This extra place calculator works out how to lay an each-way bet on a betting exchange when a bookmaker pays more places than the exchange does. It gives you both lay stakes and shows your result for every finishing position.
Most outcomes cost a few pence. If the horse finishes in the extra place, though, the bookmaker pays your place bet and both exchange lays come in too, and that one result covers a lot of those small costs.
Extra place calculator
Key points
- Back each-way with a bookmaker paying, for example, five places.
- Lay the win on the exchange, and lay the place in its four-place market.
- Lay stake = back stake × back odds ÷ (lay odds − commission), for each part.
- A few pence on most results, and a big return if the horse finishes fifth.
Using the calculator
- Enter your stake per part, the bookmaker’s odds, the each-way terms and how many places the bookmaker pays.
- Enter the exchange lay prices for the win and place markets, and how many places the exchange place market pays.
- Enter your exchange commission, or 0% if you have a commission-free offer.
- If you like, add the chance of finishing in the extra place to see the expected profit.
Estimating the extra-place chance
If the exchange runs a market for the bookmaker’s number of places (such as Betfair’s “5 TBP”), the extra-place chance is roughly 1 ÷ that price minus 1 ÷ the standard place price. With prices of 3.4 and 4.4, that is 29.4% − 22.7% = about 6.7%.
Worked example
Worked example
A bookmaker pays an extra place in a 16-runner handicap at Haydock. You back a horse called Lantern Bay £8 each-way at 14/1, 1/4 odds, five places (prices for illustration only). The exchange lay prices are 16.0 to win and 4.4 to place in the top four, with 2% commission.
The calculator lays £7.51 to win and £8.22 to place, a total liability of £140.59. Whether Lantern Bay wins, finishes in the top four or is unplaced, the result is about −59p. If it finishes fifth, you make £35.41.
Before you start
- You need enough in your exchange account to cover the liability, which can be more than ten times your stake.
- Lay quickly after backing, before prices move, and check there is enough money waiting at your lay price.
- Rule 4 deductions and non-runners can knock the bets out of balance.
- Bookmakers may restrict accounts that only ever take extra-place prices.
Related calculators and guides
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