How Kalshi works
A contract costs between 1¢ and 99¢ and pays exactly $1 if your side is right — nothing if it's wrong.
Every market has two sides — "Yes" and "No". Buy Yes at 62¢ and you pay 62¢ now to collect $1 later if that side is right, so you make 38¢; if it's wrong you lose the 62¢. The price doubles as the market's estimate of the chance: 62¢ means traders think it happens about 62% of the time, and it's also your break-even — win less often than that and buying at 62¢ loses money over time.
10 contracts at 25¢ — $2.50
Profit if right +$7.50 · Loss if wrong −$2.50
10 contracts at 40¢ — $4.00
Profit if right +$6.00 · Loss if wrong −$4.00
10 contracts at 62¢ — $6.20
Profit if right +$3.80 · Loss if wrong −$6.20
10 contracts at 80¢ — $8.00
Profit if right +$2.00 · Loss if wrong −$8.00
Combos
A combo bundles several picks into one contract that only pays if every one of them is right — Kalshi's version of a parlay. Two picks at 60¢ and 50¢ multiply out to about 30%, so the combo prices near 30¢, give or take what other traders will pay: ten of them cost $3.00 and return $10.00 if both land. Miss either one and the whole thing settles at $0, which is why combos pay more and land less often.
How this differs from a sportsbook
A sportsbook sets the price, takes the other side of your bet itself, and builds its own cut into the number (the vig). On Kalshi you're trading against other people and pay a stated exchange fee instead. Prices are in cents rather than American odds, so the chance is right there instead of something you convert.
Parlae earns a commission when you sign up through some books. It never changes our ranking — the best price always wins. How we make money →
Open KalshiCommon questions
Is Kalshi gambling?
Kalshi is a federally regulated exchange offering event contracts, which are financial instruments under CFTC oversight rather than sportsbook wagers. That said, contracts can settle worthless, so treat position sizing as seriously as you would any risk-taking activity.
What happens when my contract settles?
At settlement Kalshi resolves the market against its official source. Winning contracts pay $1 each into your cash balance, losing contracts pay $0, and the position closes automatically — you don't need to sell first.