How Does Each-Way Betting Work?

Win Betting

A win bet in horse racing is exactly what it says on the tin, you are betting on your selected horse to finish first only. Put simply, if you back a horse at 3/1 for £10 and it wins, you win £30 plus your £10 stake back.

Finishing anywhere bar first, you lose your stake. Win betting is the simplest form of betting in horse racing and although it offers the biggest potential profit, it also carries the most risk.

Each-Way Betting

When betting each-way (EW), your bet is split into two bets. Half of your stake goes on the horse to win, and the other half goes on the horse to place, so a £10 each-way bet would be a total stake of £20 (£10 win and £10 place).

This is a popular way to bet on bigger-priced runners in horse racing, due to the fact that you don’t need to pick the winner to make a profit, and it gives punters the excitement of a potentially large win, with the added security of falling back on places.

Best Bookmakers For Each-Way Betting

How Many Places Does Each-Way Pay?

In horse racing, the number of places in a race varies depending on the number of horses that are running. The standard place terms are shown below.

• Handicaps of 16 or more runners = 1/4 win odds on first four places

• Handicaps of 12 to 15 runners = 1/4 win odds on first three places

• All other races of 8 or more runners = 1/5 win odds on first three places

• All races of 5 to 7 runners = 1/4 win odds on first two places

• All races of fewer than 5 runners: win only

Example

A horse priced at 10/1 in an 8-runner race would give place odds of 2/1 if it finished second or third, as bullet point three applies to this bet.

How to Place an Each-Way Bet

Bookmakers make backing horses each-way very simple once you know this type of bet exists!

Simply click the odds of the runner you wish to back each way and tick the “E/W” button in the betslip, but be aware this will double your stake, due to it being two bets in one.

Win Betting v Each-Way Betting - Which is Better?

Knowing whether to back a horse for a straight win or go each-way heavily relies on the prices of the horses, as well as your confidence in the selection.

Backing short-priced horses each way is a no-go, because you will still lose part of your stake if your selection places. If you’re looking to back horses each-way, you preferably want to be backing bigger-priced horses in the region of 8/1+, to make sure you return a profit when your selection places, with the best returns coming from well-researched outsiders.

An ideal race for backing a runner each-way is when you have a short-priced favourite with two runners who are likely to put up a fight, and the rest of the field are sporting big prices.

See the below example.

The screenshot shown here is a perfect example of where an each-way bet can be lucrative. Slid Performer or Ballyeaston are likely to win the race, but you can still make a profit by backing either Chemoulin or Coumeenoole each-way.

Backing Coumeenoole for £10 each-way (£20 stake) would return you £98 (£78 profit) if he wins, which is great, but even if he fails to win and places second or third, you will return £23 (£3 profit).

Given the odds of the remaining runners of the race (all priced at 33/1+), there only looks to be four horses battling to finish in the top three, which makes backing Coumeenoole each-way at 13/2 a strong bet.

Granted, he could both flop, but he could also produce a career best to win, which makes these types of races a great opportunity to land a big payout without taking on huge risk.

Horse Racing Bookmaker Features

As well as Each-Way betting, there is a wide range of additional bookmaker features and markets for horse racing, including:

➡️ bet365 Best Odds Guaranteed
➡️ bet365 Position Payout
➡️ bet365 Acca Boost
➡️ What is a Lucky 15 Bet?
➡️ How to Bet on Ante-Post Markets
➡️ How to Bet on Handicap Races