Majors and the weekly tours
Golf Betting
Outright winner, top finishes, three-balls and matchups. Golf is a field sport priced like a race, and the each-way terms and dead heat rules do more to your return than the headline price does.
A golf tournament is a hundred and fifty-odd runners over four rounds, which makes it the closest thing on the LadBet coupon to a horse race with a very large field. That comparison is worth holding onto, because the two markets share their two most misunderstood features: each-way terms and dead heats.
The outright market
Backing a winner from a field that size is a long-odds proposition even for the best players in the world, and the prices reflect a genuinely open question rather than a margin being taken.
Why favourites are longer here
The best golfer in a given week might win one tournament in eight, which is a rate no football favourite would recognise. That is not a reflection on the player; it is arithmetic. A hundred and fifty competitors, four rounds, and a cut that removes half the field on Friday means the winner is drawn from a genuinely wide pool of plausible candidates almost every week.
Each-way is the real market
Most outright money in golf goes on each-way, and the terms move the return more than the price does. A typical tour event pays five places at a fifth of the odds; the majors often pay more. A 50/1 selection finishing fourth returns at 10/1 on the place half of the stake, which on a tenner each way is £100 of winnings plus the place stake, while the win half is lost. The mechanics are set out here.
Dead heats, which golf produces constantly
Ties for a place are ordinary in golf rather than rare, and the way they are settled catches more people out in this sport than in any other.
The rule
Where more players finish in a paying position than there are places, the stake on that selection is divided by the number of players tied and settled at full odds on the reduced stake. Four players tied for fourth in a five-place market means a quarter of the stake settles at the full place odds, and three quarters is lost. It reduces a winning bet substantially and it is not an error.
Why it cannot work any other way
Because the alternative is paying out five place dividends on four places, which no book could sustain over a season. Every bookmaker applies the same rule and it is printed with the terms, but it remains the most common source of surprise in golf settlement because the leaderboard shows a finishing position and says nothing about how many people share it.
Markets that are not the outright
Three alternatives, all of which ask a narrower question and price it more tightly.
Top finishes
Top five, top ten and top twenty, priced as straight win markets rather than each-way. Dead heat rules still apply where more players finish in the bracket than it holds, which is frequent in a top-twenty market. These are the sensible way to bet a player you fancy without needing them to beat the entire field.
Three-balls and two-balls
Backing one player from a group to score lowest in a single round. This is golf reduced to a two or three-way market and it is the format that most rewards knowing a player’s form in current conditions. Ties are settled as dead heats in two-balls and as a void or dead heat in three-balls depending on the market rule stated.
Tournament matchups
Two named players over the whole event, priced head to head. These are the tightest-margin golf markets on the site because the question is narrow and both sides of it are well understood. They also survive a missed cut better than an outright does, since a player who misses the cut still has a score relative to their opponent.
Withdrawals, the cut and settlement
Golf has more ways for a bet to end without a result than most sports, and each has a defined treatment.
Non-starters
A player who withdraws before striking a ball makes the bet void and the stake is returned. A player who withdraws after starting has, for settlement purposes, taken part, and the bet stands as a loser. That distinction hinges on a single tee shot and it is worth knowing before a fitness doubt tees up.
The cut
Missing the cut settles outright and top-finish bets as losers. It does not void them. Matchup markets over the full tournament generally settle in favour of the player who made the cut, and where both miss it the lower score after two rounds wins.
Play-offs
A tournament decided by a play-off settles on the eventual winner for the outright market. Place markets settle on the official finishing positions afterwards, which means the losing play-off participant is a second-place finisher rather than a joint first.
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Common questions
How many places do you pay each-way in golf?
It varies by event and is shown on the coupon before you stake. A typical tour event pays five places at a fifth of the odds, and the majors often pay more.
What is a dead heat in golf?
A tie for a paying position. The stake is divided by the number of players tied and settled at full odds on the reduced stake, which cuts the return substantially.
What happens if my player withdraws?
Void and stake returned if they withdraw before starting. If they withdraw after teeing off, the bet stands and settles as a loser.
Does missing the cut void my bet?
No. It settles outright and top-finish bets as losers. Matchups are settled on the two-round scores where both players miss.
How does a play-off settle?
The outright settles on the eventual winner. Place markets follow the official finishing positions, so a beaten play-off participant is second.