The ideal situation for an Each Way bet is when you fancy a horse to run well, but your not sure it’ll win. The Each Way bet covers your horse to win, put also pays out if your horse finishes 2nd or 3rd (and sometimes even 4th place if the race has 16+ horses running).

The Each Way bet is really two bets in one, the first part of the bet covers your horse for winning the race, the second part of the bet covers your horse if it fails to win but manages to finish in 2nd, 3rd or 4th place. Because the each way bet has two parts the stake is doubled, so a £5 each way bet actually costs you £10. You can’t bet on a horse each way if the race has less than 5 runners and a race with 5 ~ 7 runners will only pay out on a 2nd place.

It’s also worth noting that you will only get 1/4 or 1/5 of the quoted odds if you horse finishes in 2nd, 3rd or 4th place. Which means you shouldn’t back a horse each way unless it’s odds are over 4/1, because you could never win enough to cover your original stake.

Writing out a betting slip for an each way bet is quite simple, I’ve added a picture of a correctly filled in betting slip for you. Click on the image to see a bigger version. You can also view the video below which shows you in detail how to bet each way. A great bookmaker for each way betting is Paddy Power bookmakers, they offer competitive odds, free bets for new customers and sometimes they even pay out on 5th places for big races like the Grand National.

Football betting is only just behind the horses as the nations favorite weekly punt, with most of the money bet going on the Premiership and International matches.

Football betting is never straight forward, you might recognized the face of Mickey Thomas in the picture from the day Wrexham beat Arsenal in the F.A. Cup. Football games have a habit of throwing up strange results when you least expect them. Remember to bet with your head and not your heart…

Match Result

This one’s really simple, you just bet on the team you think will win. Most ‘Match Result’ bets are settled on the result after 90 mins (normal time) plus any injury time added by the ref. Cup games are normally classed as ‘drawn’ if extra time is need to settle the match after the 90 minutes (normal time).

The Double Result

This is sometimes known as a half-time/full-time betting, you must try to predict the match result in the first half and the second half. In total there are nine outcomes on a ‘double result’ when you include the draw. This bet is one for the bookies, stay away from it! On paper it can look easy to predict, believe me it’s not ~ for mug punters only.

Correct Score

Just predict the score of the match, again it sounds simple but it’s not. It’s another bet the bookmakers love… who bets on 6-2? freak results happen more than you’d think. Having said that I did have some good returns betting the ‘correct scores’ on Manchester United and Arsenal games a few years ago. If you can spot a team with a consistent pattern of goal scoring you can land some big money.

First Scorer

You bet on the player you think will score the first goal in a game, it’s a tricky bet to land… but can offer long odds, especially if you bet on defenders and midfield players. It’s important to check the papers/internet to find out the team selection before placing this bet. Has the striker been moved into a midfield holding role? Have the defenders been asked to move up for corners?

Personally I’m not a fan of ‘first scorer’ bets, I think Betfair Bookmakers ‘Anytime Scorer’ offers better value, as it pays out if your player scores anytime during the match. Tote Bookmakers also offer each way betting on first goalscorer bets, it pays a third of the odds for the first three scorers.

Asian Handicaps

Probably the best value bet in football! It takes a while to get your head around the concept, but it’s worth investing the time. What the Asian Handicap does is remove the chance of a football match being drawn. So a cheeky late goal won’t ruin your bet! I’ve written about Asian Handicaps in more detail here.

Scorecast

If you want big returns for little pennies then the scorecast bet is for you. Notoriously difficult to predict but the fantastic odds on offer tempt most football fans at some point. The scorecast is a mix of two bets, a ‘first scorer’ bet and a ‘correct score’ bet. An example would be; Torres to score the first goal and Liverpool to win 2-0. I really should warn you against this bet as it’s another one for the bookies, but I often stick two quid on one at the weekend, so I can’t!

Over/Under Goals

The Over/Under goals bet is a fairly new development in football betting, it works like this: Punters must predict whether a match will have more or fewer than 2.5 goals. I guess the bet should be called ‘Three goals or more’ because that’s what you’re betting on. You can also bet against it happening which would be called ‘Two goals or less’.

Nearly all the big bookmakers now include these bets in their football sections, if you like football betting then Paddy Power Bookmakers is probably your best bet as they have weekly money back specials on football and sometimes they give enhanced odds on specific big matches.

In 2007 Tiger Woods became a father for the first time in June, just before the birth Tiger failed to win the 2007 Masters Tournament with a poor display (for him!) on the final day. By September of 2007 Woods earned his 60th PGA Tour victory at the BMW Championship by shooting a course record 63 in the final round to win by two strokes. He sank a fifty-foot putt in the final round and missed only two fairways on the weekend. He led the field in most birdies for the tournament, and ranked in the top five in driving accuracy, driving distance, putts per round, putts per green, and greens in regulation. Woods finished his 2007 season with a runaway victory at the Tour Championship!

So it seems that the pride new Dads take in their offspring is a real boost for any sportsman or athlete, it’s worth making a note of anyone who’s about to become a Dad for the first time and back him all the way!

Why would anyone back at such short odds? well, many punters see this as ‘buying money’, in other words the 1.01′s are such a sure thing that they can’t lose! But in reality 1.01′s lose more than you’d thing. So if you want to back these 1.01′s (or lay them) follow a few simple rules. Never back a 1.01 in a horse race if there is even a sniff of infringement, alternatively it could be a great lay if you spot something early in the race that you think the stewards won’t like. Backers of Altay at Lingfield lumped on the cash at 1.01, Altay won the race by four lengths, but after a stewards inquiry Altay’s victory was scrubbed for a minor infringement.

You will often see 1.01′s on Betfair Bookmakers if a horse gets a big lead in a race, it’s worth remembering that if it’s a steeple chase or hurdle, tired horse can make silly mistakes at the last fence. Even when there’s no fence, horses do the strangest things, remember Devon Loch ~ You’ve been warned!

Chelsea continue to score goals and last week’s 4-0 win over Wolves was most impressive given that key attack-minded players were missing. Lampard returns and he was looking like a player reaching goal-scoring form to me. Arsenal may be missing van Persie but they only know how to play one way at the Emirates and goals are expected once more. Looking at the trading on Betfair today (27/11/09) you can still back the ‘Overs’ at 2.02, which seems like a fair price to me, other prices that stood out are Arsenal +0&+0.5 goals in the Asian Handicap market at 1.67 (a tenner bet on the Asian Handicap at +0&+0.5 works like this: If Arsenal win £6.70 profit | If the match is a draw £3.35 profit | If Chelsea win, you lose £10)

If you fancy taking a flutter on this match then Betfair Bookmakers offer great odds on the ‘Overs’ market, as do Paddy Power Bookmakers.