Rule 4 Deductions and Place Bets: What Gets Taken Off Your Payout
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A Non-Runner Can Shrink Your Place Payout
Picture this: you have backed a horse each-way at 10/1 in a 12-runner handicap hurdle. Twenty minutes before the off, the second favourite is withdrawn. Your horse runs a stormer and finishes second. You check your account expecting the full place return – and find a smaller figure than you calculated. The difference is a Rule 4 deduction, and it has taken a bite out of both the win and place parts of your each-way bet.
Rule 4 exists because when a horse is withdrawn after the betting market has formed, the remaining runners effectively have better chances of winning and placing. The odds you took were set when more horses were in the race, so the bookmaker applies a deduction to compensate for the reduced competition. The rule is named after Tattersalls’ Rule 4(c), which governs deductions on fixed-odds bets when runners are withdrawn without the market being reformed.
UK racecourses welcomed over five million spectators in 2025 – and every one of those racegoers who placed a fixed-odds bet on a race with a late withdrawal has encountered Rule 4 at some point. It is one of the most misunderstood aspects of horse racing betting, particularly when it interacts with the place part of an each-way wager.
The Rule 4 Deduction Scale Explained
The deduction applied to your payout depends on the price of the withdrawn horse at the time of withdrawal. The shorter the price, the bigger the deduction – because a short-priced horse’s removal has a greater impact on the chances of the remaining runners.
The scale works like this. If the withdrawn horse was priced at 1/9 or shorter (an overwhelming favourite), the deduction is 90p in the pound – meaning 90% of your winnings are removed. At 2/5 to 1/3, the deduction drops to 65p. At evens to 6/5, it is 45p. At 5/2 to 3/1, the deduction is 30p. At 7/1 to 9/1, it falls to 15p. At 14/1 to 16/1, only 10p is deducted. And if the withdrawn horse was 33/1 or longer, there is no deduction at all – the bookmaker considers the impact on the remaining market too small to warrant an adjustment.
The deduction is applied to your winnings, not to your total return. So if you have a winning bet that returns £50 in profit and a 20p Rule 4 deduction applies, you lose 20p x £50 = £10, receiving £40 in profit plus your stake. Your stake itself is always returned in full on a winning bet.
Multiple withdrawals can compound. If two horses are withdrawn from the same race, the deductions are added together up to a maximum of 90p in the pound. So if one withdrawal triggers a 25p deduction and another triggers a 15p deduction, the combined deduction is 40p. In extreme cases where several short-priced horses are withdrawn, the race may be declared void, and all bets are refunded.
How Rule 4 Applies to the Place Part of an Each-Way Bet
Here is where it gets interesting, and where I see the most confusion among bettors. Rule 4 deductions are calculated separately for the win and place parts of an each-way bet. The deduction on the place part is based on the withdrawn horse’s place odds, not its win odds.
In practice, the place deduction is almost always lower than the win deduction. The reason is mathematical: the place odds of a withdrawn horse are a fraction of its win odds (typically 1/4 or 1/5), which means the implied probability is lower, which means the deduction is smaller. A horse priced at 2/1 to win has place odds around 1/2 (at 1/4 of the win odds). The Rule 4 deduction for a 2/1 withdrawal is 35p on the win part, but the deduction for a 1/2 place price is lower – typically around 55p to 65p. Wait – that seems backwards. Let me be precise.
The deduction is based on the price at withdrawal. For the place part, the relevant price is the place odds, which for a 2/1 shot at 1/4 odds is 1/2. Looking at the Rule 4 scale, a price of 1/2 corresponds to a deduction of around 55p. Actually, let me correct that: the place deduction uses the same Tattersalls scale, applied to the place-equivalent price. In reality, bookmakers calculate the place deduction based on the withdrawn horse’s chances of placing, not just its win probability. The specific deduction figure announced by the bookmaker or the on-course stewards already accounts for whether it is being applied to win or place bets.
UK racecourses now operate across 59 licensed venues, and the stewards at each course are responsible for announcing the Rule 4 deduction that applies. The deduction announced is typically a single figure – for example, “20p in the pound” – and some bookmakers apply this same figure to both the win and place parts of each-way bets. Others calculate a separate, usually lower, deduction for the place leg. It varies by operator, and the terms and conditions of your bookmaker’s each-way betting rules will specify which method they use.
The practical takeaway: when you see a Rule 4 deduction announced, check whether your bookmaker applies the same deduction to both legs or a reduced deduction to the place leg. The difference can be meaningful on larger stakes.
Worked Example: Rule 4 on a £10 Each-Way Bet
Let me run through a concrete scenario, because the best way to understand Rule 4 is to see the numbers.
You back a horse at 8/1 each-way for £10 each way (£20 total stake) in a 10-runner race with standard place terms of 1/4 odds for three places. Before the race, a horse priced at 5/2 is withdrawn. The Rule 4 deduction announced is 30p in the pound.
Your horse finishes second. The win leg loses (the horse did not win), so you lose the £10 win stake. The place leg wins. Without Rule 4, the place payout would be: £10 x (8/4) = £10 x 2/1 = £20 profit, plus the £10 place stake returned = £30.
With Rule 4 at 30p in the pound applied to the place winnings: £20 profit x 0.70 = £14 profit, plus the £10 place stake = £24 total return. The Rule 4 deduction has cost you £6 on the place leg.
Now compare the overall position. Total outlay was £20. Total return is £24. Net profit: £4. Without Rule 4, the net profit would have been £10 (£30 return minus £20 outlay). The deduction has halved your profit – and if the withdrawn horse had been shorter in price, triggering a larger deduction, the reduction would have been even steeper.
This worked example illustrates why Rule 4 is not just a minor adjustment. On each-way bets where only the place leg wins – which is the most common payout scenario for each-way bets at longer odds – a Rule 4 deduction of 30p or more can turn a decent place return into a marginal one or even a net loss after the win stake is factored in.
My approach when I see late withdrawals: I quickly recalculate whether the each-way bet still makes sense after the anticipated Rule 4 deduction. If the deduction is likely to be 20p or more and my horse is at moderate odds, the profit margin on the place leg shrinks to the point where I might not have placed the bet at those effective returns. This calculation takes thirty seconds and has saved me from disappointment more than once.
Is the Rule 4 deduction the same for the win part and the place part?
Not always. Some bookmakers apply the same deduction to both legs of an each-way bet, while others calculate a lower deduction for the place part based on the withdrawn horse’s place-equivalent odds. The method used varies by operator and is specified in their each-way betting terms. Check your bookmaker’s rules to know which approach they take, as the difference can affect your payout significantly on larger stakes.
What happens if multiple horses are withdrawn from the same race?
Rule 4 deductions from multiple withdrawals are added together, up to a combined maximum of 90p in the pound. If two horses are withdrawn with individual deductions of 25p and 15p, the total deduction is 40p in the pound applied to your winnings. If the combined deductions reach or approach 90p, the race may be declared void and all bets refunded. Each withdrawal is assessed independently based on the price of the withdrawn horse at the time of its withdrawal.
Created by the ”win Place bet Horse Racing” editorial team.
