Each Way Betting
For some people, the decision to back a horse each-way rather than win-only is driven purely by price. The longer the price, the more likely they are to back a horse each-way. You often hear the phrase, “At 25/1, he’s a lovely each-way price” or similar. Other folk have a rule that they won’t bet each-way at odds lower than 5/1 because they will still make a loss if their selection only hits the frame rather than wins.
The best way to think of an each-way bet is to separate the bet into its component parts and ask yourself if you’re happy with the place part in isolation. Good examples are the Champion Bumper and the Mares Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. As non-handicaps, both races are subject to the traditional 1,2,3 1/5 odds place terms in the ante-post markets, but often feature over 20 runners. If they were handicaps, punters would be offered 1,2,3,4,5 1/5 odds (which bookmakers now use more often than the traditional 1,2,3,4 1/4 terms). That’s two places punters are giving up just because the two races don’t fall under the handicap each-way terms. Does an each-way bet still seem the sensible option for your 25/1 bet?
Take a fictional Champion Bumper with 20 runners. Let’s assume all the horses have an equal chance and bookmakers are quoting every horse at 16/1 to give themselves a margin for profit. At these odds, the place dividend on each horse will be £4.20 for every £1 staked. If you covered all 20 horses for £20, you’d be guaranteed a return of £12.60 from three successful place bets and record a £7.40 loss (-37%). But if the race were a handicap, your £20 would net you five place payouts, giving you a total return of £21 and a small profit (+5%).
When each-way terms are favourable, then fill your boots with each-way bets, but when they aren’t, and you want to back a horse to place, I strongly suggest you use a betting exchange’s place markets for your business. The trick is recognising when the terms are favourable. While it’s not a hard and fast rule, the place terms offered in handicaps with over 16 runners often favour the punter. Once the number of runners approaches Grand National territory – 34 runners, the value is diluted, especially for those horses towards the head of the market, and again the exchanges may offer better value.
What bookmakers really hate are what they refer to as “bad each-way races”. Bookmakers send a list of bad each-way races to their staff each day, warning them not to accept big each-way bets. In reality, the win prices offered are often so heavily reduced in these circumstances that each-way bets become bad value in any case.
Pick and choose when to bet each-way with bookmakers by referencing their each-way terms and the shape of the race, not merely the price of your selection. If you’re betting ante-post, you won’t yet know the shape of the race, but history can guide you. The Albert Bartlett always has a lot of runners, but the Turners (the old Ballymore Novices Hurdle) can sometimes have small fields with only a handful of horses having realistic chances of placing. Those horses may even be quoted at under 5/1 but still offer value under the 1,2,3 1/5 odds place terms.
When it comes to each-way betting, bet smart!