Dead heat rules apply to a range of sports. People most commonly associate them with horse racing, each way golf bets, and certain football markets like top goalscorer outrights. A dead heat happens when two or more participants finish in a tie and cannot be separated. The simplest example of a dead heat is if authorities cannot separate two horses, even using a photo finish.
How Dead Heat Rules Work
All bookies apply dead heat rules in exactly the same way. In their T&Cs, a bookmaker states which markets use dead heat rules. A horse race is the simplest example to understand. However, an each way bet in golf is perhaps the most common example.
Let us assume you place an each way bet on a player that pays the top five places. If they finish tied fifth, you might assume your bet has won. However, dead heat rules will apply. If your player was tied with three other golfers, they have essentially finished part-fifth, part-sixth and part-seventh. Indeed, the next player on the leaderboard will be eighth.
Your payout for this bet will reflect this. Settlement splits the stake (each-way portion only) between the three places. Consequently, one third of your stake will be a winner but two-thirds will lose. If you bet £15 each way you will lose the £15 win bet. You will also lose two thirds of the £15 each-way stake – £10. Therefore, betting sites pay just £5 of the stake at the designated each-way odds.
Real-Life Examples
Let us look at golf as an example. A play-off separates golfers who tie for first, so under normal circumstances, dead heat rules will never apply in the outright winner market. However, each-way betting is very popular in golf. Because of the large field, it is also very popular to bet on the top six, eight or 10.
Imagine you bet £20 on Adam Scott for a top 10 at odds of 28/1. He might finish eighth, and the unsuspecting punter would assume they are in line for a tidy return of £580. However, if he ties for eighth with seven players – far from impossible – the calculation changes significantly.
Seven players share three winning places (eighth, ninth and 10th). Therefore, just 3/7 of your £20 bet wins. This means £8.57 wins at 28/1 and you lose £11.43 of your £20 stake. However, the £8.57 returns £248.53, so you still win overall – just not as much as you might have thought.
We can see a simpler example where two horses cross the line first at exactly the same moment in a horse race. Here, two runners share one winning place. Therefore, to calculate your dead heat horse racing payout, your stake is divided in two. The bookie pays half as a winner at the full odds, while the other half is treated as a loss. Consequently, a £10 win bet at 4/1 returns £25 including the £5 returned stake. Many sites offer a dead heat calculator that can work this out for you.
Why Dead Heat Rules Are Necessary
Where multiple runners, golfers or anything else are not separated by a tiebreaker, bookies use dead heat rules. It is unfair and unreasonable to expect a bookmaker to pay out in full on two winners (in our racing example). It is even less reasonable to expect them to pay in full on ties in golf, where it is normal for three, four or even more players to tie for a place.
Sports and Markets Where Dead Heat Rules are Used
We have covered the most common dead heat markets already. However, bookies might settle bets using dead heat rules whenever picks finish in a tie. Other common examples include:
- Top goalscorer – in a league or cup, several players might all score the same number of goals
- Other tournament “awards” or outrights – for example, most 180s in a darts tournament, highest break in snooker or top runscorer in cricket
- Joint winners – authorities might declare joint winners in anything from political bets to entertainment ones, or even the Olympic high jump (as happened in 2021)
What People Often Get Wrong About Dead Heat Rules
The biggest mistake people make about dead heat rules is simply not being aware of them. In the event of a dead heat, meaning any tie that is not officially broken, some punters believe they will receive their full winnings. However, the settlement uses dead heat rules because that would not be fair to bookies.
The other common mistake is not understanding how they work. Where there is a dead heat in horse racing, or any sport, punters may think dead heat rules split the odds. However, as explained, dead heat rules actually divide the stake.
Tips for Using Dead Heat
If you bet on place markets in golf or like each way bets on that sport, it is vital you understand dead heat rules. That way, you can avoid a nasty shock should you receive a reduced payout. Modern technology means dead heats in horse racing are now quite rare. Whatever sport you bet on, knowing how dead heat rules affect your bets and promotions can help you avoid surprises.