Each-way bets explained
Each-way bets are two bets in one — what you actually pay, when they make sense, and how place fractions affect your return.
An each-way bet is a single ticket made of two equal stakes: one on the selection to win, one on the selection to place. If you back £5 each-way, you stake £10 in total.
Win and place
The win half pays out at the full quoted odds if the selection wins. The place half pays out at a reduced fraction of those odds if the selection finishes in one of the bookmaker's defined places (typically 1st–4th, depending on field size).
Place fractions
Common place fractions are 1/4 and 1/5 of the win odds. So a horse priced at 8/1 each-way at 1/4 odds pays place returns at 2/1.
- 1/2: short-priced favourites in small fields
- 1/4: most racing markets
- 1/5: big fields like the Grand National
When each-way works
Each-way is most attractive on selections priced 4/1 or longer in races with enough places paid. The longer the price, the bigger the place return on its own: sometimes enough to clear your full stake even when the selection doesn't win.
The place part carries its own share of the bookmaker's margin, which is why the terms matter so much. See how bookmaker margins work for the maths, or settle any each-way bet in the each way calculator.