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Common Types of Bet
When it comes to sports betting, there are 3 basics types of bet. These are Win, Each Way, and with the introduction of betting exchanges the Lay Bet. This section of the website attempts to unravel the mystery of these bets and a few of their variations.
Win Bet
This is the most simple and most common type of bet, where you are betting on a team/horse/player to win something like a football match, a horse race or a tennis tournament. Odds are offered by the Bookmaker and if your selection wins, you will receive your stake multiplied by the odds. Any return will include your original stake.
Win Bet Example
- Place £50 win on Red Rum at 10/1
- If Red Rum doesn't win then you lose your stake.
- If Red Rum does win, multiply your stake by the odds £50x10 =£500 plus your £50 stake back. So the total return on this bet would be £550. Your profit on the £50 stake would be £500.
Each-Way Bet
An Each Way bet (abbreviated to EW) is basically two bets. The first being a win bet like above and the second a place bet. The first thing to know about an Each Way bet is how the staking works:
If you were to bet £25 EW - it would mean you bet £25 on your selection winning outright and another £25 bet on your selection being placed. Your total stake would be £50 bet in all.
The place part can be described as your backup bet where you will receive a return if your selection wins or nearly wins. The positions in which your selection is allowed to finish is quoted beforehand by the bookmaker.
The betting rules will appear something like - "e;Each Way 1/4 1,2,3"e;. This means that the place bet of your each way bet will pay out at 1/4 of the original odds if your selection finishes in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Finishing any lower than this results in a lost bet.
Each-Way Bet Example
- You bet £50EW on Spain to Win Euro 2008 at odds of 10-1
- The Each Way terms are 1/4 1,2
- Bookmakers take the £100 stake out of your betting account (Note: £50EW is 2 £50 bets)
- There are 3 different outcomes for this bet
- Spain Fails to Reach the Final - If Spain finishes out of the places (1st or 2nd) such as losing in the semi finals, then you lose your entire stake
- Spain finish Runners-Up - If Spain reach the final but don't win, they are considered to be placed. For your "Win" part of the bet you will lose your £50 Stake. However the "Place" part of the bet is a winner and is calculated based on the odds (10-1) and the place fraction (1/2), meaning in this case the place odds are 5-1. So the bet wins £50 x 5 = £250 + your stake back giving you a total return of £300. In this instance you have achieved a total net profit of £200 which is the total return (£300) subtracted by the original stake (£100).
- Spain Win - If Spain wins the Tournament, first thing to realise is that it also places - hence both bets win. For your "Win" part of the bet your return is 10 x £50 = £500 + your £50 win stake back. While the "Place" part of the bet returns exactly as above being £250 profit + your £50 place stake back. In this instance you have achieved a total net profit of £700 which is the total return (£300 + £500) subtracted by the original stake (£100).
Place Only Bet
This type of bet is the same as the place part of an Each Way Bet, but you do not have to make the win part of the bet. The advantage of betting place only is that you don't risk losing the stake on the win part of the bet with the trade-off being that the odds are dramatically reduced. The number of places incorporated into the bet will vary depending on the bookmaker, exchange and/or number of runners or entrants.
Place Only Bet Example
- You bet £50 on Denman to finish in the first three places at the Cheltenham Gold Cup at Evens (Odds offered are usually less than the place part of an each way bet)
- If Denman finishes first, second or third you will receive a return of £50 x Evens = £100.
- If Denman finishes fourth or worse then you lose your stake.
Different Each Way Terms
The terms offered for each way bets can vary depending on the sport or event. For example, In horse racing the terms of the bet will depend on the number of runners and the type of race. The place fraction is usually 1/4 or 1/5, and the number of places normally range from 2 for races with less than seven runners to 4 for more than 12 runners.
For other sports it can vary a lot. In some tournaments like Tennis the terms may be 1/2 odds for finishing 1st or 2nd, i.e. reaching the final. In golf the terms are often 1/4 odds for finishing in the top 5.
Lay Betting
When you decide to lay a bet, you are betting that an specific event will not win. For example, if you lay a horse and it loses, you win but if it wins then you lose.
Since the introduction of betting Exchanges such as Betfair this type of bet has grown significantly in popularity. Calculating returns for lay bets is the mirror image of the win bet so if you are laying a bet, then someone else has the corresponding win bet.
Lay Bet Example
- You decide to lay Defector at 9-1 in the 7.10 at Windsor for £10.
- With Lay betting, your stake is the amount you would like to win. Your stake is multiplied by the odds to calculate the amount you could lose if the event wins. This is also known as your Liability.
- As you are giving odds of 9-1 at £10, it means that your Liability would be 9 x £10 = £90.
- If the horse loses as you predicted you win your initial stake i.e. £10 but if the horse wins, you have to payout your calculated liability i.e. £90.
In the above example the odds were the reverse of a standard bet. So laying at 9/1 means that the odds you get are actually 1/9 similarly, if the odds were 25/1 lay odds would be 1/25 and so on.