Perm 9 from 13 Explained: Calculating Your 715-Line Exposure

Some perms are simple enough to run in your head. The 9 from 13 is not one of them. At 715 lines from a single selection of thirteen fixtures, it is one of the larger permutations regular players attempt, and getting a clear picture of the cost before committing is essential rather than optional.

Step 1: Understand what “9 from 13” actually means

A 9 from 13 perm means selecting thirteen fixtures and asking the operator to generate every possible combination in which nine of those thirteen selections are correct. You are not required to specify which nine — the system covers every combination automatically, which is exactly why the line count grows so quickly compared with smaller perms.

Step 2: Work through the combinatorial maths

The number of lines a perm generates follows the combination formula:

C(n,k) = n! / (k! × (n−k)!)

For a 9 from 13 perm, that is C(13,9) = 13! / (9! × 4!). Working through the calculation: 13! divided by 9! leaves 13 × 12 × 11 × 10, and dividing that by 4! (which is 24) gives:

(13 × 12 × 11 × 10) ÷ 24 = 17,160 ÷ 24 = 715 lines.

This is a genuinely large number for a single coupon entry, and it is worth sitting with that figure for a moment before moving on to what it costs.

Step 3: Translate 715 lines into a stake budget

Using illustrative unit stakes, here is what the full 715-line perm costs at different price points — actual minimum stakes vary by operator and should always be confirmed directly before entering:

Even at a modest 5p-per-line stake, the full perm costs over £35 — a figure that catches out players who focus only on the small unit price without multiplying it against the full line count first.

Step 4: Consider fractional entry to manage exposure

Given the size of the full-stake cost, many players approach a 9 from 13 through fractional entry rather than full stakes — taking a tenth-share or quarter-share across all 715 lines. A tenth-share at a 20p base unit, for example, works out to roughly £14.30 for the full perm, preserving the wide thirteen-fixture coverage while keeping the outlay closer to what a smaller, full-stake perm would cost. The trade-off, as with any fractional entry, is a proportionally smaller dividend on any line that does qualify.

Step 5: Decide whether 13 fixtures is actually justified

A perm this size should be reserved for weeks where you genuinely have thirteen fixtures you are reasonably confident about, not used as a default simply because the coupon has enough rows available. If you are only confident about seven or eight selections and padding the rest to “fill out” a larger perm, a smaller permutation built around your strongest picks is usually the more sensible structure, both financially and analytically.

Step 6: Model a simple breakeven scenario

To put the exposure in perspective, consider an illustrative scenario where the full 715-line perm costs £71.50 at a 10p unit stake. For this outlay to break even, the lines that do qualify for a dividend need to return a combined total of at least £71.50 across however many of the 715 lines end up correct. Because pari-mutuel dividends scale with how many other players also hold winning lines in the same category, there is no fixed number of qualifying lines that guarantees breakeven — it depends entirely on that week’s actual results and stake pool, which is precisely why this figure should be treated as a budgeting exercise rather than a profit projection.

A side-by-side comparison with smaller perms

This comparison shows just how steeply line counts escalate as both the pool size and required correct count grow together, rather than increasing in a simple straight line. Going from a 7 from 10 to a 9 from 13 is not “a bit more fixtures” in any proportional sense — it is nearly a six-fold increase in the number of lines being generated, which should set expectations accordingly before you even look at a stake calculator.

Comparing full-stake and fractional approaches side by side

None of these approaches is inherently superior — they simply trade outlay against potential payout in a predictable, proportional way. Choosing between them is really a question of how much of your weekly budget you are comfortable allocating to a single large perm versus spreading it across several smaller selections instead.

Staking sensibly on larger perms

A 9 from 13 can be a legitimate way to spread risk across a wide set of fixtures, but its size means the cost consequences of under-budgeting are far larger than with a modest perm. Always calculate the full cost — or the fractional-entry cost if you are taking a part-share — before finalising your selections, and treat the total as your genuine weekly spend rather than an abstract number on a slip. Pools play should always be approached as a capped entertainment budget, never as a plan for income, and participation is restricted to those aged 18 and over.

Seven hundred and fifteen lines sounds abstract until you see the total cost attached to it. Doing that maths before you commit, not after, is the difference between an informed decision and an unpleasant surprise on your statement — and a perm this size is exactly the kind of entry where a five-minute calculation on paper saves a much larger regret once the coupon has already been submitted and paid for. Keep a copy of your workings alongside the coupon itself, so that whatever the eventual settlement looks like, you have an honest record of what you actually expected going in.