Now that we are comfortable with exploiting new customer and reload offers, is time to move on more advanced tactics and strategies, such as each way bets. Everyday matched bettor will tell you that a good way to add some profit to their monthly income is the each way betting system.
One of the reasons, why I’m choosing to use this betting system is because these types of bets are relatively simple to understand and also, you can take advantage of your gubbed accounts.
Again, keep in mind, everything is written below is through the perspective of my own experience and before you go ahead ensure you’ve read the disclaimer.
[Disclaimer: Gamble Aware 18+]
Table of Contents
a) How Each Way Betting System Works?
NOTE: This is very much an advanced strategy, so I would only recommend you get involved if you’re an experienced or if you are comfortable placing lay bets on considerable sums and you understand the horse racing principles, rules and terminology.
An each way bet has two parts: First half of your total stake is placed on the horse to win (“Win” bet) and the other half is placed on the same horse to finish in the top few places (“Place” bet). The win part of an each way bet is paid out at the normal odds. The place part of an each way bet is paid out at a fraction of the normal odds.
Now, let’s try using an example to explain in more details how exactly this system works. We have the following term: “Each Way 1/5 1-2-3-4”. These each way terms mean that if our horse finishes 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th, the place part of our each way bet will have won and we will be paid out at a fifth of the normal odds.
Using an real life example, let’s say I’ve bet £100 each way on a horse at odds of 10/1. (Decimal odds: 11.0) That means we are betting a total of £200. We are betting £100 on the horse to win at odds of 10/1 (11.0) and £100 on the horse to place in the top 5 at odds of 2/1 (3.0).
To calculate the place odds, we are going to divide the fractional win odds of 10/1 by 5, which gives us 2/1. Now maybe this is a little bit confusing, but don’t worry though, the each way calculator does all of this for us. So, you don’t need to do all of this math, important is to understand the principal behind it. For the above example, we have the following outcomes:
| Outcome | Win returns | Place returns | Total stake | Profit/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horse wins | + £1100 | + £300 | £200 | + £1200 |
| Horse places 2nd, 3rd or 4th | £0.00 | + £300 | £200 | + £100 |
| Horse finishes outside top 4 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £200 | – £200 |
b) What is Each Way Arbing?
Now that I’ve explained how Each Way Betting System works, let’s see what Each Way Arbing means. So, each way arbing is the process of placing each way bets and then laying the ‘Win’ and ‘Place’ parts individually at the betting exchange.
The purpose is to find selections where the ‘Place’ lay odds are much lower than the ‘Place’ back odds to the extent that it gives us an overall guaranteed profit. There are two ways to look at each way arbs.
The first option is to search for them manually, scanning the markets and looking for odds that may represent a profitable opportunity and using a each way calculator to see if there is a profit to be had.
The second option is to use odds-finding software, such as Eachway Matcher tool from Odds Monkey.
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The software scans all horse racing markets in an instant and highlights the selections that represent an each way arb. If you find any profitable ones, all you need to do then is hit the Open Calculator button to get a breakdown of each bet we need to place.
c) What You Should Know Before Using EW
You’ll notice in the below screenshot is a ‘Runners’ column which denotes the number of current runners in each race. If the number of runners is on, the threshold of the each way terms (the box containing the number) will be red.
In other words, bookmakers offer standard EW terms based on the number of runners. Please see below a breakdown of these conditions.
| Race Type/Runners | Places | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| Handicaps of more than 15 runners | 4 | 1/4 (1.25) |
| Handicaps of 12-15 runners | 3 | 1/4 (1.25) |
| All other races of more than 7 runners | 3 | 1/5 (1.2) |
| All races of 5-7 runners | 2 | 1/4 (1.25) |
| All races of less than 5 runners | Win only | – |
For example, the races listed in the Each Way matcher below, provide 8 or more horses run, the each way terms will be 1/5 odds for the first 3 places. If non-runners are declared and the field is reduced to 7 runners, the each way terms will be 1/4 odds for the first 2 places.
However, the exchange terms stay the same, meaning that if our selection was to finish in 3rd place, we would lose both of our ‘Place’ bets, which is something you would want to avoid.
Therefore, I would suggest to betting closer to the race start because are less chances for any further non-runners. If the each way terms do change, you can always back the same ‘Place’ market to effectively cancel out your ‘Place’ lay bet.
So, don’t forget, after you cancel out your “changed” lay bet, lay the correct ‘Place’ bet at your preferred exchange market.
d) How Can You Profit from Each Way Arbing?
Using Odds Monkey’s EW Matcher tool, you can simply click “Open Calculator” to the right of each selection. You will see something similar to next screenshot. You are given a step by step instruction on how to take advantage of this Each Way Bet. The suggested back stake is the maximum you can bet, with sufficient liquidity at the betting exchange to match our bets of course.
