In its simplest form, the extra places offer improves your chances of making a profit on your each-way sports bets. This offer is most popular among horse racing bettors. In selected races, certain bookmakers will offer you at least one extra place on your each-way bets.
This could take them from the top three to the top four at major events such as the Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood. This opportunity has the power to turn a failure into a success. Backing a horse each way only to see it finish fourth would mean losing your stake. But did you know that there are effective strategies to reverse this result next time? These methods won't guarantee a win, but they can certainly improve your overall success in this pastime. Unless, of course, you were one of the lucky ones to get the extra place promotion, in which case the extra place would allow you to bank a return on your bet.
The horseracing aspect of the extra places promotion is excellent, but could be extended to any discipline with a large number of participants. In addition to horse racing, other sports where this could work well include golf and bet types such as first goal scorer in soccer.
The Extra Places promotion is offered by William Hill for all major horse racing events and meetings in the UK and Ireland. Each month, throughout both the National Hunt and Jumps seasons, a whole host of additional races are added to the Extra Places list. This greatly increases your chances of winning on your each-way horse racing bets. To find out which races this applies to, navigate to the promotions tab on the William Hill site, click on the extra places offer and consult the comprehensive and up-to-date list of races.
Ladbrokes also offer extra places, but they do it a little differently than some of their competitors. When you place a bet on horse racing through the Ladbrokes website or mobile app, you will benefit from extra places on the most popular events in the UK, Ireland, France, America, Australia and beyond. This promotion also covers the biggest golf events, such as the majors, played throughout the year. An updated list can be found on the promotions page. The improved seat conditions here are usually very generous - for example, going from five seats to eight.
Betfair promotes its extra places offer under the name 'each way edge' and it is one of the many exciting and generous promotions to be found on Betfair's sportsbook and exchange sites, which otherwise resemble the majority of the betting industry. One of the unusual aspects of the offer is that it is actually a promotional offer as opposed to a product in itself. Most bookmakers offer four places on some races, which means they've got product parity with Betfair. When you see Betfair's ads, you might think that they've got a great system and that you should bet with them.
Betfred is known throughout the sports betting industry as the bonus king. This is not a reputation they have achieved by accident. Betfred is often one of the first to offer its customers the latest and greatest promotions, and this was certainly the case with the extra places horse racing promo when it was launched. A selection of races are chosen by the bookmakers to benefit from extra place conditions every day. These are usually UK and Irish races shown live on TV and on the Betfred website and mobile app.
Unibet is an ambitious online bookmaker that understands that the shortcut to success is to be overly generous with their odds and promotions. That's why we weren't surprised to see Unibet roll out the Extra Places promo on their website and mobile app. Each day, a selection of three or more races will be selected to benefit from this offer, with at least one extra place added to the place conditions. To find today's extra places races, visit the website. From there all you have to do is place an each-way bet as normal and the extra places will be added to your bet automatically, no need to opt in.
When you place a bet on any horse race or sport on the Totesport website or mobile app, you'll see a list of races covered by the Extra Places promotion on most days of the year. It will mainly focus on the big, main events on the UK and Irish racing calendar. However, the promotion can also be extended to include international horse racing to ensure it covers the best events from around the world. And when Totesport Merchants offer this promotion, they do so with sure-fire terms that make your horse racing bets far more generous than the industry standard.
The offer of additional places has already proven to be very well received by horse racing and sports bettors, and the reason for this is that it does the simple things well, giving bettors more opportunities to land a return.
The extra spaces promote the each-way terms. They can add one or two spots to the list. For example, 1/4 odds 1-2-3 could be stretched to 1/4 odds 1-2-3-4 or even five for the biggest events on the horse racing calendar.
It could also come in the form of an increased payout. For example, the odds of a 1-2-3 finish could be increased from 1 in 5 to 1 in 4, increasing the amount of money paid into your account when you back a winning horse or one that finishes in the top tier.
Both bookmakers are household names in the UK betting market and both regularly promote Extra Places offers. However, their approach is slightly different, so it is important to compare them before placing your bets.
| Bookmaker | Sports Covered | Extra Places | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Hill | Horse Racing (UK & Ireland) | +1 or +2 extra places | Daily updated race list, focused on major festivals like Cheltenham and Royal Ascot. Available on both app and desktop. |
| Ladbrokes | Horse Racing, Golf, International Tournaments | Up to +3 places | Wider coverage including Europe, USA, and Australia. In golf majors, places often extended from top 5 to top 8 or even top 10. |
Betfair and Betfred have two very different approaches to their promotions. Betfair focuses on flexibility with its Each Way Edge feature, while Betfred prioritizes the frequency and reliability of daily offers.
| Bookmaker | Mechanics | Coverage | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betfair | Each Way Edge (add or remove places) | Horse Racing, Golf Majors | Flexible system allows bettors to tailor their strategy | Payouts not always better than rivals despite flexibility |
| Betfred | Fixed extra places on daily races | UK & Irish Racing, televised events | Frequent offers, strong focus on mainstream races | Lacks the customisation that Betfair provides |
The Extra Seats offer was designed to appeal to horse racing fans, and that's why you'll find many more Extra Seats promotions on horse racing than on any other sport. The system works incredibly well. Each-way betting appeals most to punters who want to get their money's worth on races taking place in the UK and Ireland, especially during the big meetings. There's also extra place-matched betting available in a different format. However, it's not the only sport to which extra places can be applied.
This is the simplest, yet most popular, type of additional place bet. It gives players who bet every way a better chance of getting a return on their investment. This is achieved by increasing the number of places paid in a race, usually from three to four.
Outright golf betting is another market that has benefited from the extra places promotion. Since an average major golf tournament features dozens of contenders and some long shots with good chances to win (or place), outright golf betting tends to favor each-way bettors. For this reason, some bookmakers have started to increase the place odds they offer for these tournaments - usually from 1/4 of the odds on the top five finishers to 1/4 of the odds on the top eight finishers. For the biggest events, this can go as high as 10.
Not many football betting markets can benefit from extra places, but we have seen it happen with first goal scorer betting. You can back a first goal scorer in a live match and bet each way, which is usually extended to the first three goal scorers. However, some bookmakers offering extra places will increase this number to five and in some cases make it unlimited.
All of the bookmakers featured in the table at the top of this review offer the extra places promotion to both new and existing customers. To get started with any of these bookmakers, simply select the one you are interested in and click on the link.
The easiest way to take advantage of the extra places promotion is to place an each-way bet on a horse race covered by the promotion. If your selected horse wins the race, you will receive a decent return on your bet. If your selection finishes in the race and takes one of the extra places, you will also receive a return on your bet.
To add your selected horse to your betting slip, click on the associated price. Then enter your desired stake. If you want to bet each way, which is a common request for this type of bet, you must remember to double your stake. When betting each way, one part of the bet is on the horse to win (go to the win part of the bet slip) and the other part of the bet is on the horse to place (go to the place part of the bet slip).
