Each Way Betting and Place Terms Explained

Each way betting is very popular and the sport where you will mainly see and hear about this is horse racing. However, you can place an each way bet on almost any sport, so it is always a good tactic to know about and understand.

While you can’t bet each way on a football game, you can use each way betting when looking at markets such as who will win the league, who will be the top scorer in a tournament and more.

Horse racing punters should certainly know about each way betting, but it is a good tool to have in your betting portfolio for all punters and will certainly become useful at some point.

What is an Each Way Bet?

The first thing to say about an each way bet is that this is actually two bets, which is why an each way bet costs double your stake money.

Example – A £1 each way bet will cost you £2.

The two bets are – one on the selection to win and one on the selection to place.

If your selection is out of the places, you get no return. If the selection places but doesn’t win, you will be paid out on the place bet. If the selection wins, you will be paid out on both bets.

Every event has different place terms, when you are looking at the betting odds, if each way betting is allowed then these will clearly be shown, either at the top or the bottom of the market. For horse racing, with each way betting being so popular, there are set place terms depending on the type of race and the number of runners, which you can see at the bottom of this page.

What are the Benefits of Betting Each Way?

The main benefit of betting each way is that you can open up your chances of getting a return. For example, if you bet each way and the place terms pay out on the first three finishers, you have three chances to get a return, whereas a win only bet will only ever give you one chance.

Another benefit is to go against a favourite, a tactic that many people use. If you don’t want to bet at short odds, you can try to ‘beat the favourite’ by placing an each way bet on something at a bigger price. If you win, you will have a nice return but you also have the chance of finishing in one of the places behind the favourite, if they prove to be too strong.

When Should & Shouldn’t You Bet Each Way?

Each way betting is best used when you increase your chances of winning while betting a selection at a big price.

For example – a horse at 20/1 in a race where four places are paid each way at 1/4 odds and you have £1 each way. You can win only if you wish, but you have one chance to win, if you bet each way you have four chances of winning.

If the horse places, your returns from the place bet will be £6, so you are making a profit of £4, without backing the winner of the race. Of course, if the horse wins, your profit will be far greater, but each way gives you a safety net, and a chance to still make profit, even without winning.

Each way betting is not very good when you are backing horses that have low odds, so anyone backing a favourite will more than likely be better backing it to win.

For example – a 2/1 favourite in a race where three places are paid at 1/5 odds. If you bet £1 each way on this selection and the horse is placed only, the returns from the bet will be £1.40, while your total stake is £2.

This means that despite having a selection that places, you are still losing money and not making a profit. In these circumstances, it is best to go for the outright win and put your full stake money on to win.

Each Way Place Terms

Horse racing has fixed place terms depending on the type of race and the number of runners. This is all based on the number of runners when the race goes off, not when you place your bet. So, for example, if you bet when there are eight runners, but a non-runner makes it seven, your bet will be settled on seven runners, so two places only.

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