Dead Heat Rules in Betting Explained: A Bettor's Guide

In sports betting a 'dead heat' refers to a scenario where two or more competitors/participants finish exactly equal, and no clear winner can be determined — even after reviewing available evidence like photo finishes. When a dead heat occurs, the betting rules determine how bets are settled.

What is a Dead Heat in Sports?

A dead heat is a tie between two or more competitors in a race or sports event. While modern technology ensures that high quality photo finish images have made them rarer in sports like horse racing, they still occur when the freeze frames are inconclusive.

Dead heats also occur in sports like golf, for betting purposes, when players finish on the same score and no playoff is needed (i.e. if they are tied for 7th place). Golf betting dead heats are commonplace as is the bet settlement process in these scenarios.

The Basic Dead Heat Rule: Stake Division

The fundamental rule for settling a dead heat bet determines that your stake is divided by the number of competitors involved in the dead heat.

The reduced stake is then multiplied by the original odds. This is often summarised as 'you get half your winnings for a two-way tie, a third for a three-way tie,' and so on. There is a formula for each-way betting dead heats, when a selection is tied for place only, rather than the win.

How to Calculate a Dead Heat Payout: Win Bets

Below are some dead heat calculations on example bets.

First, a step-by-step example of a dead heat calculation for a simple win bet. For instance:

You bet £10 at 10/1 on a horse.

The horse dead-heats for first place with another horse (a two-way dead heat).

Your stake is divided by 2 (£10 / 2 = £5).

Your payout is calculated on this reduced stake: £5 at 10/1 = £50 winnings + £5 stake back = £55 total return.

Similarly, if this bet ended in a three-way dead heat.

You bet £10 at 10/1 on a horse.

The horse dead-heats for first place with two horses (a three-way dead heat).

Your stake is divided by 2 (£10 / 3 = £3.33).

Your payout is calculated on this reduced stake: £3.33 at 10/1 = £33.33 winnings + £3.33 stake back = £36.66 total return.

How Dead Heat Rules Affect Each-Way Bets

Dead heat rules also apply to the 'place' part of an each-way bet. The same principle applies, but it depends on how many paying places are available and how many horses are involved in the dead heat for the final paying place.

For example: You bet each-way on a horse in a race paying 3 places. Your horse dead-heats for 3rd place with another horse. There is only one paying place left, but two horses have tied for it. Therefore, the stake on the place part of your bet is halved under racing rules in betting.

Dead Heats in Other Sports

Dead heats are common in other sports too, most notably in golf, where bookmakers offer each-way terms up to as many as 10 places, or markets on Top 5, Top 10, or Top 20 in a given tournament.

When multiple golfers finish on the same score, and they aren't tied for first place, there is no means of separating them for betting purposes.

When there is a dead heat in golf, your stake is divided by the number of players tied for the relevant position, and your payout is based on the reduced stake. The more people that are tied for the position, the more reductions will be applied to your winnings.