Best Odds Guaranteed — BOG — is the most genuinely punter-friendly concession in racing betting, and one of the few promotions whose value survives the honest-maths test. It is also hedged with conditions that quietly limit what it is worth. Here is the full picture.
What BOG actually is
Take an early price on a horse — say 4/1 at 10am. If the starting price (SP) at the off is bigger — say 6/1 — a BOG bookmaker pays you at 6/1. If the SP is shorter, you keep your 4/1. You get the better of the two prices, automatically. It removes the classic punter's dilemma: take the morning price and watch it drift, or wait for SP and watch it crash.
When it applies — and when it doesn't
BOG is typically offered on UK and Irish horse racing (sometimes greyhounds), usually only from a set time on the day of the race — commonly from 8am or from when final declarations are priced. It almost never applies to ante-post bets struck days or weeks out, and often excludes specials, enhanced prices and some each-way terms. Every bookmaker writes its own rules, so the phrase “BOG applies” always has a footnote worth reading.
The expected value: why BOG is real money
BOG is a free option. Your payout is max(price taken, SP) — you can only gain. On a horse that drifts from 4/1 to 6/1, a €10 win bet pays €70 instead of €50: €20 of pure concession. Across a season of day-of-race bets, drifters are common enough that BOG adds a measurable percentage to returns — one of the few promos whose expected value is unambiguously positive rather than cleverly disguised.
The catches
First, maximum stakes and maximum extra winnings: BOG terms usually cap the stake or the additional payout the concession can generate, so it protects the recreational punter, not the big hitter. Second, it does not make a bad price good: BOG on a horse you took at 2/1 that should have been 3/1 still loses money in expectation — the guarantee only compares your price with SP, not with the true odds. Third, accounts that use BOG very profitably can find themselves restricted, a commercial reality of modern bookmaking. Fourth, timing: bets struck before the BOG window opens get no protection at all.
BOG versus taking SP
With BOG in place the decision is simple: if you fancy a horse, take the current price — you hold the early price if it shortens and SP if it drifts. Betting at SP by choice surrenders the option for nothing. Without BOG (ante-post, overseas racing), the old trade-off returns and taking a price is a genuine judgement call.
Using it well
Bet within the BOG window, read the stake caps, and treat the concession as a bonus on bets you would make anyway — never as a reason to bet more. And as with all racing betting: set a budget that belongs to your entertainment money.
Betting on fights or football should cost what a night out costs and no more. If it stops feeling like entertainment, free confidential support is available from the Gambling Awareness Trust on 1800 753 753 or at gamblingcare.ie. 18+.
Frequently Asked Questions
You get the better of the price you took and the starting price. Take 4/1 and the horse goes off 6/1, you are paid at 6/1; if it goes off 2/1, you keep your 4/1.
Almost never. BOG windows typically open on the morning of the race; ante-post bets struck earlier are excluded, along with many specials and enhanced prices.
Yes — it is one of the few promotions with unambiguously positive expected value, since it can only improve your payout. The terms cap stakes and extra winnings, so read them.