Golf has probably been the slowest of the big money sports to adapt to the world of data and analytics, but it is finally getting there. There are more and more resources for punters popping up every year, from course data to average driving distance off the tee to fairway accuracy. So, let’s start with the basics. What is each way betting in golf?
Each way betting in golf is essentially placing two individual bets, a win bet and a place bet, on a golfer in a tournament. The win bet will pay out if the golfer finishes the tournament in first place. Place bets typically pay out if the golfer finishes in the top 5 places.
Most golf tournaments have over 100 entrants. This means it can be a long time between meals if you are just betting on winners. Each way betting is a great way to flatten out the volatility.
The each way golf bet shown above for the Portuguese Open returns a maximum of £76.25 from an initial stake of £20. This each way bet can be split into it’s two parts:
- £10 on the win at odds of 5.50
- £10 on the place at ¼ odds.
The place bet pays out if George Coetzee finishes the tournament placed 1-5. Just to confirm, the place bet does win when the golfer wins the tournament as well. The pay out for the place is at ¼ odds of the winning odds of 5.50. The place odds can be calculated as follows:
[(5.50 – 1.00) / 4] + 1.00
= [(4.50) / 4] + 1.00
= 1.125 + 1.00
= 2.125
This means the £10 on the place at odds of 2.125 will return £21.25 (£11.25 profit).
Many bookmakers will not allow you to put a bet on the place market alone. You may only access the place market via each way betting on golf. However, betting exchanges such as Betfair will allow you to bet on the place market without the need for a corresponding win bet (to make it an each way bet).
Each Way Accumulator (Parlay) Betting in Golf
Each way accumulator (parlay) betting in Golf consists of combining two or more each way bets on separate events. Most weekends have between two and four golf tournaments running in parallel; starting on Thursday and finishing on Sunday. Many punters use each way accumulator (parlay) bets in golf to increase returns alongside single bets.
The example above shows an each way accumulator (parlay) bet on Jim Furyk in the Charles Schwab Cup and Dustin Johnson in the Houston Open. This is essentially two separate accumulator (parlay) bets; one on the wins and one on the places.
That is to say, the odds on the win portion of the accumulator (parlay) can be calculated by multiplying the two odds together:
4.00 x 8.50 = 34.00
For the Charles Schwab Cup, place bets are paying odds of 1/4. The place odds for Jim Furyk can be calculated as:
[(4.00 – 1.00) / 4] + 1.00
= [(3.00) / 4] + 1.00
= 0.75 + 1.00
= 1.75
For the Houston Open, place bets are paying odds of 1/5. The place odds for Dustin Johnson can be calculated as:
[(8.50 – 1.00) / 5] + 1.00
= [(7.50) / 5] + 1.00
= 1.50 + 1.00
= 2.50
The odds on the place portion of the accumulator (parlay) can be calculated by multiplying the two odds together:
1.75 x 2.50 = 4.375
The two components of the each way accumulator (parlay) bet can then be combined:
Tournament winner bet: £10 x 34.00 = £340.00
Tournament place bet: £10 x 4.375 = £43.75
Maximum Return = £340.00 + £43.75 = £383.75
This matches the potential returns shown in the bet slip above.
The place odds for the Houston Open are slightly different from the Charles Schwab Cup because the number of places paid are different. There was a promotion for the Houston Open which offered extra places.
Extra Place Betting in Golf
Many sportsbooks offer promotional extra place betting for golf tournaments. The standard winning pay-out is for 5 places however promotional offers will often pay-out for top 8 finishes. The Extra Place Matcher feature in OddsMonkey aggregates all of the additional place pay-outs on offer from various bookmakers.
In each way golf betting, standard pay-out terms are 1/4 of the winning odds quote for 5 places. When promotions occur offering additional places, the pay-out terms are often reduce to 1/5 or even 1/6 of the quoted winning odds.
OddsMonkey has a specific bet matching feature that can be used to extract value from the extra place promotions on golf tournaments.
Each Way Matched Betting in Golf
The extra places offered by bookmakers on golf tournaments present matched betting opportunities. The betting exchanges offer standard 5 place markets compared to the 6-8 places offered by bookmakers. This discrepancy creates value for punters.
Lets use the example below for Danny Lee in the Houston Open to see how it works. Bwin is paying 6 places at 1/4 of the win odds. The four columns on the right give a summary of the opportunity on offer; Rate %, Implied Odds, Qualifying Loss & Extra Play Profit (including the tournament result required for the profit).
The Rate % is essentially a measure of the quality of the matched betting opportunity. It’s based on how close the back and lay are odds to each other.
Danny Lee can be backed to win with Bwin at 151.00, while he can be layed for 170.00. This is not a great match as there is a significant gap between the back and lay odds. However, the place can be backed at odds of 38.50 and layed at odds of 36.00, which is excellent.
The bookmakers price their place odds based on standard terms, such as 1/4 of the quoted win odds. The betting exchanges operate as a free market though. So the prices can often be quite different to the prices you receive from a bookmaker on the place leg.
In general, you want to Rate % to be as close to 100% as possible but in general anything over 95% is acceptable. Occasionally you can find opportunities where the Rate % is actually over 100%, ie an arbitrage bet.
The Qualifying Loss (-£0.94) shows how much you stand to lose if Danny Lee finishes in any position other than 6th. The Extra Place Profit (£384.06) is the pay-out if he finishes in 6th place. The Implied Odds are derived from the Qualifying Loss and the Profit (384.06 / 0.94 = 407.93).
Now the difference between extra place matched betting in golf compared to standard matched betting where you’re taking advantage of bonus bets is that the pay-out is dependent upon the result of the tournament. In order to generate a profit, you need the golfer to finish in the extra place positions.
In simple terms, extra place matched betting in golf can create huge value, but does not guarantee results. This makes more sense when you compare the win odds to the implied odds for the matched each way bet. The win odds offered are 151.00 while the implied odds of our matched bet for Danny Lee to finish 6th are 407.93.
A golfer who is such a long shot to win (higher odds) the tournament should be more likely to finish lower down in the results. Instead, through matched betting, we have created a value opportunity where we receive higher odds for him to finish 6th than 1st. Insane!
Think about how that might work if you were to get a 95% match with a bookmaker paying 8 places instead of 6. Although the below examples have a poor Rate %, they demonstrate the point pretty well.
Erik Van Rooyen is at odds of 71.00 to win, however you could get paid out at implied odds of 72.59 if he finishes 6th or 7th.
A major benefit of extra place betting in golf is that it is one of the last things to be restricted on your account. Even once your stakes are restricted, you may still be eligible for extra place promotions in golf. This can extend the life of your account and allow you to extract the last little bit of value from your account.