Each-way bet
An each-way bet is two bets of equal stake on one selection: one for it to win, and one for it to finish inside a set number of places, with the place part paid at a fraction of the win odds. So a €10 each-way bet costs €20, not €10. You meet it mostly in horse racing, though golf and outright football markets use the same mechanics. The fraction and the number of places are the place terms, and they decide what the bet is really worth.
How the place terms are set
In racing, the place terms follow the number of runners that come under starter’s orders, not the number declared when you took the price. Sky Bet’s published rules show the pattern most Irish and British firms work from.
Four or fewer runners means win only. Five to seven pays two places at 1/4 the odds, and a non-handicap of eight or more pays three places at 1/5. Handicaps go further: eight to eleven runners pay three places at 1/5, twelve to fifteen pay three at 1/4, and sixteen or more pay four places at 1/4.
Those are the standard terms, not a law, and practice varies between operators. Bookmakers advertise extra places on big handicaps and festival races, and in golf the number of places changes with the field and the tournament, so a major can pay deeper than a regular week on tour. A wider place term often comes with a smaller fraction, which means more chances to collect but less on each one. What I check first on any slip is the terms printed beside the price, because a field that shrinks from sixteen to fifteen at the off drops from four places to three.
The terms are part of the price.
Working out an each-way return
The place odds are the win odds multiplied by the fraction. In decimal terms, place odds equal 1 plus (win odds minus 1) times the fraction, so 9.00 at 1/5 becomes 2.60.
Take €10 each-way on a 10/1 shot with 1/5 the odds for three places, a €20 outlay. At 10/1 the bookmaker implies a win chance of about 9.1%, and the place part pays at 2/1, which implies roughly 33.3%. If the horse wins, the win part returns €110 and the place part returns €30, so you get €140 back. If it finishes second or third, only the place part pays: €30 back on €20 staked, a profit of €10.
Outside the places, both halves lose. At short prices the place part can even return less than the total stake: an evens favourite at 1/5 pays the place at 1/5, so €10 each-way returns €12 if it places, a loss of €8 on €20. That is why each-way is mostly used on bigger prices, where the place half can cover the whole outlay.
Rule 4 and dead heats
A late non-runner can trigger a Rule 4 deduction from winnings, and because the place odds come from the win odds, the place part shrinks with it. In a dead heat for a paying position, the stake for that part is divided by the number of runners tied, then paid at full odds.
Each-way bet or straight win single?
The each-way bet is most often weighed against a plain win single for the same total money. Here is how €20 behaves on the 10/1 example above, at 1/5 for three places.
Each-way, €10 + €10 | Win single, €20 |
|---|---|
| Returns €140 if it wins | Returns €220 if it wins |
| Returns €30 if placed | Returns nothing if placed |
| Loses €20 outside the places | Loses €20 outside the places |
| Place half hit by Rule 4 too | Rule 4 on the single win part |
| Terms change with field size | Settled on the win price only |
| Suits longer prices in big fields | Suits a selection you expect to win |
What each-way is confused with
The usual mix-up is with a place-only bet, sold by some firms as a separate market. A place bet is one stake on the selection finishing in the places, priced on its own; an each-way bet always carries a win part as well, and its place odds come from a fixed fraction rather than a separate price.
Readers also take the stake shown on the slip as the total. Many sites ask for the unit stake and then double it, so €5 each-way debits €10 from your balance.
Bet365’s racing rules add that a place stake may not exceed the win stake, which is the reason an each-way bet is always split evenly. In an each-way accumulator, the winnings from each leg roll into the next on both the win and the place lines, so one placed horse can keep the place line alive while the win line is already lost. Free bet tokens used each-way follow the same split, and a free bet returns winnings only, without the stake, which changes the sums above.
Read the terms before the price.
