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When betting on sports, there is nothing worse than backing a horse or a team or a player to win, only to have them finish second by the narrowest of margins. It has happened to all of us at one time or another, and there is only one way to ensure that when you lose by those tight margins, you are still a winner. That is by placing an each-way bet on your selection.
An each-way bet is a bet that consist of two halves – a bet on the selection to win, and a bet on the selection to place. So it would cost twice as much as a win bet, or you adjust your stakes accordingly. So if your player wins, you have two winnings bets – the win bet and also the place bet. If your player finishes in the places (as defined by the bookmaker), you have a losing win bet, but a winning place bet.
It is worth noting how many places a bookmaker will pay for a race or an event. For example, most golf tournaments pay the first five places when it comes to an each-way bet. So if you backed Phil Mickelson to win the 2015 US Open and he finishes fourth, your place bet would be a winner. However, the FA Cup, the Superbowl, darts tournaments and other knockout competitions tend to only pay first and second when it comes to paying places. However, the odds on a place would be better (usually half of the outright odds) than when the bookmaker pays the top five (usually one quarter of the odds).
Now, all that seems a bit difficult to remember, but it becomes even more complicated when it comes to horse racing. The amount of places paid depends on the amount of runners, and also whether the race is a handicap or not. So, we will split the races up into handicap and non-handicap races and we will use the place terms of Bet365.
Handicap Races:
Up to four runners – win only
Five, six or seven runners – First and second (which pays one quarter of the win odds)
Eight, nine, ten or eleven runners – First, second and third (which pays one fifth of the win odds)
Twelve, thirteen, fourteen or fifteen runners – First, second and third (which pays one fifth of the win odds)
Sixteen or more runners – First, second, third and fourth (which pays one quarter of the win odds)
Non-Handicap Races:
Up to four runners – win only
Five, six or seven runners – First and second (which pays one quarter of the win odds)
Eight or more runners – First, second and third (which pays one fifth of the win odds)
Rules for greyhounds are exactly the same as non-handicap horse racing place terms.
It is relatively simple to work out how a winning place bet will pay – you half, third, quarter or fifth the odds that a win would pay depending on the place terms. For example, you might back Phil Mickelson to win the US Open at 16/1. So you know that if he wins, you get 16 times your stake back (plus your stake). You also know that the place terms are first five, which pays one fifth of the odds. So if he wins or finishes in the top five, it pays out 16/5 (or 3.2/1). If it was a quarter of the odds, it would be 16/4 (or 4/1), one third would be 16/3 (or 5.33/1) and one half is 16/2 (or 8/1).
