Paid as a winner if second is a racing promotion that settles your fixed-odds win bet as a winner, at the price you took, when your runner finishes second as well as first. With illustrative prices, a $20 win bet at $7.50 returns $150 whether the runner wins or runs second, and loses the $20 if it finishes third or worse.
Because second place pays the full return in cash, the offer is worth many times a stake refund paid as a bonus bet. Per dollar staked, the bet is worth the bookmaker's win price divided by the exchange price for a top-two finish, minus 1, up to the offer's stake cap.
How the promotion settles a second placing
The offer goes by names such as paid as a winner if second and second is a win, and a bet graded a winner is one settled as if the runner had won. Each version gives a fixed-odds win bet on an eligible race one more paying position. On the $20 bet at $7.50:
| Where your runner finishes | Plain win bet | With the promotion |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Returns $20 x 7.50 = $150 | Returns $150 |
| 2nd | Loses the $20 | Returns $150 |
| 3rd or worse | Loses the $20 | Loses the $20 |
The richer version pays that $150 in cash. Another returns the $20 stake in cash and pays the $130 of winnings as bonus bets, sometimes capped, which is worth less. The terms usually set a stake cap too, and depending on them the part of a bet above it is a plain bet, or the bet does not qualify.
A money back offer is a different shape: it returns your stake, often as a bonus bet, when the runner finishes in a named placing, where this promotion turns the second placing into a win. Money back racing promos covers refund offers and how to value them.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The promotion adds a paying position, not a safety net: a third placing or worse still loses the whole stake. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Worked value from exchange win and place prices
An exchange supplies the chances:
- win chance = 1 / exchange win price
- top-two chance = 1 / the price in an exchange place market that pays two places
- second-place chance = top-two chance - win chance
Example: Illustrative figures only: no real race and no current offer. Bookmaker A offers $7.50 about Runner 6. The exchange has the same runner at $8.00 to win and $4.00 in a place market that pays two places. You stake $20, inside the offer's $20 cap.
The chances: win 1 / 8.00 = 12.5%, top two 1 / 4.00 = 25%, so second 25% - 12.5% = 12.5%.
| The $20 bet | Working | Expected value |
|---|---|---|
| Without the promotion | 12.5% x $150 - $20 | -$1.25 |
| With the promotion | 25% x $150 - $20 | +$17.50 |
| What the promotion adds | 12.5% x $150 | +$18.75 |
Because first and second now pay the same, the sum shortens to: value per $1 = bookmaker win price / exchange top-two price - 1 = 7.50 / 4.00 - 1 = +87.5%, or $17.50 on $20. The bet breaks even when the bookmaker's win price equals the exchange top-two price; the exchange win price only shows how the value splits between winning and running second.
The same check across a field shows where the offer is worth most. With illustrative prices for three runners in one race:
| Runner | Bookmaker win | Exchange top two | Value per $1 with the promotion | Chance the stake is lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner 2 | $3.00 | $1.80 | 3.00 / 1.80 - 1 = +66.7% | 1 - 1 / 1.80 = 44.4% |
| Runner 6 | $7.50 | $4.00 | 7.50 / 4.00 - 1 = +87.5% | 1 - 1 / 4.00 = 75.0% |
| Runner 9 | $17.00 | $8.50 | 17.00 / 8.50 - 1 = +100.0% | 1 - 1 / 8.50 = 88.2% |
On these prices the longest runner carries the most value per dollar and by far the biggest chance of losing the stake. Other prices change the order, so work out the ratio for each runner you could back.
With only a three-place market, half the chance of a second or third finish is a rough estimate of second: at a three-place price of $2.70 for Runner 6, (1 / 2.70 - 12.5%) / 2 = 12.3%. Exchange place markets explains how many places each market pays, and how place odds are calculated relates place chances to win prices.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Even with the promotion, Runner 6 finishes outside the first two in three races out of four and the whole $20 goes, exchange prices keep moving until the jump, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Cash at your price against a bonus bet refund
What a second placing pays decides most of the value. On the same $20 bet on Runner 6, with any bonus bet valued at an assumed 68 cents in the dollar:
| What a second placing pays | Working | What it adds | Value of the $20 bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| The win return, $150, in cash | 12.5% x $150 | +$18.75 | +$17.50 |
| The $20 stake in cash and the $130 winnings as bonus bets | 12.5% x ($20 + 0.68 x $130) | +$13.55 | +$12.30 |
| The $20 stake back in cash | 12.5% x $20 | +$2.50 | +$1.25 |
| The $20 stake back as a bonus bet | 12.5% x 0.68 x $20 | +$1.70 | +$0.45 |
Each value is the plain bet's -$1.25 plus what the offer adds. Both winner versions put $150 on the account, yet cash is worth 12.5% x 0.32 x $130 = $5.20 more, because a bonus bet pays only its winnings, as bonus bets explained sets out. How to value a betting promotion applies the same method to other offer types.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A bonus bet paid out by any of these offers returns nothing if it loses or lapses, and it is the bookmaker who rules on whether your bet counted for the promotion. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Dead heats, protests and scratchings under the offer
The promotion's terms sit on top of the betting rules and the bookmaker's own terms, so check three cases before you rely on a payout.
A dead heat for second
Racing NSW's Rules of Betting, which apply to NSW on-course bookmakers, pay half the face value of the ticket on a dead heat for first (BR 16), and online bookmakers publish their own rules. Whether the promotion pays a dead heat for second in full or divides it is up to its terms: divided, the Runner 6 bet would return $150 / 2 = $75. Dead heat rules shows how a tie is split in dollars.
A protest
The Stewards declare correct weight once the riders have weighed in and any protest has been decided (AR 212 of the Australian Rules of Racing). Under AR 214(6), a change to the Judge's placings after correct weight does not affect the Stewards' earlier orders on betting. So the second placing that counts is the one at correct weight, including a runner moved to second on protest, and the promotion's terms decide whether it pays. Correct weight and protests walks through the steps; a protest payout is a separate offer.
A late scratching
A late scratching brings a cents-in-the-dollar deduction, set by the Stewards, on winning fixed-odds bets struck earlier, and the promotion's terms say whether and how it touches a second-place payout. A bet on the scratched runner is refunded, leaving nothing for the promotion to pay, and the smaller field changes every chance, so check the exchange prices again. Scratching deductions works through the arithmetic.
Stake caps, eligible races and qualifying bets
Find these in the terms before you bet:
- the stake cap, the most the promotion covers on one bet;
- the races that qualify, by race, meeting, code or country;
- the bets that qualify: usually fixed-odds win singles, with each way, multis, tote and bonus bet stakes in only if the terms say so;
- whether you must opt in to the promotion, and any cut-off before the jump;
- whether a second placing pays cash or bonus bets.
The bookmaker decides whether a bet qualifies, and it can stop offering promotions to an account. A stake above the cap earns nothing extra. Bet $60 on Runner 6 into a $20 cap and the other $40 is a plain bet worth $40 x (12.5% x 7.50 - 1) = -$2.50, so the whole $60 is worth +$17.50 - $2.50 = +$15.00.
Liquor & Gaming NSW's guideline GL4015 explains that the Betting and Racing Act 1998 (s 33GA) defines an inducement to include the offer of a gambling product, or of a condition or other aspect of one, that includes additional benefits or enhancements. The guideline adds that providers can still advertise certain offers directly to account holders who have consented to receive them. Betting promotions in Australia covers the rest of the rules.
Mistakes that cost money with a paid as a winner offer
Costed on the Runner 6 example:
| Mistake | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Reading a three-place price as the top-two price | $150 / 2.70 - $20 = +$35.56, double the real +$17.50 |
| Staking past the cap | $60 is worth +$15.00, not 3 x $17.50 = +$52.50 |
| Assuming a dead heat for second pays in full | Divided, the payout is $75, not $150 |
| Betting extra races because an offer is running | Each plain $20 bet at these prices is worth -$1.25 |
Pass on the offer for any race you would otherwise leave alone, and if promotions are the main reason you bet, how to stop betting promotions shows how to opt out.
Checking win prices on B337's Terminal
The promotion pays at the price you take, so the win price drives its value. B337's Terminal shows prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports side by side, with Betfair back and lay, price history (flucs) and, for racing, EV overlays judged against Betfair's own market. The top-two price and the terms are yours to check, and prices are read on a repeating cycle, so confirm the price in your bookmaker account before you bet.
The free racing promo calculator checks what a promotion already in your account is worth. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds. Betfair prices and EV overlays need Terminal View or a plan that includes it, as plans and pricing shows. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Risk: Betting involves risk. An EV overlay is only an estimate of value, never a forecast of the result, a promotion pays only what its terms say, and any bookmaker can restrict or close your account. See responsible gambling for limits and support.