Grand National Each Way Betting Explained: What Is A Horse Racing Each Way Bet?

Grand National each way betting can often be confusing. So, with world-famous horse race this Saturday many people will be doing their research to try and find the winner.

While, one of the most popular ways to back a horse in the 2023 Grand National is with an each way bet. But, if you are not familiar with betting on the Grand National and what is a horse racing each way bet – we can explain.

Grand National Betting Each Way Bookmaker Offers & Free Bets For Aintree

1.	Bet £10 Get £40 in Free Bets New cust only. 3 days to claim & 7 days to place a qualifying bet to receive 4x Free Bets: 1 x £10 Horse racing, 1 x £10 Free Bet Builder, 1 x £10 Acca and 1 x £10 Football. 7 day expiry. Exclusions apply. Stake not returned. T&Cs apply. New cust only. 3 days to claim & 7 days to place a qualifying bet to receive 4x Free Bets: 1 x £10 Horse racing, 1 x £10 Free Bet Builder, 1 x £10 Acca and 1 x £10 Football. 7 day expiry. Exclusions apply. Stake not returned. T&Cs apply.	Claim Offer
2.	Bet £10 Get £30 In Free Bets New customers, opt-in and deposit within 7 days, and settle a £10 minimum bet at odds of 1.5 or greater, to be credited with 3x £10 free bets. Free bets must be used on 4 or more selections with odds of 1.3 or greater, stake not returned. T&C’s Apply. New customers, opt-in and deposit within 7 days, and settle a £10 minimum bet at odds of 1.5 or greater, to be credited with 3x £10 free bets. Free bets must be used on 4 or more selections with odds of 1.3 or greater, stake not returned. T&C’s Apply.	Claim Offer
3.	50% Of First Day Losses Back As A Free Bet Up To £25 50% of first day losses refunded as a free bet. Max free bet per customer £25. To activate your 50% back offer, simply deposit and have a minimum of 3 bets of £10 or more on separate events at odds of evens (2.0) or bigger on first day. First day losses equals all settled stakes less all returns. The first day finishes at 23:59 on day of registration. Free bets must be used in their entirety and stakes are deducted from returns. Free bets non withdrawable Free bets to be credited within 24 hours. 18+, T&Cs apply 50% of first day losses refunded as a free bet. Max free bet per customer £25. To activate your 50% back offer, simply deposit and have a minimum of 3 bets of £10 or more on separate events at odds of evens (2.0) or bigger on first day. First day losses equals all settled stakes less all returns. The first day finishes at 23:59 on day of registration. Free bets must be used in their entirety and stakes are deducted from returns. Free bets non withdrawable Free bets to be credited within 24 hours. 18+, T&Cs apply	Claim Offer
4.	Bet £10, Get £40 in Free Bets Place a £10 fixed odds bet at minimum odds of 1/2. Get 2 x £10 free fixed odds bets, 4 x £5 free spread bets + £1 Race Index spread bet. Ts&Cs Apply. 18+ BEGAMBLEAWARE.ORG | SPREAD BETTING LOSSES CAN EXCEED DEPOSIT Place a £10 fixed odds bet at minimum odds of 1/2. Get 2 x £10 free fixed odds bets, 4 x £5 free spread bets + £1 Race Index spread bet. Ts&Cs Apply. 18+ BEGAMBLEAWARE.ORG | SPREAD BETTING LOSSES CAN EXCEED DEPOSIT	Claim Offer
5.	Bet £5, Get £20 in Free Bets New Customers only. Place your first bet at a minimum of £5, and we’ll give you £20 Credit rewarded as £10 redeemable against racing bets only and a further £10 excluding win/place racing bets. Welcome offer Tote Credit is subject to a 7-day expiry from the date that it is credited to your Account. 18+ Full T&Cs Apply. BeGambleaware.org.Full T&Cs apply. New Customers only. Place your first bet at a minimum of £5, and we’ll give you £20 Credit rewarded as £10 redeemable against racing bets only and a further £10 excluding win/place racing bets. Welcome offer Tote Credit is subject to a 7-day expiry from the date that it is credited to your Account. 18+ Full T&Cs Apply. BeGambleaware.org.Full T&Cs apply.	Claim Offer
6.	Bet £10 Get £30 In Free Bets Registration required. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. Registration required. Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of qualifying bets. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply.	Claim Offer
7.	Bet £10 Get £20 In Free Bets New UK customers (Excluding NI) only. Mobile exclusive. Min Deposit £10. Min stake £10. Min odds Evs. Free bet applied on 1st settlement of any qualifying bet. 30 days to qualify. Free bets expire in 7 days. Cashed out/Free Bets won’t apply. Account & Payment method restrictions apply. 1 Free Bet offer per customer, household & IP Address only. 18+. T&Cs apply. T&Cs apply New UK customers (Excluding NI) only. Mobile exclusive. Min Deposit £10. Min stake £10. Min odds Evs. Free bet applied on 1st settlement of any qualifying bet. 30 days to qualify. Free bets expire in 7 days. Cashed out/Free Bets won’t apply. Account & Payment method restrictions apply. 1 Free Bet offer per customer, household & IP Address only. 18+. T&Cs apply. T&Cs apply	Claim Offer

Grand National Each Way Betting Explained: How Does Each Way Betting Work?

When you place a bet on the horse racing – of course, you want it to win.

However, with Grand National each-way betting, that is still the case – but this also gives you a ‘safety-net’ should your horse NOT win and be placed in the Grand National.

In short – each-way betting gives you the chance to win money, even if your horse doesn’t finish first. But this will depend on the odds of your Grand National runner and also the place if finishes.

It depends on the bookmakers you’re placing your bets with and the size of the field, with each-way betting in the Grand National can sometimes including 7, 8 or even 9 places.

Always check the each-way terms with the bookmaker you are placing your bets with – these can normally be found on the Grand National racecard (see example here). You can see they are paying 5 places at 1/5 of the odds (more on this below).

For the Grand National, most bookmakers will offer you five places. What this means is that if you back a horse and it finishes in fifth place, and you backed it each-way, you will still win some money back.

Obviously, you won’t win as much as you would have done if your horse had have won, but you could still be profiting.

Each-way means you are betting on two things.

1. That the horse will win.
2. That the horse will finish inside the top five places.

Each-way bets are made up of two parts: the ‘Win’ and the ‘Place’. Each part of the bet must be an equal stake, e.g. a £10 each way bet will have £10 on the ‘Win’ and £10 on the ‘Place’ making a total of £20.

The ‘Win’ part of your bet is on your horse to finish first, and the ‘Place’ part is on your horse to finish either first or in one of the places.

How Do I Win My Each Way Bet?

There are specific rules that bookmakers must follow for each-way bets in horse racing, including on the Grand National. They are based on the number of horses running in a race.

The rules below are the standard horse racing each-way rules as a minimum – but bookmakers will often put in place their own enhanced each-way rules (more places) to attract custom.

Runners:
1–4 runners – No Places – Win markets only
5–7 runners – 1/4 Odds – 1st & 2nd place only
8+ runners – 1/5 odds – 1st, 2nd and 3rd place
12–15 runners (handicapped races only) – 1/4 odds – 1st, 2nd and 3rd place
16+ runners (handicapped races only) – 1/4 odds – 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place

If your horse comes home in first place, both the ‘Win’ and ‘Place’ parts of your bet will pay out. But if your horse only places, you will lose the ‘Win’ part of your bet.

You will still collect winnings on the ‘Place’ part of your bet if your horse finishes 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th, depending on the amount of runners in the race and the odds the bookmakers are offering.

Note: The Grand National is a handicap and will have 40 runners, so ALL bookmakers will pay at least the top 4 places. But many will increase these places to 5, 6, 7 8 or even 9 to attract your business.

RELATED: Grand National Runners & Riders 2023 – Guide to All Horses & Weights

How Much Will My Each Way Bet Return?

The amount won depends on several different factors. Most importantly, did your horse win the race, or was it just placed?

Let’s look at last year’s winning Grand National horse – Noble Yeats – who won at Grand National odds of 50/1.

If you’ve backed him for £5 each way – the total for the bet is £10 (£5 on the win and £5 on the place).

The £5 ‘win‘ portion of your bet pays out £250 (£5 x 50/1) plus the original £5 ‘win’ stake is returned, giving you £255.

The £5 ‘place‘ portion of your bet pays out £50 (1/5 of original odds). This is how you work it out; a fifth of 50/1 is 10/1, £5@10/1 = £50, and your original £5 stake is returned, giving you £55.

Add that to the £255 ‘win’ portion and you’ve got £310 in winnings.

What If My Horse Doesn’t Win, But Is Placed?

Now let’s assume Noble Yeats came fourth.

Bear in mind that it doesn’t make any difference to the pay-out if your horse finishes anywhere in the places with some bookmakers.

In short, it doesn’t matter whether your horse finishes second, half a length behind the winner, or if your horse finishes fifth, 30 lengths behind the winner. If you have backed it each-way and the bookmakers are paying out on five places, you will still win the ‘place’ part of your bet.

As your horse didn’t win, you lose the ‘win’ portion of the bet and £5. But you collect £50 on the ‘place’ portion of the wager plus the £5 place part of your original bet – as explained above.

So, in this example the bet would have cost you £10, but you’d win £55 (1/5 of the odds of 50/1 = 10/1)

Grand National Each Way Betting Markets

Each way bets are exceptionally popular with horse racing punters, and this is certainly the case with the Grand National. But how many places are some of the biggest sites paying? Take a look below to find out.