Each-way bets or "placed winner" bets: what are they?

Each-way bets or "placed winner" bets are a type of wager in which two bets are placed in one. One half is used to bet on the winner of the event, and the other half is used to bet on our selection or team to finish in the placing places, hence the name "placed winner".

The placings are specified in the bet, and can vary depending on the sport: top three in a motor race, top three in an athletics event, top five in a horse race, finalists in a tennis competition... The variety is enormous.

Each-way betting: definition and characteristics

By definition, an each-way bet is a diversified bet. "Each way" can be interpreted as different ways, being a bet that actually takes two different paths; hence it is considered to be a 2-in-1 bet. Within the classification of placed win bets, there are several types.

For example, one of the most common is the 1/4 - 1-3 bet. These numbers are common in this type of bets. With these numbers, the bookmaker is informing about the conditions of the placed winner bet. In this case, 1/4 refers to the total amount that will be paid for the placed winner bet, and 1-3 specifies the number of placing positions that the event admits.

In an each-way bet 1/4 - 1-3, the odds we will be paid will be one quarter of the placed bet, and it specifies that only places 1 to 3 are allowed, i.e. we can bet on the three finalists or the three participants who will finish in the podium places.

On the other hand, an each-way bet 1/4 - 1-5, indicates that we will be paid a quarter of the total for the placing bet, but it also admits for this bet the first five finishers, which widens the range of options. Each bet must specify these two concepts in order to be able to choose the one that suits us best.

Placed-winner: how to bet with this type of bet

Not all sports are bet on eachway bets in the same way. In fact, not all events support this type of bet. However, depending on the event, there may be a greater or lesser repertoire of placed winner bets, depending on the number of matches and the characteristics of the sport.

In the major sports, it is possible to find a wider range of win bets, including soccer, basketball, motor sports, tennis and even horse racing.

In motorsports, in fact, it is the most common type of bet, since it is easier to predict the podium areas than just the winner. In Formula 1 or MotoGP, for example, we can speak of an eachway bet 1/4 - 1-3, which picks the podium places and maintains a balanced odds per bet.

Let's look at the example of soccer. It is not the most common type of bet in this sport. In fact, it is complicated to guess the finalists of a World Cup, at least more than trying to make a forecast only with the winners of a specific event. But we can do it, especially if we see that we are given the option, because then we can make a profit if at the end of the World Cup our selected teams have reached the top of the competition.

The good thing about placed winner bets is that they are based on the position, not the result. It doesn't matter if an F1 driver arrives in third place with a lead of 2 seconds or 40 seconds, the P3 will be his. The same in soccer: it doesn't matter if a team qualifies for the final with a 1-0 or a 5-0, what counts is the position.

The downside of this is that for some sports it is somewhat more complex and difficult to predict than a specific result, although it depends on the characteristics of each event. For example, in soccer it can be more complex to predict the positions of placed players than the specific results of a match, but in motor sports or other events such as tennis it can be much simpler.

In basketball, for example, it is common to bet on the placement in leagues, when they are played in a knockout format that allows you to try to predict who will make it to the final. This type of bet is not incompatible with other bets in which scorers, three-pointers and others are predicted. As we always say, diversifying strategies is usually the most recommended to have a plan B in case reality has nothing to do with our predictions.

There are sports in which, due to their characteristics, placed winner bets admit little or no margin. For example, tennis, where all placed bets will be 1-2, since only two players face each other per match in the classic modalities. In motor sports, for example, we are talking about at least twenty contenders on the track, which opens up a much wider range of possibilities.