Bet To Win Only
Football Betting We adore the ‘beautiful game’ just as much as you do. Thanks to global coverage of the major football leagues such as the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and the leading continental club competitions like the UEFA Champions League, you can bet on pretty much any professional football match in the world with Paddy Power.
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- Draws are virtually the only thing I bet on, and my team is the best in the world at making money from draws. For those who are new to soccer betting, odds for draws are usually higher than 3.00. This means that if you only bet on draws, you will be profitable in the long run if you are picking the correct games more than one-third of the time.
- I pick and bet show only on certain races, not every race. The System helps me to identify which races to play and what horses to bet on. I combine this with a unique, simple to use betting discipline designed to produce a high net Return on each bet and each days Investment.
·A 'Place' bet is another simple betting option, and in this situation, you're backing a selection to achieve a position within the places, often the first 3 positions, though some races have differing place terms.
A place only bet is one of the simpler bets you can go for when having a wager on horse racing or greyhound racing. The term is usually used to describe a scenario in which the horse or greyhound is bet upon to finish in the top two or three, rather than whether or not it will win the race outright.
The bookmaker typically offers fractional odds that a runner will come in the top three, but in a smaller field of five to seven only first and second would pay out, again with fractional odds. If there 16 or more runners in a handicap race often the first four positions are classed as ‘places’, so a fourth place finisher could still win the punter a place only bet.
Place only bets differ from each way bets, in that place only stakes are bet only on a top 1-4 finish, whereas in each way betting the stake is split between a win bet and a place bet.
If a place only bet is put on a horse finishing in first or second place and that is what happens, the person making the bet would win. If, on the other hand, the same bet were placed and the horse finished third or lower, the bet would not be won.
Place only bets are very simple to understand. They are therefore perfect options for anyone new to betting looking for an accessible entry point, or to occasional bettors who may struggle with more complex bets or be intimidated by those with larger stakes. Similar bets are available in sports like F1 where you could back a driver to get a podium finish.
HOW DO PLACE BETS WORK?
Place only bets usually pay out a smaller sum of money than other kinds of bets, for example win bets. This is because of the wider number of winning options available within a place only bet. Put simply, to win a place only bet, the horse needs to finish in one of multiple positions. In a win bet, however, the horse must win, otherwise there is no pay out.
Due to the wider number of winning possibilities for the bettor, place bets may not be available in certain scenarios. These scenarios are typically dictated by the number of horses or greyhounds running the race. If, for example, there are less than five runners, then a place only bet could mean that two of the five places would pay out, and so it's likely that no place only betting would be available for that race.
Another important point to remember when considering a place only bet is that the term has a slightly different meaning in North America than it does in the UK. In horse racing and greyhound racing in the United States, a place only bet is more limited and the horse or greyhound must be placed either first or second for the bet to pay out. If it finishes in any other position, the bet is lost.
One of the reasons for this difference is that there is something called a Show Bet in North America. This type of bet is very similar to a place only bet, but it's more extensive and pays out if the horse or greyhound finishes in first, second or third. This means that the show bet is quite similar to a UK place only bet, but the name is very different.
CALCULATING YOUR RETURNS
When you are about to have a place only bet, you'll be given place terms. These are the rules and regulations that govern the bet and within them you'll be given the horse's odds and place odds. The odds are the horse's odds of winning the race outright and are, as in other kinds of bets, typically written as 4/1: you get four units back for every one you stake, plus your original stake.
The place odds, on the other hand, are the portion of the winnings you would get for a successful place only bet. These are typically written as a more traditional fraction: 1/5 or 1/4 (one-fifth or one-quarter). This means that if the horse would have won you £60 in a win bet, a place only bet with place odds of 1/4 would win you £15: a quarter of the £60 win bet earnings.
The industry standard odds for place only bets in horse and greyhound racing in the UK can be seen below:
• If there are four runners or less (quite rare): win only
• When there are five to seven runners: One quarter odds (1/4) for places 1 & 2
• More than eight runners: A fifth of the odds (1/5) for places 1,2 & 3
• When there are 12-15 runners (handicaps): One quarter odds (1/4) for places 1,2 & 3
• Over 16 runners (handicaps): One quarter odds (1/4) for places 1,2, 3 & 4
Imagine a scenario where you’re having a place only bet on a race with 5-7 runners. In this circumstance, you’d be able to put a place only bet on the horse of your choice finishing in either first or second (this is what the 1,2 in the above list refers to). Only races with eight runners or more would classify for a place only bet that covers finishing first, second or third (which is what 1,2,3 in the list above means).
In the imaginary 5-7 runners scenario, the horse that the bet is being put on is 6/1 to win the race and the place odds would typically be 1/4, so if the place only bet were to pay out, you would get only a quarter of the money that you would get if you had placed a win bet. For example, a £5 win bet would pay out £30 plus the stake returned if the horse won, but only £7.50 plus the original stake in a place only bet.
INSURANCE BETTING AND BETTING WITHOUT A NAMED HORSE
There are two further kinds of bets that are somewhat similar to place only betting, but which offer very different terms. These are insurance betting and betting without a named horse.
Under the terms of an insurance bet, the person placing the bet can get their stake back (but not anything extra) if the horse finishes in second or third. As with a place only bet, the circumstances change depending on the number of runners in the race. Additionally, there will be a slightly shorter price than that you’d get if you were placing a traditional win bet.
When you bet without a named horse, you can win even if the horse you have placed the bet on does not win. This kind of bet allows you to exclude one other horse from the race – this is typically the favourite. So, if your horse finishes the race second behind the favourite, you will still win. If it finishes second behind another horse or finishes in any other place behind the selected ‘excluded’ horse, the bet loses.
If you’re new to betting and a place only bet sounds like a good starting point, you can have a free bet at Paddy Power or Betfair to get you underway.
Plus, don't forget to check out our bet calculator, where you can calculate your winnings.
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If you have ever placed a horse racing bet then there is a good chance the age-old dilemma of to whether to bet win only or each way will have reared its head.
After all, there can be nothing worse than putting £50 down on a horse to win at 20/1, only to see it pipped in a photo finish for second place.
Yet if you backed the same horse at 20/1 each way and it duly obliged, chances are you might be wishing you went in for the kill and backed it to win.
Without a time machine, it’s impossible to know the right way to bet all the time, but today I have some stats to showcase some of the ways to judge whether to bet win only or each-way. In doing so, I can hopefully help shed some light on which way to tackle this perennial betting hot-potato.
72% Better Profits Betting Win Only
To tackle this problem, I am going to use some example analysis as taken from our recently released Tipster Profit Report. This not only included league tables ranking 54 of the top tipsters we proof, but it also contained a detailed look at one particular racing tipster ‘PJA Racing’ and their bets on the Flat.
The majority of bets from this tipster over the 5 1/2 years they have been running have been advised each way, which makes sense when you consider the average odds of each tip was around 9/1.
However, our analysis showed that if you had backed all of their tips ‘win only’ then over the 4515 bets they had advised, your profits would have risen by 72%!
This represented a further 150 points profit as the graph below shows with the red line the win only return and the blue line the advised return (mostly each way).
One More Crucial Point To Consider
This might look a done deal when you consider the 72% increase, but there is one further thing to consider – the potential losing runs or ‘drawdowns’ as we call them from win only betting.
A ‘drawdown’ is the biggest drop in the total profit from peak to trough and if backing win only, it increases as your strike-rate for success will be a lot lower than if backing each-way (as you don’t get a return if your horse finishes in the places).
In this first chart below you can see the largest drawdowns from advised staking (mostly each way). It has two peaks which indicate a worst drawdown of -55 points, with the next worst -49 points. Aside from that the worst drawdowns appear to be around 20 to 30 points.
This gets interesting when we then compare this with the next chart, where the drawdowns for win only betting over the same period are a lot larger.
In this instance the worst was -84.4 points with next -78.4 points showcasing how the potential for longer losing runs are that much greater when backing win only!
Handling The Ups & Downs Of Betting
You might well ask…Why does all of this analysis on drawdowns matter?
Well it’s a good question and it relates to two things. Firstly the size betting bank you need to use as to absorb the drawdowns from win only, this needs to be larger.
Secondly and perhaps of the upmost importance is how easy you find it to cope with longer losing runs. Instead of losing -55 points during the worst run, this can become as large as -85 points with plenty of those 20/1 win only bets being pipped in a photo finish I spoke of at the top. Cue lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth!
How you handle these extra drawdowns and losing runs mentally can make a big difference to your betting, as in my experience as Editor of the Smart Betting Club, I have found that it to be one of the biggest barriers to betting success for many punters.
Betting is easy when winning, which thankfully with the right tipster is most of the time (if you are realistic and patient when needed) but when losing, it’s important to know how to handle it.
What To Choose…Win or Each-Way?
How To Win Bets
To go back to my original question, the answer on whether to back each-way or to win actually probably does rely on your preferences.
- Are you happy to take more of a risk, make more profit but endure longer losing runs? In this instance backing win only is the right choice..
- Or perhaps you prefer to be more cautious, make a bit less profit but keep losing runs shorter? Each-Way betting could be the way to go.
Of course, this analysis only focuses in on one tipster and others may derive different results, but it should showcase the best way to approach this key question on a case-by-case basis.
What Is The Easiest Bet To Win
Want More Analysis Like This?
If you enjoyed this analysis you can find a lot more detail on our PJA Racing findings in the November 2013 Tipster Profit Report, which is available now to all Smart Betting Club subscribers.
The article also includes our findings on the best odds range to follow this particular service on, which again can make a huge difference to your profits.