Bet Types
 
 

>> Win bet

A win bet is a bet on something to win.

You then make a stake and if your selection wins you get your stake back + your winnings which are based on multiplying the odds and your stake.

Example

  • You bet £50 on a team to win at 9-4 odds.
  • If you win you get your £50 bet back + win £50 x 9-4 = £112.50. So your account gets credited with £162.50 in total and you've made £112.50 profit.

>> Each way bet

An each way (EW) bet is basically two bets:

  1. A win a bet (see above)
  2. A place bet (a backup bet on a player/team/horse to almost win i.e. come second place)

A £25 each way bet is actually a £50 bet in total (£25 goes to the win bet and the other £25 goes to the place bet).

Example

  • You bet on a horse with 5-1 odds.
  • The each way terms are 1/4 1,2,3 (means the place bet will pay out at odds of 1/4 of the win odds if your horse finishes in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place).
  • You place a £25 each way bet (£50 total).

There are three different outcomes for this bet:

  1. Complete loss - If the horse finishes 4th or worse then you lose your entire £50 bet.

  2. Place win - If the horse finishes 2nd or 3rd it is placed.
    • Firstly the £25 bet on the win bet is lost.
    • However the £25 place bet is won - winnings are caluclated on the odds 5-1 and the place fraction 1/4, meaning in this case the place odds are 5-4. So that bet wins £25 x 1.25 = £31.25 + your inital bet giving you a total return of £56.25. Since the bet was £50 the overall profit is £6.25.

  3. Win - The horse comes first hence both bets win.
    • The win bet pays at 5 x £25 = £125 + your £25 win bet back.
    • The place bet pays out as above being £6.25 + your £25 place bet back.
    • In total you win £181.25 of which 131.25 is profit.

>> Lay bet

A lay bet is a bet for something to lose. So if you lay a horse and the horse loses, you win whereas if you lay a horse and the horse wins, you lose.

Since the rise of betting exchanges this type of bet has grown significantly in popularity over the last few years. The basic way returns on lay bets are calculated is basically the mirror image of the win bet (as if you are laying a bet, then someone else has to take up the corresponding win bet).

Example

  • You lay a horse at 4-1.
  • You set a bet of £100 (the amount you would lose if the horse wins)
  • As you are giving odds of 4-1, and you have set your max loss at £420, this means you can take bets up to £25, because if the horse wins you'd need to pay winning of 4x£25=£100.
  • If the horse loses - you dont have to pay out, so you win the bets of £25 and get back your £100 bet.
  • If the horse wins - you have to pay out 4 x £25 = £100 so you lose £100.