Calcutta betting is an auction pool: before a tournament starts, the players or teams in it are auctioned to the highest bidder, all the money bid goes into one pot, and the pot is paid out to the owners by how far their team or player gets. You win by owning the results, so what matters is not only who is good but what you paid for them.
Calcuttas are common with golf tournaments, member-guest events and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. There is no sportsbook: the other bidders set the price, and the organizer sets the payout table.
How a Calcutta auction works
The organizer lists every entry, sets the payout table and runs the auction, usually one entry at a time. Each entry goes to the highest bid, and when the last one is sold, the pot is known.
The rules vary from pool to pool, so read them before the bidding starts. These are the ones that most often change what an entry is worth:
- The payout table: what share of the pot each finish earns.
- The field bundle: weaker entries are often sold together, such as seeds 13 to 16 in each region of a 64-team bracket.
- Buy-backs: some pools let a golfer or team captain buy back half of their own entry after the auction.
- The organizer’s cut: a charity event may keep a share of the pot, which comes off every payout.
- Partnerships: whether several people can split one entry.
A made-up payout table
Here is a made-up table for a 64-team college basketball Calcutta with a $10,000 pot. The share is paid to each team that reaches that finish, and the column on the right shows the total.
| Finish | Teams | Share each | Paid out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | 1 | 30% | $3,000 |
| Runner-up | 1 | 15% | $1,500 |
| Lost in the Final Four | 2 | 8% | $1,600 |
| Lost in the Elite Eight | 4 | 4% | $1,600 |
| Lost in the Sweet 16 | 8 | 2% | $1,600 |
| Lost in the round of 32 | 16 | 0.25% | $400 |
| Biggest first-round upset | 1 | 3% | $300 |
The seven rows add to exactly $10,000. Check that a real table adds to 100% after the organizer’s cut; if it does not, ask where the rest goes.
Working out what a team is worth
A team’s value is its chance of each finish times what that finish pays, added up. Say you rate a team this way (made-up numbers):
- 10% to win the title: 0.10 x $3,000 = $300
- 8% to lose in the final: 0.08 x $1,500 = $120
- 12% to lose in the Final Four: 0.12 x $800 = $96
- 20% to lose in the Elite Eight: 0.20 x $400 = $80
- 25% to lose in the Sweet 16: 0.25 x $200 = $50
- 20% to lose in the round of 32: 0.20 x $25 = $5
- 5% to lose in the first round, which pays nothing
That team is worth $651 to you in a $10,000 pot. Pay $500 and you have a good buy on your numbers. Pay $800 and you have given away $149 before a game is played.
The chances have to come from somewhere. A sportsbook’s title price is one start: a +900 price implies 10% (100 divided by 1,000), and a little less once the book’s margin is taken out. The other finishes need a model or your own ratings.
The pot is the hard part
The pot is not known until the auction ends, and a team’s worth moves with it. The same team at the same chances is worth $651 in a $10,000 pot and $976.50 in a $15,000 pot.
So early bids are made on a guess. Track the running total as each entry sells, and keep an estimate of what the unsold entries will bring. If the first ten teams have gone for $6,000 and they included most of the favorites, the rest are likely to add less than $6,000, because what is left has less chance of reaching the big payouts.
Strategy that holds up
- Set a price for each target before the auction, as a share of the pot, and do not raise it in the room.
- Watch the late entries. Once most of the field has sold, the bidders who already own teams may stop, and the cheapest buys can come last.
- Know what you own. Two of your teams in the same region can meet, and only one of them can go on.
- Count the side prizes. The upset prize in the table above makes a 12 or 13 seed worth more than its title chance.
Before you join one
Whether a money Calcutta is legal depends on where it is held and who runs it, and the rules differ from state to state. Charity and club events often run under their own rules, so ask the organizer how the event is set up, and what share of the pot, if any, it keeps.
For the tournament itself, our guide to March Madness bracket betting covers the bracket, and our futures betting guide explains how title prices work. New to betting in general? Start with our guide for beginners.