Best odds guaranteed, often shortened to BOG, means that if you take a fixed price on a UK or Irish horse race and the official starting price turns out bigger, your winning bet is paid at the starting price. If the starting price is shorter than the price you took, the bet is simply paid at the price you took.
BOG is not an extra payout or a price boost: it is a settlement rule. It is also a bookmaker concession rather than a regulatory rule, so each bookmaker is free to offer it or not and to set its own terms.
How BOG works in practice
The starting price, or SP, is the official price of each horse when the race begins. Prices move constantly before the off, and a horse backed in the morning can drift as money comes for its rivals. Without BOG, anyone who took an early price and then saw the horse drift would be paid at the shorter price they took. With BOG, that risk disappears on winning bets.
Suppose you back a horse to win at 5/1 with a £10 stake. At 5/1 a winner returns £60, which is £50 profit plus the £10 stake. If the SP ends up at 8/1, you are paid at the higher odds and your return becomes £90 including the stake instead of £60. If the SP comes in shorter than 5/1, you still collect £60, because the price you took was bigger.
In other words, BOG only ever works in your favour on a winner. It does nothing for a losing bet, and it can never settle a winner at a price shorter than the one you took.
When and where BOG applies
BOG is common on UK and Irish racing, but it is not universal, and it is not applied identically on every account or every bet. The concession applies under each bookmaker's own terms, and those terms often limit it to bets placed on the day of the race. A bet struck earlier may be settled at the price taken with no BOG, even if the horse drifts.
A few things are worth checking before relying on it:
- whether BOG is shown on the race or the bet slip when you place the bet
- whether it only covers bets placed on the day of the race
- which bet types the bookmaker includes
- whether your own account still qualifies
The last point matters because the concession can be withdrawn from individual accounts. A bookmaker may remove BOG from an account at its discretion under its terms, so customers should not expect it to be applied automatically or identically on every account.
Why BOG matters to punters
For anyone who likes to take an early price, BOG removes the sting of a late drift. You keep the price you took if the horse shortens, and you get the bigger SP if it drifts and still wins. It does not change the horse's chance of winning and it cannot turn a losing selection into a winner, so it is best seen as a fairer settlement on winners rather than a strategy. Gambling is for adults 18 and over and costs money; UK players can set deposit limits, use GAMSTOP or call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.
