Ross Bennellick is armed with a BA in Screenwriting and an MA in Creative Writing, he combines his love of sacks, Anaconda Chokes, and bicycle kicks with his storytelling skills to provide insightful analysis, tips, and strategies. Ross developed his unique perspective and passion for sports at high school, where he played rugby, basketball, and cricket. He covers a wide range of leagues and disciplines, including the NFL, NCAA, NBA, soccer, rugby, cricket, and UFC, offering a versatile, engaging, and informative take on the world of sports betting and the current legal landscape in the US. Away from Basketball Insiders, you will also find Ross's work at GiveMeSport and the Florida-based MMA platform, FightBananas (among others).
All posts by Ross BennellickMost commonly associated with horse racing, each-way betting is when a bookmaker enables the bettor to place two (or three/four if you include horse betting Win Place Show) bets on the same race/tournament at equal cost to increase the chances of getting a payout and/or receiving a higher payout for the Win. To do this, bookmakers allow bettors to place equal wagers on the winner of the race (Win), the runner-up (Place), and – oftentimes with horse racing and greyhound racing – the Show (third place).
Place an each-way bet on Kingsbarns at the 2023 Kentucky Derby, for instance, and should the horse go on to win, a bettor will be paid out up to three times- once each for the Win, Place, and Show. If Kingsbarns finishes up in second place, the bettor can still be paid out twice – once each for the Win and the Place. If the horse comes in third place, you can still win a smaller payout for the Show bet (if available). The 2022 renewal of the Kentucky Derby threw up a couple of big-priced odds in the first four, as the winner caused a shock at huge odds of 80-1, while the fourth was 35-1.
As of 2024, each-way wagering is more popular in the UK than it is across the pond in the USA, but both US-facing and offshore sportsbooks are beginning to add the line with more regularity, especially for big horse racing meets and golf tournaments.
How Does Each-Way Betting Work?
In the main, each way betting works by allowing players to spread the risk over two bets: the Win and the Place. However, there are a few important factors to consider when placing this kind of wager, namely:
- Each-Way Places: Depending on the sports and sportsbook, you may encounter variations in the ordinal numbers when each-way place betting. Taking golf as an example, it’s often possible to wager each way on the winner (Win) + a top 3 finish (Place). However, it might also be possible to wager on a win + a top 6 finish, or top 10, and so on.
- Each-Way Fractions: The odds on the place part of your each-way bet are a predetermined fraction (1/5, for example) of the winning odds because your selection has a greater chance of placing than winning. The each-way place odds also shorten the further down the rankings that your golfer finishes as the probability of such a finish becomes higher. So, you might get Tiger Woods to win or place 1st-3rd at +260, or to win or place 1st-8th at +200, or win or place in the top 10 at +180, and so on.
Golf each-way betting example:
With sports betting revenue on the rise during the early part of 2023, there has never been a better time to get involved with punting on sports like golf. Below is an example of golf each-way betting odds taken from the upcoming Mexican Open. In the table headings, you can see EW listed clearly, meaning “Each-Way,” plus the each-way fractions (1/5, for example), and the each-way places (1-3, for instance). Note how the odds generally shorten the further we descend down the ordinal numbers for the each-way places.
Player EW 1/5 1-3
E/W 1/5 1-8 EW 1/7 1-10
Jon Rahm +350
+275 +275
Tony Finau +1000
+800 +800
Wyndham Clark +2200
+1800 +1800
Gary Woodland +2500
+2200 +2200
Maverick McNealy +3500
+2800 +3000
What are the Advantages of Each-Way Betting?
As with all types of wagering, there are both advantages and disadvantages to each-way betting – the most prominent of which can be found below:
Advantages of betting each way:
- You have a significantly better chance of winning when placing an each-way wager.
- When there is no clear favorite for the race/contest, each-way odds often work out favorably.
- Each-way wagers are a low-risk/low-reward betting strategy.
Disadvantages of betting each way:
- Two stakes are required to wager each way.
- Lower odds are given than on a straight outright wager on the winner.
- Depending on your strategy, the lower payouts may be offputting.
How to Work Out Your Return from an Each-Way Bet?
Working out your potential total payout from an each-way bet is far easier than it sounds. Just calculate the return for the Win and Place parts of your bet, separately, before adding them together to get the total return. We’ll break the process down in more detail below:
- Work out the potential return for the Win: Sticking with golf and using round numbers for ease, imagine you were willing to risk $100 on an each-way bet. You stake $50 on Rory McIlroy at +600 to win the PGA Tour Championship… and he does. $50 at +600 will pay out a $300 profit for the win.
- Work out the potential return for the Place: You took the other $50 and put it on McIllroy to Place (1-3) at the slightly worse odds of +300. That’s another $150 profit.
- Add the two (Win & Place) together: Add together the Win and the Place to get your total return. In this case, that would be $300 for the Win and $150 for the place, so $450 in total, plus the return of the original $100 stake.
That’s really all there is to it. Just remember that if McIlroy fails to win or finish in the top 3 at the tournament, your bet loses and you lose $50 x2. Hence, we recommend splitting the amount you would have been willing to wager outright on the Win, rather than doubling down when betting each way – there is less risk involved.
Enhanced Each-Way Terms and Extra Places
In the competitive world of online sports gambling, bookmakers need to find an extra edge to lure in and retain customers. Two such ways that this happens with regards to each-way wagering is by offering enhanced terms and extra places.
- Enhanced each-way terms: With enhanced each-way terms, a sportsbook opts to provide a better fraction for the Place bet. As an example, the bookmaker might offer enhanced 1/4 terms on Arsenal finishing in the top 4 (Place) of the EPL instead of the standard 1/5.
- Extra places: Here, the bookmaker is willing to offer extra places as part of the Place bet. This generally happens for deep fields. So, if 20 teams participate in the EPL, for example, you might find that one bookmaker is taking each-way bets on positions 1-4 while another is taking wagers on 1-6. Similarly, at the most famous track meets in the world, bookmakers tend to offer extra horse betting places (1-6, for example), such as at Preakness Stakes.
Do remember that Enhanced each-way terms are generally subject to terms and conditions and are often only available for a limited time.
Win vs. Each-Way Betting
The biggest point of contrast between a regular Win bet on the moneyline and betting each way on both the Win and Place is that each-way betting equates to a higher probability of placing a winning wager. This is simply because you are actually placing two wagers simultaneously. However, the obvious downside here is that bookmakers shorten the odds when betting each way and that you have to place two bets.
Figuring out whether to wager a regular Win bet or an each-way bet is all part of the fun. There is no correct answer here since gambling really is 20 percent skill and 80 percent luck. However, a quick tip would be as follows: if you have short odds and very few runners, go with a straight moneyline wager and try to take advantage of the better odds. If it’s a deeper field, like at the 2023 British Grand National, where 39 horses began the race, each-way betting may be the way to go since you’re boosting your probability of some kind of result significantly.
What are the Different Each-Way Terms?
Using horse racing each-way betting as an example, place betting terms tend to vary depending on a) the number of runners entering a particular race and b) the type of race. The standard place terms are as follows (but may differ slightly from sportsbook to sportsbook or from larger to smaller event):
- 2-4 runners = win only
- 5-7 runners = 1/4 the odds, 1-2 places
- 8-15 runners = 1/5 the odds, 1-3 places
- 16+ runners = 1/5 the odds, 1-5 places
In larger events with larger fields such as the Kentucky Derby (horse racing) or the English Premier League (soccer), it’s common to see more place terms added. You can generally wager on a top 4 or top 6 finish when each-way betting on the EPL, for example.
Best Sports for Each-Way Betting
Most bookmakers take each-way bets on thoroughbred and harness races, so it will come as little surprise to see horse racing betting at No.1 in this list. But the reality is that the concept of betting each way works in any situation in which teams/players finish ordinally, meaning ranked: first, second, third, etc. So, there are several other sports that bettors can wager each way on at select sportsbooks.
Image source: BetOnline.com Horse Racing
The most popular form of this wager by a country mile is horse betting each way. Here bettors take a punt on a horse to either win a race outright (Win), finish second (Place), or, oftentimes finish in third (Show). Easily the best sport for this kind of wager, horse racing each-way betting serves up countless wagering opportunities across America and around the world each day, providing more occasions to bet than the other sports in this list, and, hopefully, more chances to make money.
Soccer
The most common form of soccer each-way betting is placing an outright wager on the winner/final ordinal finish of a specific team in a league competition. You might for example (foolishly, but for the sake of explanation…) back Manchester United to win the 2023/24 English Premier League competition with a $100 bet at +400. Or, understanding that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City is the dominant force in the division of late, you may instead wish to wager $50 on United winning the EPL (Win) and $50 on United finishing in the top 4 (Place).
Additionally, each-way betting is also available – in a sense – on individual games when soccer betting: win/draw bets are very similar, conceptually. Here, you are backing a team to either win the game or get a draw at decreased odds. For instance, you could get Brighton to beat Manchester City at the Etihad +350, but you might get them to either win or draw the match at around +220.
Golf
There is plenty of action to be had each-way betting on golf at sportsbooks. Taking the upcoming Mexican Open as an example, reigning Masters Champion, Jon Rahm, is available to back as the winner of the tournament with a $100 wager (for example) at around +275. However, with the likes of Tony Finau and Gary Woodland also in contention, it’s a tough field, so you might feel better about backing Rahm each way. This means you wager equal amounts ($50 x2) on Rahm at +275 to either win the tournament outright and/or place in the top 3.
A straight single wager on Rahm to win outright on the moneyline pays out slightly more at $375 if successful. However, your chance of making a profit significantly increases if you back him each way since the bookmaker pays out regardless of if Rahm wins or places in the top 3, and a payout of $257.14 for either of those eventualities is nothing to be scoffed at either.
Tips for Each-Way Bets
In this next section, we outline a few simple tips to help readers that might be new to each-way betting:
1. Do Your Research
As with any betting line – each-way wagers or otherwise – it always pays to do a spot of research before placing your bet. Most of the each-way betting action takes place in horse racing markets, so we’ll use track meets as an example:
There is little use in just rocking up at your sportsbook of choice and backing a horse because you like the color of the jockey’s uniform. Research is paramount to a successful wager. You may wish to know the following: the age and sex of the horse, the stable that produced/maintains the horse, the weather conditions on the day and how said horse performs in that weather/locale, the recent race results of both the horse and the jockey, and the horse’s injury record. Only when you are totally satisfied that your steed is injury-free, in good form, and tends to run well in poor weather conditions and closer to home, place your bet.
2. Take it Slow
Ultimately, even with all the research in the world, betting is a game of chance, and, especially in the early goings, you are likely to see some losses. A huge rookie error when betting, however, is to go chasing after those losses. Avoid frantically doubling down on the next wager in a bid to make up for previous failures.
Keep calm and remain in control. Do your research, and bet only when an appropriate game/race emerges for you to make money using your skillset and knowledge of a sport. If at any point you become concerned about the amount of cash you are spending at online sportsbooks, or if you think you may have become addicted, seek out sites like gamblersanonymous.org to get help.
3. Manage Your Bankroll
An obvious follow-on from tip no.2 – always manage your bankroll. Work out how much money you can afford to risk per week/month and stick to it religiously. Never bet money that you can’t afford to lose!
Many professional gamblers treat the practice in much the same way as day traders manage capital on the stock market. For instance, you might decide to deposit $500 per month and be willing to stake no more than $5 per bet (1%) unless a high percentage chance at a win comes in and then you might be willing to risk $25 (5%), etc – using a staking calculator helps to work out aggressive and conservative approaches. Gambling in this way will lead to smaller returns, true. But, the longer you can stay in the game – especially as a beginner – the more chance you have of making a profit in the long run.
4. Know When to Make Use of Each-Way Bets
Don Scott, a professional horse racing bettor from Australia, studied the art of each-way betting in great detail in his 1985 book “Winning More: The New & Exotic Winning Way“. His take on each-way betting is simplistic and still relevant more than 35 years later:
“The shorter the win price, the greater advantage for a place.” (Don Scott)
In layman’s terms, what Scott means here is that the odds significantly favor the bettor who backs the favorite (or one of) each way. Of course, this tip should be coupled with your own research – it’s always worth double-checking how your horse performs on different terrains and in different weather conditions: sun, wind, rain, for example. But, you’ll likely make more money backing hotly-tipped horses when Win or Place betting than you will by taking punts on long shots at better odds.
FAQs
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