How to Bet on Horses
By the MyHorseBets team · Updated · 7 min read
This guide is for anyone placing their first bets on horse racing. It covers the bets you’ll see on a betting slip, how to read the odds, how to place a bet and how to work out what it pays. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, our guide to how to bet on horses and win moves on to strategy: value, staking and keeping records. If a word on the racecard or betting slip is new to you, our glossary of horse racing terms explains it.
How to bet on horses in five steps
- Choose a licensed bookmaker. In Great Britain, only bet with operators licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. You’ll need to be 18 or over and verify your identity. Our guides to horse racing betting sites and the best bookies for racing explain what to look for.
- Pick a race. Every race has a racecard showing the runners, their recent form, the weights they carry, the jockeys, the trainers and the going (the ground conditions). Our guide to how to read horse racing form explains every line of it.
- Choose your bet type. A simple win bet, an each way bet, or a multiple such as a double, a Yankee or a Lucky 15. The options are explained below.
- Check the odds and your stake. The odds tell you what the bet pays. Use our bet calculator to see the return before you confirm.
- Place the bet and keep the slip. Online the slip is saved in your account. In a betting shop or at the course, keep the paper slip until the bet is settled.
The main types of horse racing bet
Win
You back a horse to finish first. If it wins, you’re paid at the odds you took. If it doesn’t, you lose the stake.
Each way
An each way bet is two bets of equal stake: one on the horse to win and one on it to be placed. A £5 each way bet costs £10. If the horse wins, both parts pay. If it finishes in the places, only the place part pays, at a fraction of the win odds (usually 1/4 or 1/5). How many places count depends on the number of runners and the type of race, and some bookmakers pay extra places on big races. Our each way calculator works out both parts for you, and our guide to each way betting goes through place terms and extra places in detail.
| Race type | Runners | Places paid | Place terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any | 2 to 4 | Win only | None |
| Any | 5 to 7 | 2 | 1/4 |
| Non-handicap | 8 or more | 3 | 1/5 |
| Handicap | 8 to 11 | 3 | 1/5 |
| Handicap | 12 to 15 | 3 | 1/4 |
| Handicap | 16 or more | 4 | 1/4 |
These are the standard UK terms. Always check the terms on your bet slip, because the bookmaker’s terms are the ones that apply.
Doubles, trebles and accumulators
A double links two selections in different races and both must win. The winnings from the first roll on to the second, which is why the odds multiply. A treble needs three winners, and an accumulator (acca) needs four or more. Accas pay big odds, but a single loser beats the whole bet; our guide to what an accumulator is goes further.
Full-cover multiples
These bets combine several selections into every possible double, treble and upwards, so you can still get a return when not every pick wins:
- Trixie: 3 selections, 4 bets (3 doubles and a treble).
- Patent: 3 selections, 7 bets (the Trixie plus 3 singles).
- Yankee: 4 selections, 11 bets, no singles.
- Lucky 15: 4 selections, 15 bets, including the 4 singles.
- Lucky 31 and Lucky 63: 5 and 6 selections.
- Super Heinz: 7 selections, 120 bets.
The total stake is the unit stake times the number of bets, so a £1 Lucky 15 costs £15, or £30 each way.
Forecasts and tricasts
A forecast asks you to name the first two home in order, and a tricast the first three. In the US the same bets are called the exacta and the trifecta: see our guide to how to bet a trifecta. Our forecast calculator counts the lines and works out the return from the declared dividend.
How horse racing odds work
UK odds are usually shown as fractions. Odds of 5/2 mean you win £5 for every £2 staked, and you get your stake back too: a £10 win bet at 5/2 returns £35, which is £25 profit plus the £10 stake. Decimal odds include the stake, so 5/2 is 3.5 in decimal and the return is simply stake times odds. Our odds converter switches between fractional, decimal and American odds, and the odds calculator shows the implied probability behind any price. For the full picture, with a table of common prices, see betting odds explained.
A horse at odds-on (for example 1/2) is expected to win more often than not and pays less than your stake in profit. A long price such as 20/1 pays a lot but wins rarely. The odds are the bookmaker’s view of each horse’s chance plus their margin, which is why reading them as probabilities is the first step in our guide to betting on horses to win.
Starting price or the price you take
When you place a bet you can take the price on offer at that moment, or take the starting price (SP), the official price when the race starts. Some bookmakers offer Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish racing, which pays the bigger of the two if the SP is higher. Check the terms, because they vary. Our guides to what SP means in horse racing and best odds guaranteed cover both in full, and ante post betting explains bets struck days or months before the race.
Non-runners and Rule 4
If your horse doesn’t run, a single is usually void and the stake comes back; in a multiple, that leg is treated as a non-runner and the bet carries on with the rest. If another horse is withdrawn late, the bookmaker may make a Rule 4 deduction from winnings on the remaining runners. Our Rule 4 calculator applies the current deduction table. Ties and changed results have their own rules too: see dead heat rules and stewards’ enquiries.
How to place a bet
Online or in an app. Open an account with a licensed bookmaker, deposit with a debit card or another accepted method, choose the race, tap the odds next to the horse, choose win or each way on the bet slip, enter your stake and confirm.
In a betting shop. Write the meeting, race time, horse, bet type and stake on a betting slip, hand it in with your money and keep the receipt.
At the racecourse. You can bet with the on-course bookmakers in the betting ring or with the Tote, which runs pool betting: the dividend depends on how much has been bet and on how many winning tickets there are. The best known Tote bet is the Placepot.
How to check what your bet pays
Before you confirm, enter the odds and stake into our bet calculator. It handles every bet type above, each way terms, non-runners, dead heats and Rule 4, and shows the total stake, return and profit. After the race, it’s an easy way to check the settlement.
Should you use tips?
Tips can save time, but no tipster wins every day and the price you get matters as much as the selection. Our guide to the best horse racing tips explains how to judge a tipster before you pay and where free tips are published, and our horse racing systems guide covers rule-based methods. Each way services are a common starting point because a place still pays something.
Betting always carries a risk of loss and no tipster, system or staking plan can guarantee a profit. Only stake what you can afford to lose, and set a budget before you start. Gambling responsibly.
Frequently asked questions
Often, but not always. In a non-handicap with 8 or more runners the place part usually pays on 1st, 2nd and 3rd at 1/5 of the odds. With 5 to 7 runners only 1st and 2nd count, and big handicaps pay down to 4th. Bookmakers sometimes offer extra places, so check the terms on your slip.
At least 5 runners under the standard UK terms. With 2 to 4 runners, bookmakers settle each way bets as win only.
A win single or an each way single on one horse. They are simple to settle, and you can check the return with our each way calculator before you bet.
£15, because a Lucky 15 is 15 separate bets. Each way doubles it to £30.