The Eachway Bet
The Each Way bet is the most popular type of wager on the Grand National, accounting for around 74% of all bets placed on the race.
It’s not difficult to see why the bet is so popular. With such a large field of horses taking part, the individual odds on any horse are high when compared to other races.
Eachway bets account for 74% of all wagers on the National.
In the Grand National the pre-race favourite is often priced up by the bookmakers at around 8/1. Odds on outsiders with a strong chance of winning can range from 10/1 all way up to 66/1.
And who can forget those fabulous 100/1 winners like Foinavon and Mon Mome? With generous odds like these, the punters who risk a few quid on a small each-way bet can still win big – even if their horse doesn’t come first.
How It Works
The ‘Each Way’ bet is slightly more complicated than the win bet but still fairly easy to follow. When you back a horse each way you’re betting it will finish in either 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th positions. (Many bookmakers will payout on each-way bets to 5 places in the Grand National)
If you make a £10 Eachway bet the total cost will be £20, that’s because you’re actually making two bets with the bookmaker.
One bet is that the horse will finish 1st and the other is that it will place in either 2nd, 3rd or 4th position (and 5th with some).
Of course, you can lower your stake to ‘£5 each way, and then the total cost of the bet will be reduced to just £10.
How To Make The Bet
On-course: Placing an each way bet with a bookmaker at the racecourse is straightforward. Walk up the bookies stand and just say: £10 eachway on (state the number of horse you want to back) please!
The bookie will then expect you to hand over £20, and in return, you’ll get a small ticket – don’t lose it, you need it to collect your winnings.
Betting Shop: It’s slightly more complicated placing an eachway in a betting shop but nothing too taxing!
You have a couple of options available to you. Firstly you can play dumb, walk up to the counter and say: I have no idea how to fill in a betting slip, but I’d really like £10 eachway on (state the horses name) in the Grand National.
They will normally take pity on you and fill in the necessary paperwork. If you’re really unlucky you might come across a grumpy regional manager behind the betting counter. He’ll probably hand you the special Grand National betting coupon – this will require you to do complicated things like marking X in a box. But everyone can manage that!
Worst case scenario: you end up in the old school bookies with no ‘easy coupon’ and unhelpful staff.
Don’t fret, just fill in a betting slip like the one shown above (you can click the image to make it bigger). Obviously, don’t write Red Rum on your slip. Instead, write the name of the horse you’re backing instead.
Online: Doing it online is nearly always the quickest way to do things these days and betting each way is no exception.
Log in to your online bookmaker account (click here if you don’t have one) and find the Grand National odds. The link will be labelled horseracing, future racing or Grand National.
Click on the horse you want to back, and after the virtual betting slip opens, you tick the little box which says E/W, enter your stake, and confirm the bet.
How You Win
Let’s say you’ve had a £10 eachway bet (£20 total cost) at odds of 10/1 and your horse romps home in first place – how much do you win?
Well, you’ve got £10 @ 10/1 = £100, PLUS you also get 1/4 the quoted odds (many bookmakers are moving to 1/5 odds with enhanced places) on the place part of the bet.
That is £10 @ 2.5/1 = £25 giving you a total of £125. And don’t forget you also get your original £20 stake returned too!
Should your horse finish in either 2nd, 3rd, or 4th position, known as a place, you will win £25. Plus the £10 ‘place’ part of your original £20 stake will be returned.
You might be wondering why you only get £25 back in winnings if the odds are 10/1 and your bet was £10; shouldn’t that be £100?
Well no. The bookmakers only pay out a 1/4 of the quoted odds (or 1/5) on horses that finish 2nd, 3rd or 4th. And because your horse didn’t finish 1st, you will lose the win portion of the original stake.
Example Payouts
Below we’ve provided examples of payouts for various eachway bets (using 1/4 odds).
If you need to find out exactly how much you’ve won, use our bet calculator.
Please note that not all bookmakers payout on the 5th horse home in the Grand National. Betfair does as do Paddy Power.
For each-way betting tips check out MyRacing’s horse racing tips.
£5 E/W @ 8/1
£60
1st Place
£5 E/W @ 16/1
£110
1st Place
£5 E/W @ 40/1
£260
1st Place
£5 E/W @ 8/1
£15
2nd,3rd,4th,5th
£5 E/W @ 16/1
£25
2nd,3rd,4th,5th
£5 E/W @ 40/1
£55
2nd,3rd,4th,5th
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