Each Way Arbing

Each way arbing is a great way of topping up your matched betting profits.

It can be incredibly lucrative and is perfect for squeezing extra profit out of any gubbed accounts you may have.

This is very much an advanced strategy, so I would only recommend you get involved if you’re an experienced matched bettor who is comfortable placing lay bets on horse racing.

Each way betting explained

For those of you who are unfamiliar with each way betting, allow me to explain…

An each way bet has two parts. Half of your total stake is placed on the horse to win and the other half is placed on the same horse to finish in the top few places. The win part of an each way bet is paid out at the normal odds. The place part of an each way bet is paid out at a fraction of the normal odds.

Let’s take a look at the following example…

These each way terms mean that if our horse finishes 1st, 2nd or 3rd, the place part of our each way bet will have won and we will be paid out at a fifth of the normal odds.

Say, for example, we bet £10.00 each way on a horse at odds of 10/1. That means we are betting a total of £20.00. We are betting £10.00 on the horse to win at odds of 10/1 and £10.00 on the horse to place in the top 3 at odds of 2/1.

To work out the place odds, we just divide the fractional win odds of 10/1 by 5, which gives us 2/1. Calculating the place odds from a decimal is almost the same, we just need to subtract 1.00 at the start (to account for the stake) and then add it back on at the end…

Don’t worry though, the each way calculator does all of this for us!

So, based on the above example, we would make the following profit/loss for the three possible outcomes…

Arbing explained

Arbitrage betting, or ‘arbing’ as it’s better known, is the process of placing a bet where the back odds are longer than the lay odds to the extent that it guarantees us a profit. When the back odds are higher than the lay odds, it’s called an arb.

There’s no doubt that arbing is profitable but it can also be detrimental to our accounts. Taking value consistently may arouse suspicion and can lead to restrictions.

I would therefore advise that we only do arbing on our gubbed accounts. It’s great for squeezing extra profit out of our gubbed accounts, but it’s not worth risking our profitable accounts for the sake of a few quid.

Each way arbing explained

So, if you haven’t already guessed, each way arbing is the process of placing each way bets and then laying the ‘Win’ and ‘Place’ parts individually at the betting exchange.

The aim is to find selections where the ‘Place’ lay odds are much lower than the ‘Place’ back odds to the extent that it gives us an overall guaranteed profit.

Don’t worry if that doesn’t make sense yet, it’ll become clearer as we work through an example.

Finding an each way arb

There are two options when looking for each way arbs.

The first option is to search for them manually. This involves scanning the markets and looking for odds that may represent a profitable opportunity.

We can enter the back and lay odds into the each way calculator to see if there is a profit to be had.

The second option is to use odds-finding software. My recommendation is the Eachway Matcher tool from Oddsmonkey…

The software scans all horse racing markets in an instant and highlights the selections that represent an each way arb.

All we need to do then is hit the ‘Open Calculator‘ button to get a breakdown of each bet we need to place…

In my opinion the Eachway Matcher tool alone is worth the £39.99 monthly subscription fee. OddsMonkey suggest that each way arbing can increase our monthly profits by £300.00+. Many OddsMonkey members have actually reported earning much more than that.

A word of warning

You’ll notice in the above screenshot that there is a ‘Runners’ column which denotes the number of current runners in each race. If the number of runners is on the threshold of the each way terms, the box containing the number will be red.

Put simply, bookmakers offer standard each way terms based on the number of runners in a race as follows…

So, for the two races listed in the Eachway Matcher above, provided 8 or more horses run, the each way terms will be 1/5 odds for the first 3 places. If non-runners are declared and the field is reduced to 7 runners, the each way terms will be 1/4 odds for the first 2 places.

This causes a problem because the exchange terms stay the same, meaning that if our selection were to finish in 3rd place, we would lose both of our ‘Place’ bets.

The closer to the race starting, the less chance there is of any further non-runners, however, don’t leave yourself so little time that you panic. If the each way terms do change, you can always back the same ‘Place’ market to effectively cancel out your ‘Place’ lay bet. You can then lay the correct ‘Place’ market at Betfair.

Profiting from each way arbs

As mentioned above, if you’re using OddsMonkey’s Eachway Matcher tool, you can simply click ‘Open Calculator‘ to the right of each selection. This will open up a separate calculator section that tells you what your ‘Win’ and ‘Place’ lay stakes should be.

The suggested back stake is the maximum we can bet, with sufficient liquidity at the betting exchange to match our bets.

For those of you who are doing things manually, I’ll show you how to use my each way calculator in the following example. Even if you’re using the Eachway Matcher tool, you may still find it useful to enter the odds into my each way calculator, as I think it helps to see a breakdown of the potential profit figures.

So, we decide to place a £70.00 each way bet on De Name Escapes Me at odds of 7.00 (6/1). The each way terms are 1/5 odds, 3 places, which means our place back odds will be 2.20.

To work out our ‘Win’ and ‘Place’ lay stakes we just need to complete the fields on my each way calculator…

As you can see, the calculator tells us that we need to lay £85.22 on De Name Escapes Me ‘To Win’…

…and then lay £75.86 on De Name Escapes Me ‘To Place’…

You’ll find a detailed breakdown of our potential profit figures at the bottom of the each way calculator…

So, we’ll make a guaranteed profit of between £13.01 and £13.03, depending on where our selection finishes.

That’s pretty much all there is to it!

It’s worth noting that the above example was based on an each way stake of £70.00. If we increase our stake, we stand to make an even bigger profit, but it’s important that we stake an amount we are comfortable with.

Hopefully, you now feel confident enough to try your hand at each way arbing. As I have mentioned above though, it’s best that we stick to our gubbed accounts. If, however, you decide to try it on your profitable accounts, just be careful with your stake sizes.

Each way arbing is a must for experienced matched bettors as it can bring about a huge boost to our bottom line!

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