Dead heat rules decide what a bet pays when two or more runners tie for a place. Under most of the rule books that cover betting on a tie, your stake is divided by the number of runners tied, multiplied by the places left for them, and that share is paid at your full price. So $10 at $5.00 in a two-way dead heat for first returns $25, a $15 profit, instead of $50 (illustrative price).
WA's rules for its bookmakers and the NSW rules for sports bookmakers settle most ties this way, Racing NSW's on-course betting rules give the same answer for a two-way tie, and the tote splits its pools on a similar idea. Each online bookmaker writes its own dead heat rule into its terms, so treat the examples below as illustrative and your bookmaker's terms as the rule that settles your bet. Dead heats are one of the settlement rules mapped across horse racing betting.
Who calls a dead heat and who sets the payout
The Judge places the horses as they pass the winning post, judging position by their noses, and a camera can be used to help (AR 214 of the Australian Rules of Racing, version of 1 October 2026). When the Judge cannot separate two runners on the photo finish image, the result is a dead heat. Bets are then settled on the placings at correct weight, as horse racing betting rules explains.
The Rules of Racing deal with prize money only. AR 213 gives each dead-heater an equal share of the prize money for the places they tie for. So two horses that dead-heat for first in a race with an illustrative $60,000 first prize and $20,000 second prize take ($60,000 + $20,000) / 2 = $40,000 each. How a bet settles comes from a betting rule book or from your bookmaker's terms:
| Rule book | Who it covers | What a tie pays |
|---|---|---|
| Racing NSW Rules of Betting, BR 16 | Bookmakers betting on course in NSW, and approved betting auditoriums and premises | Half the ticket's face value when the tie is for first, or for the last place that pays: second with 5 to 7 starters, third with 8 or more |
| WA Rules of Wagering 2005, r 58 | Bookmakers in WA | The return split by the number of runners tied, for a win bet tied for first or a place bet tied for the last place that pays |
| NSW Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules, clause 5.1.8 | Sports and other events with NSW-authorised bookmakers | Face value divided by the number tied, multiplied by the placings they fill, where no tie price was offered |
| Queensland's Wagering Rule, in effect from 22 September 2026, s 80 | Fixed-odds bets with Queensland's licence operator, where no dead heat result was offered | The ticket's payout divided by the number tied, multiplied by the places they fill |
| Tote rules gazetted in WA in 2010, rule 12 | Tote pools run under those rules | The win pool split into equal parts, one for each backed dead-heater; place and exotic pools are split as rule 12 sets out |
| Your online bookmaker's terms | Your bets with that bookmaker | Whatever those terms state |
BR 16 also pays half the face value of a quinella when one of its horses wins and the other dead-heats.
The stake split, worked
The fixed-odds rule books above come down to one piece of arithmetic for a two-way tie. WA's r 58 also divides by the number tied in a bigger tie for first or for the last paid place, though r 58(3) sets its own fractions when three or four tie for first in a two-place race. The arithmetic:
- stake that counts = stake / runners tied x places left for them
- return = stake that counts x odds
For $10 at $5.00 in a two-way dead heat for first, one place is left for two runners, so $10 / 2 x 1 = $5 counts and $5 x 5.00 = $25. Dividing the full return gives the same answer, $50 / 2 = $25, which is why the rule books can write it either way. With illustrative prices, under WA's r 58, which divides by the number tied:
| Bet | Finish | Stake that counts | Return | Profit or loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10 win at $5.00 | Two-way dead heat for first | $5.00 | $25.00 | +$15.00 |
| $10 win at $5.00 | Three-way dead heat for first | $3.33 | $16.67 | +$6.67 |
| $10 place at $2.20, 8 or more starters | Two-way dead heat for third | $5.00 | $11.00 | +$1.00 |
| $10 place at $2.20, 8 or more starters | Two-way dead heat for second | $10.00 | $22.00 | +$12.00 |
| $10 place at $2.20, 8 or more starters | Three-way dead heat for third | $3.33 | $7.33 | -$2.67 |
| $10 each way at $6.00, 8 or more starters, place at a quarter of the odds ($2.25) | Two-way dead heat for first | $5 win, $10 place | $30.00 + $22.50 = $52.50 | +$32.50 on $20 |
Two runners tied for third in a three-place race have one place between them, so each takes half. Two tied for second have two places, second and third, so a place bet on either is paid in full. The each way row works the same way: its win half is tied for one place and halved, while its place half sits inside the places and is paid in full. Place betting covers how many places a field pays, which decides whether a tie is for the last place at all.
When a placed runner still loses you money
Under the rule books above, a dead heat can return less than you staked even though your runner placed. On the three-way row above, $10 placed at $2.20 returns $7.33. A two-way tie halves the stake that counts, so any price under $2.00 returns less than the stake: an illustrative $10 at $1.60 in a two-way dead heat for the last place returns $10 / 2 x 1.60 = $8.00.
A late scratching can stack on top. The NSW stake floor in BR 14(8), which stops a deduction leaving you with less than your stake, does not apply to a dead heat. On the face-value reading, an illustrative 10c deduction and a two-way dead heat for first on $10 at $1.80 return $18 x 0.90 / 2 = $8.10. WA's r 56 keeps a floor in that case, but it is only the stake split by the number of runners tied, here $10 / 2 = $5. Your bookmaker's own terms can differ, including on whether a dead heat returns at least the stake, so check them before you count on the split.
How the tote splits a pool between dead-heaters
The tote has no price of yours to cut, so it splits the pool instead. Under the tote rules that Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted, as gazetted on 3 August 2010, a dead heat for first divides the win pool into equal parts, one for each dead-heater that was backed. Each part is shared among the bets on that runner (rule 12.1). With an illustrative net win pool of $60,000, after the operator's commission:
| Dead-heater | Money on it | Its half of the pool | Dividend per $1 | Had it won alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner 2 | $8,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 / $8,000 = $3.75 | $60,000 / $8,000 = $7.50 |
| Runner 9 | $20,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 / $20,000 = $1.50 | $60,000 / $20,000 = $3.00 |
Each dead-heater pays its own dividend, half of what it would have paid alone, so a $10 tote bet on Runner 2 returns $37.50. Place pools split by place (rule 12.2). In a race paying three places, a dead heat for third gives one third of the place pool to the winner's backers and one third to the second's, and splits the last third between the backed dead-heaters. In a trifecta or quaddie, a dead heat creates more than one winning combination and the pool is split equally between them. A combination nobody backed sends its share to the jackpot for the next pool of that type (rules 12.5 and 12.6).
One more edge case: the minimum dividend that props up a heavily backed winner does not apply to a pool split by a dead heat, although the dividend still cannot fall below the stake (rules 16.4 and 16.5).
Ties in golf, cricket and football bets
Sports produce ties too, and the NSW Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules settle them in two steps. If the market offered a price on a tie or a draw, every other bet in that market loses (clause 5.1.7). If it did not, the payout is the face value of the ticket shared equally among the runners tied, times the number of placings they fill (clause 5.1.8). WA's r 62 does the same for bookmakers in WA when two teams or participants tie and no tie price was offered. With illustrative prices:
| Market | What happened | Working | Return on $10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golf top 10, at $4.00 | Your player ties for 8th with four others, so five players share 8th, 9th and 10th | $40 / 5 x 3 | $24.00 |
| Top team batter, at $5.50 | Two batters finish on the same top score | $55 / 2 x 1 | $27.50 |
| AFL most goals in the match, at $7.00 | Three players kick the same top tally | $70 / 3 x 1 | $23.33 |
| AFL head to head, at $1.75, with no draw price in the market | The match is drawn | $17.50 / 2 x 1 | $8.75 |
Golf top 10 betting covers the top-finish markets where ties come up most, and top batter betting covers how cricket's top batter markets settle. A first goal scorer market inside one match has a single winner, because only one player can score the first goal, so the tie rules bite in the most-goals markets beside it instead.
In a multi, a tied leg is cut the same way before the legs are multiplied (clause 5.1.9). A $10 multi with a $1.65 winner and the golf leg above, whose $4.00 now counts as $4.00 / 5 x 3 = $2.40, returns 1.65 x 2.40 x $10 = $39.60.
Mistakes that make a dead heat cost more
- Reading a dead heat as a refund. It is a part-win: the share that counts is paid and the rest of the stake is lost, so $10 at $5.00 makes $15, not the $40 an outright win makes.
- Assuming a placed runner returns at least the stake. Under the rule books above, a tie for the last place at a short price falls below it, as the $1.60 example shows; a bookmaker's own terms can differ, so check yours.
- Applying the Rules of Racing to bets. AR 213 shares prize money and says nothing about how a bet is paid.
- Expecting the NSW stake floor to protect you. BR 14(8) excludes dead heats, so a deduction and a tie together can cost more than either alone.
- Taking one rule as everyone's. The rule books above cover on-course bookmakers, NSW-authorised sports bookmakers, Queensland's licence operator and the tote, and your online bookmaker's terms are its own.
Comparing prices before a tie cuts your stake
In a two-way dead heat for one place, only half the stake counts under the rule books above, so the price that half is paid at matters as much as ever. With illustrative prices, $5 of stake at $5.40 returns $27.00, against $25.00 at $5.00. The Terminal sets prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports next to Betfair back and lay, and the best available price on each runner is picked out. The board is refreshed in cycles, not with every move a bookmaker makes, so check the price in your bookmaker account before the bet goes on.
The bet calculator works out a dead heat return at any price, and a free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. Betfair is a trade mark of its owner, and B337 is not affiliated with it.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A dead heat can turn a placed runner into a losing bet, a better price only changes what a bet returns when it wins, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.