Each way betting means placing two bets of the same size on one runner: one to win and one to place. A $10 each way bet is $10 to win plus $10 to place, so it costs $20. If the runner wins, both halves pay; if it finishes in the places without winning, only the place half pays; outside the places, both halves lose.
In Australia each half usually has its own price. At fixed odds, online bookmakers set their own each way terms, often a separate place price, while NSW on-course and WA bookmakers pay a fraction of the win odds under their rules (see below). On the tote, each half is paid at its own dividend. That is the main difference from UK each way betting, where the place part is paid at a fraction of the win odds.
What a $10 each way bet costs and returns
With illustrative prices of $8.00 to win and $2.50 to place:
| Result | Win half: $10 x 8.00 | Place half: $10 x 2.50 | Total return | Profit on the $20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | $80.00 | $25.00 | $105.00 | $85.00 |
| Runs second or third | Nothing | $25.00 | $25.00 | $5.00 |
| Finishes outside the places | Nothing | Nothing | Nothing | -$20.00 |
The working: if the runner wins, return = stake x win price + stake x place price = $80 + $25 = $105. If it only places, return = stake x place price = $25. A winner collects the place half too, because first is one of the paid places.
Bet slips label the stake in different ways, so check whether the box takes the amount per way or the total before you confirm. A $10 each way bet entered as a $10 total is a $5 each way bet, and returns half the figures in the table. The each way calculator runs the same sums for any stake and prices.
How many places the place half needs
The place half is a place bet, so it pays only when the runner finishes in the places that the rules settling the bet allow. Three sets of rules can apply:
- The tote. The field at final scratchings decides, under the tote rules Racing and Wagering Western Australia adopted (WA Government Gazette No. 149, 3 August 2010). With 8 or more runners it pays first to third, with 5 to 7 first and second, and with 4 or fewer there is no place pool, so no each way bet.
- NSW on-course bookmakers. BR 17 of Racing NSW's Rules of Betting pays each way bets on the first three places when 8 or more starters are in the race at the time of the bet. With 5, 6 or 7 starters it pays on the first two.
- Online bookmakers. They set their own place terms and publish them, and those terms decide small fields, late scratchings and dead heats on your bet. Read them rather than assuming either rule above.
Place betting sets the three side by side, with the dead heat cases.
What a scratching does to the place half
If your own runner is scratched, both halves of a bet struck once the final field is known are refunded, so a $10 each way bet comes back as $20.
If another runner is scratched before final scratchings, the field shrinks. On the tote, a race that is down to 7 runners by then pays two places, and the place half then needs a top-two finish. A late scratching, after final scratchings, does not change the tote's place terms under the 2010 rules, which fix them "notwithstanding any late Scratching". Under BR 17, NSW on-course bookmakers settle each way bets on the field when the bet was made.
At fixed odds, a late scratching can also bring a deduction on each half of a bet struck before it. The Stewards declare the win and place deductions as separate figures. Take an illustrative 7c place deduction off the face value of the ticket, as Racing NSW's rules describe, and the place half's $25 return becomes $25 x (1 - 0.07) = $23.25. Online bookmakers set their own method in their terms, and some may apply deductions to the winnings only, so check yours; scratchings and deductions works through both.
Each way on the tote and at fixed odds
On the tote, an each way bet is a win bet in the win pool and a place bet in the place pool, two of the pools horse racing betting sets out. Each half is paid at its own dividend, declared after the result, so neither is known when you bet. At fixed odds, both prices are locked when the bookmaker accepts the bet, deductions and dead heats aside.
With illustrative tote dividends of $8.60 to win and $2.30 to place, against fixed prices of $8.00 and $2.50:
| $10 each way | Fixed odds | Tote |
|---|---|---|
| Win price or dividend | $8.00 | $8.60 |
| Place price or dividend | $2.50 | $2.30 |
| Return if it wins | $80 + $25 = $105.00 | $86 + $23 = $109.00 |
| Return if it only places | $25.00 | $23.00 |
| Known when you bet | Yes | No |
In this example the tote paid more on a win and less on a placing, but either dividend could have finished above or below the fixed price. That uncertainty is the trade you make for a pool price. The two halves also move separately: money for your runner in the place pool can shorten its place dividend while the win dividend holds.
Why UK quarter and fifth odds rarely apply here
UK each way terms pay the place part at a fraction of the win odds, commonly a quarter or a fifth, for a stated number of places. "Odds" in that sense means the profit per $1 staked, which is how the NSW Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules define a price in fractional terms: the ratio of win to stake. In decimal terms:
place price = 1 + (win price - 1) x fraction
A quarter of the odds at $8.00 is 1 + 7 / 4 = $2.75, not $8.00 / 4 = $2.00. The fraction applies to the profit, never to the stake.
Australian racing rarely works this way, because the tote pays a place dividend and online bookmakers set their own each way terms, often as a separate place price. Fractions survive in three places:
| Where | Terms | At $8.00 to win |
|---|---|---|
| NSW on-course bookmakers, 8 or more starters (BR 17) | A quarter of the win odds, first three places | 1 + 7 / 4 = $2.75 |
| NSW on-course bookmakers, 5 to 7 starters (BR 17) | A third of the win odds, first two places | 1 + 7 / 3 = $3.33 |
| WA bookmakers, r 55(7) of WA's Rules of Wagering 2005, counting the starters listed when the bet is made (r 49) | A quarter of the win odds with 8 or more starters (three places), a third with 5 to 7 (two places) | 1 + 7 / 4 = $2.75, or 1 + 7 / 3 = $3.33 |
| Golf each way markets | The fraction and number of places shown on the market | Depends on the stated terms |
A fraction is not better or worse than a quoted place price in general. Whether it pays more depends on the runner: a fraction treats every runner's place chance as a set share of its win chance, and the real chance depends on the field. Golf each way betting covers the golf version.
When each way is worth considering
The place half alone returns stake x place price, and the whole bet costs 2 x stake. So a placing covers the full outlay only if the place price is at least $2.00, and below that the bet loses money even when the runner places:
| Place price (illustrative) | Return when it only places, $10 each way | Result on the $20 |
|---|---|---|
| $1.40 | $10 x 1.40 = $14.00 | -$6.00 |
| $2.00 | $10 x 2.00 = $20.00 | $0.00 |
| $2.60 | $10 x 2.60 = $26.00 | +$6.00 |
So each way suits a runner whose place price is above $2.00, which usually means a longer-priced runner. Whether the place half is fair value is a separate question: compare the place price with the runner's real chance of placing. Each way betting strategy works through that and compares each way with a win-only bet of the same outlay. On a short-priced runner, a win bet or a place bet on its own usually asks the question you actually have.
The Terminal shows racing and sports prices from 40+ bookmakers, each in its own column, with Betfair back and lay at the side. Not every bookmaker prices every race, so the columns follow the market. Prices there are read on a repeating cycle; check the win and place prices in your bookmaker account before you confirm the bet. 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. An each way bet puts twice the stake on the line, and a placing at a short place price still loses money. A price that looks generous can lose like any other. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Mistakes with each way bets
- Comparing only the win price. Where the place half has its own price, the bookmaker with the longest win price may not have the longest place price.
- Reading a late scratching as a cut in places on the tote. Under the 2010 tote rules, a field of 8 at final scratchings still pays three places after a late scratching takes it to 7.
- Forgetting the dead heat. Where two runners tie for the last paid place, the rule books that cover it halve the stake that counts: $10 at $2.50 becomes $5 x 2.50 = $12.50, so a "placed" each way bet returns $12.50 on $20.
- Applying UK terms to an Australian bet without reading the terms. Check whether your bookmaker pays the place half at its own place price or at a fraction of the win odds; a quarter of the odds at $8.00 is $2.75, not $2.00.
- Betting each way on a runner at $1.80 to win. Its place price will be well under $2.00, so a placing loses money and a win returns less than a win bet of the same $20 would.