By Michael ·
The Grand National pays four places at 1/4 the odds on standard UK each way terms, the line for a handicap with 16 or more runners. Bookmakers that pay extra places on big handicaps can cut the fraction to 1/5 at the same time, and that changes the maths.
This guide looks at the race as an Extra Places player would. An extra place is a place the bookmaker pays beyond the standard terms. For the method itself, see extra place matched betting, step by step.
The 2027 Grand National is on Saturday 10 April at 4.00pm, the last day of the three-day festival at Aintree (Thursday 8 to Saturday 10 April), according to Aintree's event schedule.
The standard each way terms for the National
An each way bet is two bets of the same stake: one on the horse to win, one on it to place. The place half pays a fraction of the win odds if the horse finishes in the places. A £5 each way bet costs £10.
The places and the fraction depend on the number of runners and the type of race. Handicaps of 16 or more runners pay four places at 1/4 the odds. Handicaps of 12 to 15 pay three at 1/4, and other races of 8 or more pay three at 1/5. The National is a handicap, and since 2024 its field has been capped at 34 runners, down from 40, the Jockey Club announced in 2023. A full field is more than twice the 16 runners the top line needs.
Our guide to how many places each way UK terms pay goes through every line, including what happens when non-runners shrink the field.
How bookmakers add places on Grand National day
The detail that matters is the fraction. Paddy Power and Sky Bet both say that in extra place races they may pay five or six places at 1/5 in a handicap of 16 or more runners, instead of four at 1/4. Betfred's extra place races can pay five places at 1/5 instead of four. Ladbrokes lists races that pay four places at 1/5 instead of three at 1/4.
Bet365 and William Hill both have a different offer, called "Each Way Extra". At Bet365 you choose to add places and take a lower price on the horse, or remove places for a bigger price. That's a different trade from a straight extra place, so don't compare the two on places alone.
Two exclusions catch people out on the National, because a lot of money goes on early. An ante-post bet is one you place before the day of the race. Betfred's extra place offer excludes ante-post bets, and Ladbrokes' excludes them too. Ladbrokes' offer is also for single bets only. So a bet you struck weeks ago may not get the places advertised on the day.
Example: five at 1/4 or six at 1/5
Example, with a made-up horse and realistic prices. Your horse is 33/1 (34.0) and you back it £5 each way, £10 in all. On a betting exchange, where you can bet against a horse (a lay bet), it lays at 36.0 in the win market and 10.0 in the four-place market. Commission, the exchange's cut of your net winnings, is 2%. Every figure comes from the formulas our calculator uses.
On standard terms, four places at 1/4, the place odds are 1 + 33 × 1/4 = 9.25. The win lay is £4.72, with a liability of £165.37. Liability is what you pay if the lay loses. The place lay is £4.63, with a liability of £41.71. Every result costs £0.83, your qualifying loss. On its own that's a small loss for nothing.
With five places at 1/4, the place odds and lays stay the same. You lose the same £0.83 on every result except 5th. If the horse finishes 5th, the bookmaker pays your place bet and your four-place lay wins too, for +£45.42.
With six places at 1/5, the place odds drop to 1 + 33 × 1/5 = 7.60. The place lay falls to £3.81 (liability £34.27), and the cost on every ordinary result rises to £1.64. But now two finishing positions pay: 5th or 6th each return +£36.36.
Terms | Cost if not in the extra places | Pays if | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
4 at 1/4 | −£0.83 | no extra place | none |
5 at 1/4 | −£0.83 | 5th | +£45.42 |
6 at 1/5 | −£1.64 | 5th or 6th | +£36.36 |
To choose between them, work out how often the extra place has to land to break even. At five places and 1/4, the horse has to finish 5th about 1.8% of the time. At six places and 1/5, it has to finish 5th or 6th about 4.3% of the time.
A rough estimate from the two lay prices puts this horse's chance at about 2.4% of finishing exactly 5th, and about 4.8% of finishing 5th or 6th. On those numbers both sets of terms come out slightly ahead, by about £0.29 and £0.19 a bet. The estimate is crude and can be well off for horses at the extremes, so treat it as a sense of direction, not a forecast. When the margin is that thin, a small move in either lay price can flip it.
Most of the time the bet ends in the small qualifying loss, and the extra place is the uncommon case. Results vary.
The liability on a long shot
Look at the liabilities again. A £10 bet at the bookmaker needed about £207 in the exchange on standard terms. That's normal for a 33/1 shot, and the win lay at 36.0 is the expensive part.
On National day a lot of the field is at long odds. Lay three or four horses like this one and you tie up about £620 to £830 on one race. If your exchange balance runs short, the last lay won't go on, and you're left holding a straight each way bet on a big outsider. Our guide to lay betting explained shows where liability comes from.
Before the day, decide how much you're willing to tie up and size the stakes to that, not the other way round.
What goes wrong on Grand National day
Lay the wrong place market and the results stop lining up. If your plan is "the bookmaker pays five, I lay four", check the name of the market you lay shows four places.
Prices move all morning. The National is heavily bet, and a bookmaker price can be cut between checking it and clicking. Back and lay within seconds of each other.
Non-runners cause trouble too. When a horse is withdrawn, Paddy Power can take a Rule 4 deduction from your winnings, a cut that makes up for the shorter field, capped at 90p in the £1. That deduction hits the bookmaker side only, so your matched results can drift apart. Re-run the numbers after a late withdrawal.
An account that only ever takes each way prices can still be restricted, even on a race this popular. See our guide to account restrictions.
It's one race, so don't rush it. A Bournemouth University study (September 2026) found that just over half of 2,112 matched bettors had lost money overall, mostly through execution mistakes.
If the extra places come with a cut fraction and the lay prices are wide, the cost on every ordinary result can outweigh the payout. Put both sets of terms into our free Extra Place Calculator first. It works out both lays for one bet and needs no account.
Plan your races before the day
The same maths applies to any big-field handicap with extra places, at the Cheltenham Festival or on an ordinary Saturday. If each way bets are new to you, each way matched betting explained covers the two lays step by step.
Our free list of today's extra place races, a page on our site, shows the places each bookmaker pays against the standard, read at 09:00. On the Professional plan, Extra Places alerts come by e-mail, web push or Discord, and you place every bet yourself. See today's extra places.
Checked against Paddy Power's, Sky Bet's, William Hill's, Betfred's, Ladbrokes' and Bet365's terms on 14 November 2026.
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