Horse Racing Each Way Betting Strategy
Horse Racing is one of the most popular sports in the United Kingdom and one of the favourite sports to bet on as well. With the emergence of the online betting, horse racing has seen a surge in popularity over the past few years with more and more people placing bets on races such as Cheltenham Festival or the Grand national, which are arguably the two biggest horse racing events in the world.
The particular appeal of the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National, in particular, is such that hardened backers and casual punters will be lined alongside people who only bet once or twice a year during these specific events, which is enough to serve as proper testament to the excitement horse racing brings in the United Kingdom.
Talking about the Grand National at Aintree as one of the biggest betting races in a Horse Racing calendar, a particularly intriguing fact about it is that favourites rarely win, which only makes it harder for punters to predict the outcome. The last time the outright bookies’ favourite managed to scoop a win at Aintree was in 2008 when Comply or Die grabbed the Liverpool glory.
Seven of the last ten winners have been priced at 25/1 and above, which – by all parameters available – are considered huge odds in the contexts of the sport. With that being said, picking a winner out of a number of contenders is extremely difficult, especially if you put horse racing in football’s perspective where you select one of the three possible outcomes.
Therefore, one of the most popular betting options used mostly with racing bets is Each Way Betting, which will significantly enhance your odds, especially in a 40-runner field such is the case with the Grand National.
What is an Each Way Bet?
Best known for horse racing, each way betting is available when the race field consists of more than 4 runners and riders. Each-Way betting allows punters to select a particular event out of the possibility of outcomes. An each-way bet consists of two equal-sized bets where one bet will back the winner and the other bet backing the other selection to finish as higher as possible – 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc.
The two parts of the bet are referred to as the ‘Win’ and the ‘Place’, where the total stake is calculated as the sum of these two individual bets. When it comes to the Win selection of the bet, bookmakers will tend to offer 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 or 1/5 of the odds depending on how many runners are there in the field and is calculated by dividing the price by the fraction offered.
How does an Each Way Bet Pay?
The thing you want to exploit in Each Way Betting is the discrepancy between the two sides of the bet. The Each Way bet can pay rather handsomely, but it actually depends on the number of runners, which eventually determined the Place odds in various conditions:
- Handicap of 16 runners – 1/4 for first 4 Places
- Handicap of 12-15 runners: 1/4 for first 3 Places
- Races of 8 or more runners: 1/5 for first 3 places
- Races of 5, 6 and 7 runners: 1/4 for first 2 Places
- Races of less than 5 runners: Place stakes treated as Win stakes
If your Win selection should win the race, both Win and Place parts of the bet will pay out the winnings, whereas a horse which fails to be the first one to cross the finish line and comes under the Place category, the Win part of the bet is lost, along with that part of the stake.
Let’s imagine that you placed a £1 bet on Win and £1 bet on Place for the total stake of £2 on a horse priced at 16/1. Calculating the winning bet is easy and plain straightforward, but if your horse comes 2nd for example, the returns from your bet are explained here below:
The second-placed horse will see you lose the £1 part of the Win bet. The £1 Place section of the bet is calculated by dividing the price by the fraction offered, as mentioned, usually at 1/4, or 1/5. The maths is simple and for the 16/1 horse it goes like this:
- 16/1 at the 1/4 the odds is 16 divided by 4, which makes 4/1. The £1 bet on Place will in this particular case yield £5.
- 16/1 at the 1/5 the odds is 16 divided by 5, which makes 3.2/1. The £1 bet on Place will in this particular case result in a win worth £4.20.
Each Way Betting Tips
The strategy behind Each Way Betting on horse racing is rather simple and straightforward, some would even say self-imposing. There are three different scenarios when you should pursue the Each Way bet and the first one – the essential one – is when you are not looking to bet on the favourite in order to exploit the more favourable odds and bets of the higher value. In this particular case, the number might be your friends actually since – as mentioned above – favourites rarely win when it comes to the biggest horse races.
The second tip regarding the best each-way betting strategy is to use this selection when you are not sure that your horse can actually win the competition. If you are not too keen to risk your money and lose it but are reasonably confident that a horse of your liking can actually run a good result – backing it up at the Place can make it all worth it in the end.
Ultimately, if you are one of those more adventurous bettors, those who take a particular kick out of betting on ‘dark horses’ – pun intended – and a runner with an outside chance in the race, Each Way betting is the perfect choice for you. Such a runner will be given significantly longer odds, which make all the difference with Place bet and make it intriguingly inviting and tempting.
