An each-way bet is a form of wager that allows you to place two bets at once: a to win bet and a to-place bet.
When you make an each-way bet, the amount you wager is typically split into two equal portions with half of your wager going into the outright (to win bet) market and the other half going into the placement market (e.g. top-3, top-5 etc).
Each-way bets are a type of wager that can be found across various sporting events on many popular online bookmakers. Their most common usage tends to be in horse racing, golf, and NASCAR (motorsports), where large fields are a weekly norm and each-way bets allow bettors an alternative way to invest. While all each-way bets have both a to-win bet and a to-place bet, the odds and specifics for the placement portion of the bet can vary tremendously across fields, sports and oddsmakers.
As such, it pays to familiarize yourself with how an each-way bet works so you can line shop for the best value.
What does each-way mean?
An each-way is a bet that denotes a wager with two parts.
The first part of the wager is a bet to win and the second part of the wager is a bet to place.
How does an each-way bet work?
Since an each-way involves two bets, each bet within the each-way wager is graded separately.
The outright portion of the each-way bet is simple. If your player wins (whatever event you are betting him or her to win), then the to-win bet will be paid out at whatever odds at which you placed the bet:
Example:
You bet $20 on Tiger Woods to win the Masters through a golf each-way bet at +10000 (EW 1/4, 5 places).
- $10 of your bet would be placed on his outright odds of +10000
- The other $10 would be placed on his placement odds – which, as indicated above, would be paid out at 1/4 of his outright odds and require him to finish inside the top five.
The outright bet
If Tiger wins the event, the win part would pay as follows:
$10 x 100 (+10000) = $1,000 winnings + $10 wager return ($1,010 total payout)
The Placement bet
For the placing portion of your each-way bet to cash, your golfer would need to finish inside the number of places outlined by the bookmakers. In the above example, the place terms goes to 5 places, so Tiger would need to finish inside the top five.
Feb 15, 2024; Pacific Palisades, California, USA; Tiger Woods on the tenth hole during the first round of The Genesis Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports
Obviously, from our example above, if Tiger wins the event he will also cash for the placement portion (since he also finished inside the top five).
Tiger’s official terms for the each-way portion of this bet were as follows:
EW 1/4, 5 places
EW = each-way, indicating this an each-way bet with two portions to it, a to-place bet and a to-win bet.
1/4 = equals the fraction by which the placement portion of the bet is calculated.
In this case, Tiger’s placement bet is calculated at 1/4 of his outright odds (+10000).
Hence, his placement odds for this bet are +2500 (101 / 4 = 25 (+2500)).
5 places = the place terms of the bet. In this case, Tiger must finish inside the top five places of the event to place.
So, if Tiger wins the event we would also get paid for the place part of the each-way bet, paying out as follows:
$10 x 25 (+2500) = $250 winnings + $10 wager return ($260 total payout)
So, if you placed a $20 each-way wager on Tigers Woods at +10000 (100-1), with placing terms of EW 1/4, top-five places, and Tiger won the event, you would get a payout of $1270 ($1,010 for the outright + $260 for the placement).
How many places are paid on an each-way bet?
As noted above, when betting online the each-way betting slips will almost always denote the terms of how the place bet is paid out.
However, terms and conditions for the placement portion of an each-way bet can vary tremendously across different sportsbooks, and it’s important to understand the terms being offered before placing your bet.
In the above example, the terms were: 1/4 of the outright odds and 5 places (top five). But here is another example from the same sportsbook (bet365) in the same sport that offers very different each-way terms.
In this case, our each-way bet is offering us +10000 odds again for the outright odds, but this time the terms of 1/5 and 8 places are being offered for the placing bet.
In layman’s terms that means that our placement payout becomes easier to hit — as a top-eight finish offers us extra places (top 8 vs top 5). However, our payout would now be reduced to 1/5 the outright odds (vs 1/4 from the example above).
Apr 6, 2023; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Sergio Garcia tees off on the fifth hole during the first round of The Masters golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Network
So if Garcia finished 7th, he would win the placement portion of the bet for us but our payout would be calculated using place odds +2000 (aka 1/5 of +10000)
- $10 x 20 (+2000) = $200 winnings + $10 wager return ($210 total payout)
If Garcia won the event, the outright portion would be paid as well — and in the same manner as it was in our first example ($10 x 100 (+10000) = $1,000 + $10 wager return total payout).
When you add the two together it nets us the $1,220 as shown in our example above.
In general, the outright portion of an each-way bet is very simple. The betting odds displayed will always indicate your outright payout odds as that is the largest portion of the bet. However, it’s important to remember that you are also investing half of your money into the placement portion of the bet and to be aware of the terms being offered for that leg.
Dead-Heat rules
Before we get any further it’s important to note that the placement portion of an each-way bet will often have dead-heat rules attached to it. Dead-heats refer to when players tie for a place or finishing position. They are mostly applicable to golf betting, as the way scoring in golf works often results in several players finishing a tournament with the same score.
The majority of bookmakers will apply dead-heat rules to the placement portion of a golf each-way bet, meaning that if a player finishes inside the top-5, but has also tied with multiple other players in his position, then the placement payout would be downgraded.
For example, if Tiger Woods (from the example above) were to finish T3 in the Masters (tied for third) at 12-under, but four other golfers also tied with him at 12-under, then five players would in fact be sharing finishing positions 3rd through 7th.
Since the each-way bet only stipulated that the each-way pays out 1/4 on a 1-5 placing, the payout of the each way would be cut down by the percentage of the actual full placing he achieved.
In this case, since Woods tied with four other people for three spots (3, 4, 5) we would only receive 3/5 (or 60%) of the above each-way payout.
Example:
T3 Tiger Woods -12 and 4 other golfers (= a Tiger finishes in a 5-way tie for 3rd)
+10000 Each-Way bet with top five places at 1/4 would be paid at 3/5 of the normal payout.
It can get a little confusing, but the main thing to be aware of is that your payouts for the placement portion of your each-way bet can be affected when players tie and effectively bloat the number of players inside a particular finishing position.
Betting strategy for each-way bets
Each-ways can be a valuable tool when betting large field events like we often see in golf. Often, each-way bets will allow you access to better-placing odds than are available in the regular placing markets.
In our above example, when we bet Tiger Woods +10000 each-way 1/4 top 5 places, our each-way bet gave us access to +2500 odds on Tiger Woods to finish inside the top 5. If the top-5 odds for Woods in that same event were only +1500, the placing side of our each-way would offer a significantly better yield, for the same terms (a top-5 finish), at +2500.
While the each-way bet does force us into making two bets (place and win), the improved placing odds can often be a great reason to consider making an each-way bet over a straight placing bet or outright bet.
Oftentimes it will just make more sense to invest in a player in an each-way bet to gain access to the better placing odds.
Pros of each-way betting:
- The place part of the bet often offers significantly better value over the traditional placement market and place odds.
- Provides built-in hedge if your selection doesn’t win but finishes inside placement portion of bet (can help reduce volatility vs. playing just straight outright markets).
- Bigger field events mean more underpriced opportunities.
Cons of each-way betting:
- Requires a bigger investment, as an each-way bet requires you to make two bets.
- Not all each-way terms and conditions are the same.
- A limited selection of sportsbooks that offer each-way bets (harder to line shop).
When to utilize each-way bets
As mentioned above, each-way bets are often best used in larger field events where we can gain access to larger placing odds.
Golf, NASCAR and horse racing are often great sports to consider each-way bets as the larger fields mean there is a better chance of more players having been under-priced relative to their actual ability.
Feb 19, 2024; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron (24) poses with the Daytona 500 trophy at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
Whether a player is at 100-1 or 150-1 may not be that big of a deal to a sportsbook, which likely won’t be taking a ton of action on any singular player that far down in the betting odds. However, it could create a good investment opportunity for each-way bettors to get great placing odds on a player capable of outperforming those odds in the long run.
A lot of sport-specific knowledge is obviously needed to know where the best value can be found in these kinds of larger field golf, NASCAR or horse racing events. However, understanding each-way terms and knowing where to line shop for the best deals can also be a big help in getting the best value on each-way bets.
Which sports are the best for each-way betting?
Each-way bets in golf betting
Each-way bets can help you reduce some of the variance in betting golf outrights. Since tournament fields on the PGA (and elsewhere) tend to be anywhere from 40 to 155 players (depending on the event) each-ways helps to take some of the variance out of betting straight outrights.
Additionally, while longshots don’t win every week, there are often a couple of players with long betting odds who manage their way to a top 5-10 finish at most events. Simply hitting the placement portion of your each-way can provide some big returns.
While each-way bets in golf are becoming more popular, they are still most prevalent in the overseas betting markets where sportsbooks like bet365, Betfair, Skybet, Paddypower and Unibet put up each-way offerings for golf every week.
Each-way bets in horse racing betting
Horse racing is another sport where each-way bets are prevalent.
Much like golf, the each-way places being offered can vary from race to race. In the above example, the each-way place part of the bet has terms of 1/5 and 3 places — meaning if the horse finishes third or better he would cash the place bet portion.
Additionally, if the horse wins the race he would cash the win part and place part of the bet.
Since horse racing generally doesn’t have ties, dead heat rules won’t apply as they do in golf.
Each-way bets in NASCAR and motorsports
NASCAR is similar to golf in that each week there are large field events where the winner is beating out 20-plus other competitors. As a result, you can often find each-way bets available for NASCAR at certain sportsbooks.
NASCAR doesn’t typically see as many longshot winners as golf, but they can be useful bets at certain races. Many NASCAR tracks (specifically super speedways) lend themselves to more volatility and crashes, making longshot winners, or top-five finishes, more prevalent.
For example, the winner at the Daytona 500 (a superspeedway event) has had odds of +3000 or higher in three of the last four seasons:
- 2021 Daytona 500 winner: Michael McDowell 100-1
- 2022 Daytona 500 winner: Austin Cindric 33-1
- 2023 Daytona 500 winner: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 30-1
- 2024 Daytona 500 winner: William Byron 18-1
Each-way bets in futures (NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA)
Each-way bets can also sometimes be found in futures markets when betting on the winners of various big sporting leagues.
In the above example from bet365, we can each-way our Super Bowl future if we so choose, and get terms of EW 1/2 2 places. So if the Bengals make the Super Bowl but lose (and thereby finish as the second-best team for the year) the place part of the each-way bet will still get paid.
Which sportsbooks offer each-way bets?
Each-way bets are most prominently found overseas where horse racing and golf are popular sports to bet. Several overseas sportsbooks like bet365, Betfair, Paddypower and Unibet offer each-way terms on a variety of different sports.
In the United States, each-way betting isn’t nearly as common. Currently, bet365 is one of the only sportsbooks that offers each-way betting.
Bet365 isn’t the largest operator in the U.S., but it is growing. Bet365 recently became legal in Arizona and now operates in nine states, including Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and Louisiana.
You can sign up for bet365 below and get $365 when you place your first bet of just $1 or more in your new account!
Common questions for each-way betting
Are each-way bets worth it?
They can be. Be sure to check the odds, terms, and placing positions being offered.
What place does an each-way go up to?
This can and often does vary by sportsbook. The most common golf each-ways offer is 1/4 to 1-5 (so 1/4 the outright odds for a top-5 finish). However, with golf betting becoming more mainstream, sportsbooks are offering more competitive deals.
For majors, many books will offer terms like 1/5 at 1-8 (1/5 the outright odds for a top-8 finish) to attract more bettors.
What does 1/4 or 1/5 each way mean?
It refers to the fraction of the outright odds being offered for the each-way or place part of the bet. For example, if the place terms of the bet were 1/4 to 5 places each-way on a player at +10000 odds, that would offer us +2500 odds (or 1/4 of +10000) if the player finishes top five.
Other sports to bet each way
Each-ways can often be found in futures betting on things like the Super Bowl. Many sportsbooks offer each-way bets where the placing portion of the bet gets paid out if the team you are betting on reaches the Super Bowl.
Common terms are often 1/2 at 1-2. So your placing bet would offer you half the odds for your team reaching the final. Your outright portion of the each-way would still require your team to win the Super Bowl to get paid out.
Sports like golf, NASCAR, and horse racing are also common places to find each-way bets.
