Each Way Bets Explained

Whether you bet online or at the race track you will usually be offered the opportunity to bet each way as well as win only.

How does an each-way bet work?

An each-way bet is a bet for the selection in a horse race or other event to win or place. The selection could be a horse and we predominantly talk about horse racing on this site but it could also be in other sports, like golf tournaments for example.

An each way bet is actually two separate bets it is a bet to win and a bet to place. So if you ask for £10 each way on a selection then you will have to hand over £20! £10 for the win part of the bet and £10 for the place part.

When you place the bet you should be told the each way terms.

For horse racing that will typically be 1/4 or 1/5 the odds and 2, 3 or 4 places. Typically but not exclusively because bookmakers will make special offers to win business.

The number of places is easy to understand, that's where your horse needs to finish to win the place part of the bet.

So if the bet pays 4 places then if your selection finishes in the first 4 then the place part of your each way bet wins.

The odds are calculated relative to the win odds. (You can bet place only at Betting Exchanges like Betfair but we are talking about each way bets with bookmakers)

So if the odds on your selection are 10/1 and the each way terms are 1/5 the odds then the place part of your bet pays 10 divided by 5 which is 2/1.

If your selection wins then both parts of your bet win.

If we have a £10 bet each way at 10/1 and the place terms are 1/5 the odds to 3 places then you have staked a total of £20.

If the horse wins then you win both the win part and the place part of your bet which is 10 times £10 for the win bet and 2 times £10 for the place part of the bet.

Plus you get your stake returned so £140 would be returned.

If your selection finishes 2nd or 3rd then your win bet loses (- £10) but your place bet wins returning £30 (2 times £10 + your place stake)

You invested £20 and were returned £30.

You can use the calculator below to calculate each way winnings for your each way bet. (Odds Format: You can enter traditional/fractional odds, not decimal. To convert decimal odds to fractional just subtract 1 and use that as your left number (numerator) and put 1 as the right number (denominator))

What are the each way terms on horse races?

These days bookmakers tend to offer lots of non standard each way terms to entice punters to place their each way bets with them, often times the prices for extra places are not as good as for the standard terms and the casual punter can be tricked into taking a worse value bet.

Below we have detailed the standard place terms which are the default for all racing in the UK and these are the terms you will get if no special offers are available.

Each Way Odds Chart

Handicaps of more than 15 runners pays 1/4 the odds to 4 places

Handicaps of 12-15 runners pays 1/4 the odds to 3 places

All other races of more than 7 runners pay 1/5 the odds to 3 places

All races of 5-7 runners pay 1/4 the odds to 2 places

All races of less than 5 runners – are win only

What are the each way terms for greyhound races?

Greyhound races typically have 6 runners and so they pay the same as 6 runner horse races which is 1/4 the odds for 2 places.

Is each way betting favourable to the punter?

Sometimes, there are many instances where the make up of a race means that the place odds are better than the bookmaker would like to give.

This is because the each way terms are calculated from the standard formula, but the race make up may mean that a horse that has a very small chance of winning has a big chance of placing.

Punters can take advantage of this situation but those that do invariably find themselves restricted at the bookmakers!

But for the same reasons often the each way part of a bet is not favourable to the customer. In fact it is the case that for most each way bets the place part of your bet does not offer favourable odds.

If you follow a selection method over the long term and compare the results with win only bets against each way bets you will usually find that win only would be more profitable.

Each Way Sniping

As we mentioned in the previous section punters can take advantage of the each way odds to make bets that are bad value for the bookmaker and profitable for the bettor, this betting strategy is sometimes referred to as each way sniping.

As an extreme example lets say we have a six runner race that pays two places each way.

And lets say the favourite is almost guaranteed to win and it's odds are very short at 1/3.

In this perfect but fictional example to demonstrate the point lets say that of the other five horses one is much better than the other four.

The four outsiders are 25/1 each that would mean that the horse most likely to finish second would have odds of around 5/1.

If you bet this horse that is almost guaranteed to come second with £100 each way you will bet £200 and when it finishes second you will be returned £225.

That's £25 profit almost guaranteed and if the horse happened to win then you would be returned £825.

This is a simplistic explanation of how you can get each way value without having to win the race.

Some punters get very sophisticated with this each way winning method by for example laying the win part of the bet at a Betting Exchange so they are left with just the place part of the bet or better still lay both parts of the bet at the betting exchange where the odds of the second favourite in the place market will be more accurate and so the bet can be layed at lower odds than have been achieved with the bookmaker.

Laying off your each way bet like this will result in a guaranteed profit or a free bet whatever the outcome.

What's the difference between an each way bet and a place only bet?

In the good ol' days there was no place only bet.

You could bet win only or you could bet each way IE win and place together.

In the early days of betting exchanges there was the opportunity, if you fancied a horse to place but didn't expect it to win, to lay the horse to lose which would get rid of the win part of your bet and just leave you with the place bet.

But now we have many more options that have become available as a result of the betting exchanges growth and one of those options is to bet place only.

When you bet place only you are betting that your horse will finish in the places and in some races you will get to choose how many places you want to count as a winning bet.

Odds are adjusted according to the increased chance when there are more places.

If you would like to learn a system for finding winning 1st & 2nd favourites – Click Here