Definition
Price
Also known as Odds, Quote
By Abhinav VasudevanReviewed Editorial policy
In short
Price is another word for odds. Taking a price means accepting the odds showing at the moment you bet, which then fixes your payout regardless of how the market moves afterwards.
Price and odds mean the same thing. British betting prefers price; American betting prefers line or odds. The word carries a useful implication though: odds are a price in the ordinary economic sense, set by supply and demand rather than by an honest probability assessment.
Taking a price
When you place a bet you take the price showing at that moment, and it is locked. If you back a horse at 8/1 and it drifts to 12/1 by the off, you are paid at 8/1. If it shortens to 4/1, you still get 8/1.
Two mechanisms modify this:
- Starting price (SP). Rather than taking a fixed price you can bet at SP, and be paid at whatever the official price is when the race begins. Useful when you expect a drift.
- Best odds guaranteed. Common in horse racing: take an early price and if the SP is longer, you are paid at the SP instead. This is genuinely valuable and is one of the few promotions with real expected value.
Price movement is information
A price that shortens means money has arrived. A price that drifts means it has not, or that it has gone elsewhere.
Which kind of money matters enormously. Sharp money moves prices in small amounts because books respect it. Public money moves them less, and books will often let it build on one side.
The most useful application is closing line value: if the prices you take consistently shorten before the event starts, you are beating the market’s final assessment, which is the best available predictor of long-term profitability.
Common questions
Am I paid at the price I took or the price at the start?
The price you took, in almost all cases. Two exceptions matter: starting price bets settle at the official price at the off, and best odds guaranteed pays whichever of the two is longer.
What does it mean when a price shortens?
Money has arrived on that selection. Whether it matters depends on whose money. Sharp money moves prices in small amounts because books respect it; public money can pile in without moving a line much at all.