Every calculator gives you the ratio. The number that decides whether the trade is worth taking is the win rate that ratio needs to break even — so that is the one printed largest here.
A 1:2 setup is not good or bad by itself. It is a setup that loses money below a 33.3% win rate and makes money above it. That threshold is the thing worth knowing before you take the trade, and it is almost never the number people quote.
| Risk : reward | Break-even win rate | Realistic target, after costs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 : 0.5 | 66.7% | 72.7% |
| 1 : 1 | 50.0% | 56.0% |
| 1 : 1.5 | 40.0% | 46.0% |
| 1 : 2 | 33.3% | 39.3% |
| 1 : 2.5 | 28.6% | 34.6% |
| 1 : 3 | 25.0% | 31.0% |
| 1 : 4 | 20.0% | 26.0% |
| 1 : 5 | 16.7% | 22.7% |
The third column adds roughly six points for spread and slippage. It is an estimate rather than a law — the true figure depends on your pair and your broker — but the direction is not in doubt: the break-even win rate you calculate is always the optimistic one. Costs only ever push it up.
Chasing 1:5 looks like an easy route to profitability on a 20% win rate. What it actually does is put the target further from price, so it is reached less often, and leaves the trade exposed for longer. Ratio and win rate are not independent: improving one usually degrades the other, and the only way to know where your strategy lands is to test it.
You can do that free with our strategy tester — set a stop and a target and it reports the win rate those levels actually produced on real 5-minute data, spread included.
Every TeachTrades signal already carries its entry, stop and targets, so the sizing above is the only sum left to do. Free accounts see the pairs and the live results.
See today’s signals →