Each Way Bet Calculator – How to Work Out An Each Way Bet

Ian Bruce

Senior Editor

Updated: 15 March 2024

Use our free each way bet calculator and it will tell you exactly what return you can expect from your bookmaker. It doesn’t matter if your selection wins or gets a place, or even if it is subject to a Rule 4 deduction. Our calculator will crunch all of the numbers on your behalf and provide an accurate return figure in a matter of seconds.

What is an Each Way Bet?

Betting markets about sporting events involving multiple (typically five or more) participants will usually accept win or each-way bets. A win bet is a straight wager on which participant will win the event. An each-way bet, on the other hand, is actually two bets. One covers the win as just described and the other pays out if your selection gets a place.

The win part of an each way bet is settled at the published odds, which is easy enough to understand. However, the place part is settled at just a fraction of those published odds. The number of places that are paid for in an event and the size of the fraction that will be applied will vary from event to event. The details will be prominently displayed for each betting market.

For example, if you like to bet on horse racing, you will know that the number of places and the fractions paid depend on the number of runners and the type of race being run. The common places and fractions that apply are shown in the table below:

You can calculate each way bet returns manually, and we’ll show you how to do that later if it’s something you’re interested in. However, if speed and convenience are important to you, it’s much quicker and easier to use the each way calculator presented on this page.

What About Extra Places?

In particularly large events with plenty of participants, bookmakers can choose to pay out for extra places. For example, if you like to bet on golf events like the PGA Championship you’ll know it can be tricky to pick a player to finish at the top of the leaderboard. In these events, a bookmaker might offer 1/4 the odds for each of the top 5 places, 1/5 the odds for each of the top 8 places, and so on, with win odds reflecting the offer being made.

You won’t need a separate extra place calculator to handle these situations. Simply make sure that you select the relevant fraction in the Place Term field, and select the appropriate result when it’s known. Our EW bet calculator will then apply the extra place terms in the same way that the bookie will.

How to Calculate Each Way Bets Manually

You’ve seen how our each way payout calculator makes it easy to work out each way returns. But what does it do behind the scenes? The simplest way of answering that question is by showing you how to calculate each way bets yourself.

There are three steps involved here. The first step is to calculate the return on the win part of the bet and the second is to calculate the return on the place part of the bet. The third step is to add the two figures together to give you your total return. Here’s how:

Win Return Formula:

For example, if you have bet £5 each way on a horse that won at decimal odds of 3.50, you would calculate:

Place Return Formula:

Sticking with the same example and assuming that you’re getting 1/5 the odds, the applicable decimal odds would be 1.50. You would then calculate:

Now add the two numbers together to get your total return:

And that is basically what our each way return calculator does on your behalf every time you use it. For a fuller discussion of how odds work, see our Betting Odds Explained guide.

Other Odds Calculator Apps

This page has explained how to work out an each way bet with a calculator, but we also have other odds calculators for other types of bets. For example, we have an each way Lucky 15 calculator, an each way accumulator calculator, an EW calculator for trebles and more. You’ll find the full list of our available calculators on our Free Bet Calculator page.

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Ian Bruce

Senior Editor

Ian Bruce joined Safest Betting Sites in 2024 as Senior Sports Editor to oversee the quality and usefulness of its gambling content. He originally developed an interest in betting after landing a winning Yankee on his first attempt. He then spent years figuring out how to replicate that success. Along the way, he became one of the UK’s leading writers on the topic of betting and gaming. Ian’s career has now spanned more than three decades, and his enthusiasm for systematic and responsible betting hasn’t waned one bit. However, his preferred approach to winning these days is Dutching, for the simple reason that “It’s a lot easier than landing Yankees.”

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