If you bet each way, what does that mean?

What does it mean to bet each way in horse racing, football or any other sport?

Betting Tips for Today's Football

Find more value in your next football bet. You could gain a betting edge by checking out the tips and stats for today's and tomorrow's fixtures...

Yesterday    Today    Tomorrow    7 Days

Banker    My Tips  

What does placing a bet each way mean?

Each Way (EW) betting consists of placing two bets on a selection; one bet for a win and second bet for a place (usually within the top 1-4 positions). This multiple bet strategy can smooth returns by reducing effects of negative uncertainty on your selections.


Sport can be unpredictable, a range of different circumstances affect sporting events. The unforeseen circumstances could range from random illness and poor form through to human error and spectator distraction. Even the more mundane issues, such as environmental factors or adverse weather conditions could impact a sporting event.

Why would you use EW betting?

Betting Each Way helps punters protect betting stakes and increase win probability by increasing winnings options; therefore decreasing betting risk.


Decreasing betting risk means you’re reducing your financial downside, but a reduction in the downside will usually mean a reduction in your potential upside. This is the uneasy relationship between risk and reward.


If you want to decrease risk, you can use EW bets for controlled risk reduction and increasing your probable winning returns.

Each Way bets may help you avoid the pain of losing bets

Some events, such as large horse racing meetings can expose bettors to significant profits, but there are a much greater number of potential losers behind the winners.


Having a large field of runners and riders affects betting; increases probability of losing due to significant possible selections and an infinite number of external factors, which can also negatively impact returns.


You can reduce this risk by using Each Way bets. EW bets provide ‘insurance’ against each way betting losses when placing sporting bets, such as, horse races, football leagues and football tournaments, etc.


Each Way betting is not a low-risk strategy, as you’re always risking money, but you’re increasing your probability of returning winnings, but you may not be increasing your profit potential.

How do Each Way bets work?

You can see more information on how Each Way betting works and test examples using the betting calculator, which provides simple odds and more detailed each way horse race betting calculations.


The EW calculator permits you to change the odds for the different selections and test returns across different sports, odds and different stakes.

Each Way betting is two bets in one

Betting is a risky business and you may not always have the best options at your betting disposal. There are several areas to consider, which will quickly help you and your fellow punters make better betting decisions.


What does an Each Way bet mean in horse racing, football and other sports?

EW bets are two bets in one. Yes. you read that correctly, you’re actually placing two bets:

The first bet is for your selection to win

The second bet is for your selection to ‘place’

The ‘win’ part of the bet is straightforward, but the ‘place’ part can be more complicated depending on your type of event. The win part of an Each Way bet is based on the individual selections winning (i.e. finishing first).


Check out the three examples of winning the Win portion of an Each Way bet, below:


1. Finishing first in a horse racing meeting requires your selection to win the race and cross the finishing line ahead of the other horses.


2. A football team wins their national football league by accumulating the most points within a season.


3. A national football team would be classed as an Each Way bet winner, if they won the world cup or other international tournament.

What does Place mean in each way betting?

Place means that your selection does not win the tournament, league or horse race, but they finish within the competitions top positions, as identified by the bookmaker.


A Place finishing position could be anything from first position (1st) through to fifth position (5th). The number of positions is controlled by the bookmaker.


For example, some horse races may permit 3 or even more Place positions, such as the Grand National’s 5 Places for Each Way, whereas smaller race meetings will only permit Place Positions up to 3 or 4.


With that in mind, how can we calculate horse racing odds payouts?


Let’s take a look at an Each Way bet definition using a single EW bet...

How does your Each Way betting stake get allocated?

If you have £10 (or whatever currency works for you). You would split the £10 into two bets; £5 against the EW Win bet and £5 against the EW Place bet.

Remember Each Way betting requires two bets. If you don’t want to spend £20 (i.e. £10 on Win and £10 on PLace), you need to split your total stake in half. This way you’re not risking too much money and controlling your expenses.

What are the possible results of an Each Way bet?

An EW bet has 3 possible outcomes:

Outcome 1. Win Bet = Win and Place Bet = Win

Outcome 2. Win Bet = Lose and Place Bet = Win

Outcome 3. Win Bet = Lose and Place Bet = Lose

A result ending in Outcome 1 or Outcome 2 will provide a return, but sometimes a negative return, if the multiplication of the Bookmaker Place Fraction and the selection odds is less than the originally money staked.

How are EW bet winnings calculated using Place Terms?

As mentioned earlier, the bookmaker will decide the Place positions, which qualify for the Each Way bets and the bookmaker will also determine the Place Terms.


The Place Terms relate to the Places Paid (i.e. the finishing positions that the bookmaker will pay out against) and the Place Fraction (i.e. How much the odds of each placing selection is reduced if they finish within the Places Paid).


An example of bookmaker Place Terms could be; Each Way bets paid on the top 4 positions (1st through to 4th) and the Place Fraction is 0.25.


How to work out Each Way bets odds

Under the above conditions, the bookmaker will pay out against the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th position for the Place portion of the EW bet. The win odds for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th finishers are multiplied by the 0.25 Place Fraction to provide the Place odds.

An example of calculating EW bet returns

You placed a bet on the winner of the FIFA World Cup 2018, but at the time you couldn’t decide on an outright winner, but you believed England would be there or thereabouts. England were about 16/1 to win the tournament.


Your favourite bookmaker sets Places Paid at 4 (quite generous, so the nations finishing in the top 4 at the end of the World Cup will provide an Each Way Place payout.


In football tournament terms, this means every team reaching the semi-finals would have qualified as one of the top 4 positions and provided a pay out against the bookmaker’s Place’s Paid.


You had a maximum of £10 to spend, so you placed an Each Way bet on England to win the World Cup with your preferred bookmaker. The bookmaker registered £5 against England to win the tournament and £5 against England to finish within the top 4 positions.


England reached the semi-finals, but were beaten by Croatia 2-1 after extra time and finished the tournament in 4th place.


The bookmaker then calculated the outcome of your bet:


Total Stake: £10

Place Fraction: 1/4

Win Bet: £5 bet at 16/1 provided a potential return of £85 (=£5 x 16 Plus the original £5 Win Bet Stake)

Place Bet £5 bet at 16/1 with 0.25 Place Fraction provided a return of £25 (=£5 x 16 x 1/4 Plus the original £5 Place Bet stake)

You received £25 after England finished within the top four positions, which provided a £15 profit. Not bad!

When are Each Way bets not suitable?

Although, EW bets are two bets in one, it’s not two for the price of one. The bookmaker is not giving you a cut-price deal as an incentive or betting promotion. Each Way betting is a betting mechanism for you to protect your bankroll. No more and no less. It’s basically a betting tool, so you can reduce the risk of selections.


As EW bets is a tool, you should take precautions to only use the tool when it makes sense. You wouldn’t use a drill to paint a wall, so each way bets are not suitable for events with a low number of potential winners.


That’s why you rarely see Each Way bets in standard 1X2 betting, as there are only three potential outcomes (home win, draw or away win). This is the reason why 1x2 bets are not suitable for EW bets.


If you’ve got this far, it’s clear there are a lot of areas where Each Way bets could provide benefits for punters wanting to reduce their exposure and provide some insurance against unforeseen events.


That’s why it’s a good idea understanding how to calculate bet returns, so you have a general understanding of EW betting.


There may come a time when it makes more sense to bet Each Way rather than outright and you need to understand the best way to use your funds and protect your bankroll.


Good luck!


Tags: betting strategy

Share Post On:             Short URL: https://iwinsoccerbets.com/zPnqJI8bz

<< Previous Post Top 5 football and sports betting books for newbies and experienced traders

Find the best football betting and sports betting books, which will entertain and enhance your sports betting.