The three ceilings that decide how far a combination can go
A combination is not limited by courage or by the size of the payout alone. Three separate numbers decide: how many legs may be joined, how long a price the operator will accept, and how much money may be placed against it. None of the three appears in the same place, and each answers a different question.
- legs
- 2 to 12
- payable price
- 500.0
- maximum stake
- 250.00
- payout ceiling
- 25,000.00
A composed market is bounded by three separate numbers: 2 to 12 legs, a payable price of 500.0, and a maximum stake of 250.00 behind a payout ceiling of 25,000.00. Twelve legs at 1.70 each already multiply to 582.6, above the payable price, so a request can be within the leg limit and still be refused.
Why three limits and not one
The leg count is the model's limit: 12 legs means 4,096 joint states and 66 pairwise relationships to resolve, and past that point the answer stops being about a market anyone is asking for. The payable price is the arithmetic's limit: a combination can multiply past the point where the return, not the risk, is the problem, and the operator refuses rather than caps. The stake is the liability's limit, and it is the only one of the three that also appears on markets the operator published rather than composed.
They interact in a way that is easy to get backwards. A price of 500.0 is not generous: it is the highest combination the operator will accept, and at that price a 250.00 stake would pay 125,000.00, five times the payout ceiling. So the third limit bites first, and the maximum stake is a function of the price rather than a fixed number.
What the samples show
| Limit | Value | What it prevents | Where it is stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legs in one combination | 2 to 12 | A market the model cannot resolve | 18 of 40 terms pages |
| Payable price | 500.0 | A return the book will not hold | 7 of 40 terms pages |
| Maximum stake | 250.00 | A liability beyond the payout ceiling | 4 of 40 terms pages |
| Payout ceiling behind all three | 25,000.00 | A single settled combination paying more | 11 of 40 terms pages |
The limit nobody publishes
Four of the forty terms pages in sample F state the maximum stake on a composed market, and the same four are the only ones where a reader could work out that the payout ceiling binds before the stake limit. The practical version for a reader is this: the number printed next to the stake box is not the amount that will be accepted on a long combination, and the only way to know the real maximum is to price the combination and divide the payout ceiling by the price.
- The minimum and maximum number of legs, and whether a leg may be added after the combination is priced.
- Whether the operator caps the price or refuses above it - on the samples it refuses, which is different.
- The maximum stake stated in the account, and whether it is lower on a composed market than on a published one.
- The payout ceiling, and whether it applies per combination, per account and day, or per market.
- Whether a combination that is refused at one stake may be accepted at a smaller one, which is what the price limit implies.