wageringterms.

Definition

Best Odds Guaranteed

Also known as BOG, Best Price Guaranteed, BPG

By Reviewed Editorial policy

In short

Best odds guaranteed pays you at the starting price if it is longer than the price you took. It is one of the few promotions with genuinely positive expected value, and it is largely confined to horse and greyhound racing.

Best odds guaranteed removes the downside of taking an early price. Back a horse at 5/1 and if it starts at 8/1, you are paid at 8/1. If it starts at 3/1, you keep your 5/1.

You always get the better of the two.

Why it is genuinely valuable

Most betting promotions are marketing dressed as generosity. free bets with restrictive terms, cashback funded by margin. BOG is different, because it removes a real cost without adding a condition.

Ordinarily, taking an early price means accepting the risk that the price drifts. BOG eliminates that risk entirely. You get the upside of an early price and the protection of the starting price, which is a strictly better position than either alone.

Estimates of its value vary with betting style, but for a racing bettor taking early prices it is commonly worth several percent of turnover. That is more than most bettors’ entire edge.

The limitations

  • Racing only. Almost always horse and greyhound racing, and usually UK and Irish meetings.
  • Time windows. Often only from the morning of the race, not on ante-post prices.
  • Caps. Many books limit the extra winnings BOG can produce, commonly a few thousand pounds.
  • Not on all bet types. Cashed out bets and some multiples are typically excluded.
  • Withdrawn from winning accounts. This is the significant one. Books routinely remove BOG from accounts they consider sharp, often as a first step before full restriction.

Its decline

BOG was near-universal among UK bookmakers for years. Several major operators have since withdrawn or restricted it, citing cost, which is a straightforward admission that it was worth real money to bettors.

Where it is still offered on a market you were going to bet anyway, it is free value and should be used.

Common questions

Is best odds guaranteed actually worth anything?

Yes, unusually so for a promotion. It pays the starting price when that is longer than the price you took, while letting you keep the early price when it is shorter. You get the upside without the drift risk.

Why do bookmakers remove BOG from some accounts?

Because it costs them real money, and it is routinely withdrawn from accounts they consider sharp as a first step before full restriction. Several major operators have also dropped it entirely.

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