Best Odds Guaranteed, BOG for short, is one of those pieces of betting shorthand that gets advertised everywhere and explained almost nowhere. Here’s what it means, what DragonBet’s version covers, and why bookmakers offer it at all.
What it means
You take a price on a horse. The race goes off and the starting price is bigger than the price you took. With Best Odds Guaranteed, you get paid at the bigger one.
| You took | Starting price | You’re paid at |
|---|---|---|
| 4/1 | 6/1 | 6/1 |
| 4/1 | 2/1 | 4/1 |
| 4/1 | 4/1 | 4/1 |
You always get whichever is better. That’s the whole offer.
What DragonBet’s BOG covers
DragonBet offers Best Odds Guaranteed on UK and Irish horse racing. If the starting price comes back bigger than the price you took, you’re paid at the bigger one automatically. You don’t need to claim it.
Things that differ between firms and can change, so worth checking rather than assuming: which meetings qualify, whether there’s a cut-off time on raceday, whether ante-post bets are included, and whether any cap applies. Current terms are on the racing page.
Why bookmakers offer it
Honestly? Because it removes the main reason to wait. Without BOG, taking an early price is a gamble in itself: back something at 5/1 in the morning, watch it drift to 8/1 by the off, and you’ve cost yourself money for no reason other than timing.
BOG takes that risk away, which encourages people to bet early. That’s worth a lot to a bookmaker, in turnover and in knowing its liabilities sooner rather than in the last frantic minutes before the off.
Why the starting price matters so much
BOG only means anything because SP is a genuine market price rather than a number someone invents. Understanding how that price forms is worth more than the offer itself.
“These days the exchanges exist, the Betfair SP is seen as close to possible as the most accurate barometer for the true chance of a horse at the off… I’m confident in my pricing on course. When I’m at the racetrack, I have the luxury of only pricing up half hour before each race into a mature market.”
James Lovell, Bookmaking, it’s not what it used to be
That’s the key. By the off, the market has absorbed everything: the money, the going, the gossip, the non-runners. The SP is the closest thing racing has to a verdict on a horse’s real chance.
Which is why an early price bigger than SP is genuinely a good bet, and why a horse that drifts hard usually drifts for a reason. BOG protects you from the second case without costing you the first.
Does it change how you should bet?
A bit. If you fancy something and the price looks fair, BOG means taking it early costs you nothing if it drifts, so there’s little reason to wait and watch.
What it doesn’t do is turn a bad bet into a good one. You’re still backing the horse to win. BOG just makes sure the price isn’t the thing that beats you.
For the argument that the SP system itself needs reform, read James Lovell on why it’s time to start again with starting prices.
More on how betting works
See each-way explained, multiple bets explained, or start at betting explained.
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