One of the most popular bets in horse racing is an each-way bet as you can often see some cracking returns and it encourages you to back an outsider.
Basically, rather than betting on a horse to win, you’re betting on it to win and finish in the ‘places’.
Most bookmakers pay three places, so you do still see some returns if it finishes second or third. However, some races with a big field see four or even five places paid, whereas small encounters will see only two places available. Always check before the race how many places you’re getting, and go with the bookie offering the most.
It is also worth looking at what sort of odds you’re getting should your horse finish in the places. Sometimes, the each-way terms are ¼ of the odds you backed it at, but it is usually 1/5of the odds.
So, say you had a £5 each-way bet on a horse at 10/1 with a bookie playing ¼ odds and three places. Should it win, both of your bets win as the £5 you have put on it to finish first has come in, but it is also in the top three of course.
Your win bet returns £50 with odds of 10/1, and then your other bet – to finish in the places – would return £12.50 as you have £5 on ¼ the odds, which are 5/2 (2.5/1). Your stake is also given back to you, meaning this each-way bet brings home a tasty £72.50 in total.
Are you with me? It’s quite simply really and the higher the odds go, the more money you can receive from your horse just finishing in the places.
Let’s go through another example. You put £5 each-way on a horse at 20/1 with a bookie paying three places and ¼ the odds.
It finishes third, so your £5 bet for it to win is gone, BUT your £5 bet to finish in the places has won. It’s quarter the odds, so you’ve basically had a 5/1 winner. You’d win £25, and get your £5 stake back, which means there’s £20 profit in total as you did originally put a £10 bet on.
Each-way betting is a great way to back some big outsiders and we’d recommend going no lower than odds of 7/1, as this is where your returns for a place finish are minimal.
Like the sound of placing some each-way bets? Well, make sure you’re on our ‘Little Earners’, which are EW bets posted daily that see some cracking profit for our punters.
