The Grand National betting guide is designed to give you information for betting on the big race. We’ll explain all the different types of bet available, show you selected bookmakers who have the promotional deals and how to pick a horse based on stats and form. If you’ve no idea how to correctly fill-in a bookmakers betting slip or place a bet online then our video guides will show you how. William Hill are now paying six places each-way online in the Grand National and this is another reason to take on this year’s short-priced favourite Tiger Roll. So which horses priced up away from the favourites in the Grand National odds are best positioned to finish among the top six at Aintree, or even better secure a slightly unexpected. Grand National Each Way Betting. This gives you a win bet and a place bet on the same horse. As it is two bets, your stake is doubled, so a £10 each-way bet would cost you £20 to place - but you only need your horse to finish in the first four for it to be a winning bet.

Should you bet win or each-way on the Grand National?

First up, we need to cover off some key concepts.

What is a win bet?

A win bet is simply a bet placed on a certain horse to win that race.

What is an each-way bet?

An each-way bet is essentially two bets, with your stake split into two equal parts. One is on your horse to win, the other is on your horse to place – that is to finish in one of the designated top positions in the race. The number of place positions is dependent on the field size, and type of race, while different bookmakers will also sometimes offer different place terms.

What is meant by the term ‘stake’?

Betting

The stake is the amount of money you put on a bet.

What are the place terms?

The below are the standard place terms to consider:

  • Handicaps of 16 or more runners: 1/4 of the win odds on the first four places
  • Handicaps of 12 to 15 runners: 1/4 of the win odds on the first three places
  • All other races of 8 or more runners: 1/5 of the win odds on the first three places
  • All races of 5 to 7 runners: 1/4 of the win odds on the first two places
  • All races of fewer than 5 runners: win only

For the Grand National, you will find some bookmakers offer enhanced place terms – such as Paddy Power who are offering 1/5 odds for the first six home.

So, for instance, here are the potential outcomes if you back a horse with £1 each-way (£2 total stake) at 25/1 in the Grand National – a handicap of over 16 runners:

Profit (excluding stake)

Horse Wins

£31.25

Horse Places

£5.25

Horses Loses

-£2

When is each-way betting profitable?

It doesn’t always make sense to back a horse each-way.

With the standard terms for the Grand National being 1/4 odds on the first four places, horses only become profitable to back each-way at odds of 9/2 or longer – so back anything shorter than this as win only.

How To Bet On Grand National Each Way

Even then, the value of doing this is unfavourable – at 9/2 you would make just a 13 pence profit from a £2 bet if the horse placed.

If you want to see your stake at least doubled if your horse places, start at 12/1.

You can use our Odds Calculator to help you calculate your return from an each-way bet – or use the table below to look at what returns you get from fractional odds, on the standard place terms, if you bet £1 each-way.

If you bet each-way and your horse wins, you get both the ‘win’ and the ‘place’ parts of your stake returned, so you will always be in profit (a win always counts as a place). If your horse places but does not win, you lose the ‘win’ half of your stake, so you can still lose money overall if the odds aren’t long enough.

In this table, the red section indicates odds at which you would still not be in profit even if your horse places (but does not win):

Place Terms: First 4 home, 1/4 odds

Fractions

Win profit - standard terms

Place profit- standard terms

1/1 (EVS)

1.25

-0.75

11/10

1.38

-0.73

6/5

1.50

-0.70

5/4

1.56

-0.69

13/10

1.63

-0.68

11/8

1.72

-0.66

6/4

1.88

-0.63

13/8

2.03

-0.59

7/4

2.19

-0.56

2/1

2.50

-0.50

11/5

2.75

-0.45

9/4

2.81

-0.44

12/5

3.00

-0.40

5/2

3.13

-0.38

11/4

3.44

-0.31

3/1

3.75

-0.25

10/3 (or 100/30)

4.17

-0.17

7/2

4.38

-0.13

4/1

5.00

0.00

9/2

5.63

0.13

5/1

6.25

0.25

11/2

6.88

0.38

6/1

7.50

0.50

13/2

8.13

0.63

7/1

8.75

0.75

15/2

9.38

0.88

8/1

10.00

1.00

17/2

10.63

1.13

9/1

11.25

1.25

10/1

12.50

1.50

11/1

13.75

1.75

12/1

15.00

2.00

14/1

17.50

2.50

16/1

20.00

3.00

20/1

25.00

4.00

25/1

31.25

5.25

33/1

41.25

7.25

40/1

50.00

9.00

50/1

62.50

11.50

66/1

82.50

15.50

100/1

125.00

24.00

What about enhanced place terms?

As already mentioned, bookmakers like Paddy Power provide extra places for the Grand National which gives you more opportunity to win, but at a reduced return.

In the case of Paddy Power, they are offering extended places for the first 6 home, but at 1/5 of the win odds, rather the standard 1/4.

Betting On The Grand National Each Way Calculator

Betting on the grand national each way calculator

With this offer, it pushes our minimum odds for a placed horse to be profitable up to 11/2 – returning a paltry 10 pence if your horse places. So if you are backing a horse at shorter than this, it should be a win only bet.

Take a look below at our table for returns based on these enhanced place terms.

Place - First 6 home, 1/5 odds

Fractions

Win profit- enhanced profit terms

Place - enhanced terms

1/1 (EVS)

1.20

-0.80

11/10

1.32

-0.78

6/5

1.44

-0.76

5/4

1.50

-0.75

13/10

1.56

-0.74

11/8

1.65

-0.73

6/4

1.80

-0.70

13/8

1.95

-0.68

7/4

2.10

-0.65

2/1

2.40

-0.60

11/5

2.64

-0.56

9/4

2.70

-0.55

12/5

2.88

-0.52

5/2

3.00

-0.50

11/4

3.30

-0.45

3/1

3.60

-0.40

10/3 (or 100/30)

4.00

-0.33

7/2

4.20

-0.30

4/1

4.80

-0.20

9/2

5.40

-0.10

5/1

6.00

0.00

11/2

6.60

0.10

6/1

7.20

0.20

13/2

7.80

0.30

7/1

8.40

0.40

15/2

9.00

0.50

8/1

9.60

0.60

17/2

10.20

0.70

9/1

10.80

0.80

10/1

12.00

1.00

11/1

13.20

1.20

12/1

14.40

1.40

14/1

16.80

1.80

16/1

19.20

2.20

20/1

24.00

3.00

25/1

30.00

4.00

33/1

39.60

5.60

40/1

48.00

7.00

50/1

60.00

9.00

66/1

79.20

12.20

100/1

120.00

19.00

Which is better, more places or better place terms?

Say you come across two bookies with a horse at the same price, but their place terms differ. One is offering 1/4 odds on the first four places; the other is offering 1/5 odds, but paying six places. As a general rule of thumb, it’s better to pick the bookie offering more places, as you will usually have a mathematical advantage when it comes to making profit.

Betting On The Grand National Each Ways

Then again, if it’s mathematical advantage and profit you are looking for, it’s probably better still to instead save your each-way bet, and instead bet on two different horses to win only, for the same stake.

Want to know why?

If you’ve got a head for numbers and want to learn how to get an edge in each-way betting, check out this piece by Simon Rowlands – as he delves into the depths of each way betting and the importance of over-rounds.

Betting On The Grand National Each Way Odds

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