if multiple horses are withdrawn? Yes, deductions stack up to a 90p in the £ cap. Two withdrawals, one at SP 5/2 (25p) and one at SP 1/1 (45p), sum to 70p combined. If the stacked deductions exceed 90p, the cap applies and your profit is reduced by 90% maximum. ### Does Rule 4 apply to my ante-post bet? If the withdrawal happens after final declarations, yes — Rule 4 applies when the ante-post bet converts to day-of-race pricing. If the withdrawn horse is your selection (rather than a different runner), your ante-post bet is typically lost (NRNB exception applies if the operator has activated it). ### How does Rule 4 interact with BOG? Rule 4 is applied to the price you took **before** BOG settles to SP. The deduction reduces both your taken price and the SP equivalently, and BOG settles at the higher post-deduction price. So a drifter still benefits from BOG even when Rule 4 has applied — but Rule 4 doesn't disappear; it just affects both sides of the comparison. ### Can I avoid Rule 4? Not really, on day-of-race racing bets. Rule 4 is industry-standard and applies automatically when the conditions trigger. The only avoidance pathway is to wait until after final declarations to place — but that defeats the point of taking early prices for BOG uplift. For ante-post bets placed well before final declarations, Rule 4 doesn't apply to the ante-post settlement (because the market re-prices instead) — but ante-post bets carry their own non-runner risk (your selection being withdrawn loses the bet unless NRNB has been activated). ### Why does Rule 4 exist? Bookmaker pricing reflects the implied probabilities of each horse winning. When a fancied horse is withdrawn, the remaining horses' true probabilities of winning increase — but the prices punters took on the remaining horses haven't moved. Rule 4 adjusts the prices downward to reflect the new implied probabilities; without Rule 4, punters who took prices before a withdrawal would receive a windfall at the bookmaker's expense. The mechanism is industry-standard; bookmakers couldn't operate without it. ### Does QuinnBet apply Rule 4 differently to other operators? No — the Tattersalls scale is universal across UK operators. The only operator-specific variation is whether they apply per-bet caps or specific exclusions on certain markets. QuinnBet follows industry-standard application; verify direct on the live racing-rules page for any specific market exclusions. ### What if my bet is on the SP rather than at a taken price? SP bets settle at SP automatically — Rule 4 is incorporated into the SP calculation rather than applied as a separate deduction. So if you backed at SP, the price you collect already reflects any Rule 4 adjustment from withdrawals. ### How do I calculate Rule 4 on my bets? Use the [Rule 4 Calculator](/betting/calculators/rule-4-calculator/) — enter your stake, the price you took, and the SP of the withdrawn horse(s) and the calculator returns your post-deduction settlement. For each-way bets, the [Each-Way Calculator](/betting/calculators/each-way/) lets you compare your original return (no Rule 4) against the post-deduction settlement to see exactly what the deduction costs you.