Eachway Bets - Which Way to Go?Eachway betting can be a good safety valve.But it can be against logic. What are the main pros and cons?In favour: 1. It provides insurance.2. It protects against frustration caused by a long run of outs (which can happen to anyone).Against: 1. Eachway betting cuts into the size of a winning return.2. If you bet for a place, you are saying that you have doubts.As an option, and considering all these arguments, why not stagger your bet?Work out what you'll need to i

Eachway Bets - Which Way to Go?

Eachway betting can be a good safety valve.
But it can be against logic. What are the main pros and cons?

In favour:

1. It provides insurance.
2. It protects against frustration caused by a long run of outs (which can happen to anyone).

Against:
1. Eachway betting cuts into the size of a winning return.
2. If you bet for a place, you are saying that you have doubts.

As an option, and considering all these arguments, why not stagger your bet?

Work out what you'll need to invest for the place, just to cover the whole bet. At $9 the win, you'll only need to put down 33.3 cents in the dollar. That $9 is 8/1 in the old betting language, so you'd get 2/1 for the place (a quarter the win odds).

So you'll get back your full outlay if the selection places second or third.

The other 66.6 cents of every dollar invested goes on to win.

At a price of $5 (odds of 4/1), you'd need to bet a straight 50% eachway, but anything over $5 requires less than half your stake for the place portion.
With the TAB you'd have to calculate the stakes close to the race, and work from there.


What About Shorter Prices?

Eachway betting below $5 is mostly inadvisable for the average punter. You would have to bet more for the place than for the win, just to cut even.

At 50% eachway, you'd recoup some of the total stake if your horse placed, but not all.

At $3 the win, an eachway bet turns a 2/1 win bet into a bet at $1.60, or odds of 6/10! This is probably, long term, NOT in the average punter's best interests.

Nevertheless, there is still that argument about avoiding frustration, and there are times when an eachway bet on a horse at about $4 can be a reasonable proposition. This is when you feel that there is a major threat, and that you would rather get three quarters of your money back, than risk losing the lot. That's a personal decision and it probably depends on personality and circumstances.

I can see an argument for it, although I might not do it myself.

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