Best Odds Guaranteed: What BOG Means and How It Works
By the MyHorseBets team · Updated · 14 min read
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Best odds guaranteed (BOG) is a bookmaker concession on horse racing: you take a fixed price, and if the horse’s official starting price ends up bigger, your bet is settled at the starting price instead. If the starting price is shorter, you keep the odds you took. It only ever changes the settlement of a winning (or placed) bet, and only upwards.
The details decide whether a bet qualifies: when you placed it, the market, the bet type, any Rule 4 deduction and your account’s eligibility. We work through each with examples, citing the published terms of Sky Bet and bet365 at the time of writing (October 2026) as typical conditions, not a rulebook for every firm.
What Is Best Odds Guaranteed?
To understand BOG you need two prices. The first is the price you take: the fixed odds on screen when your bet is struck. The second is the starting price (SP), the official price of each horse at the off, returned independently for the whole industry. Our guide to what SP means in horse racing explains how that figure is produced.
What BOG Means in Betting
Sky Bet’s help page puts the offer in one line: “if the Starting Price (SP) is bigger than the price you took then you will get the bigger price.” bet365’s help centre describes the same offer for UK and Irish horse racing and greyhounds. The bookmaker compares the two prices at settlement and uses whichever pays you more.
Taken Price Against SP: A Worked Table
Take a £10 win single on a horse at 5/1, then look at four possible starting prices. Returns include the £10 stake.
| SP at the off | Took 5/1, no BOG | Took 5/1 with BOG | Bet placed at SP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/1 | £60 | £60 | £40 |
| 5/1 | £60 | £60 | £60 |
| 8/1 | £60 | £90 | £90 |
| 14/1 | £60 | £150 | £150 |
The working: at 5/1, £10 wins £50, plus the £10 stake back, so £60. At 8/1 it wins £80 and returns £90; at 14/1 it wins £140 and returns £150; at 3/1 it wins £30 and returns £40. The BOG column is never worse than either of the other two. A loser returns nothing in all three. You can check any of these lines in our odds calculator.
Do You Need to Opt In?
It depends on the bookmaker. Sky Bet’s page says there is no opt-in for the bet itself (“we’ll automatically pay you at the bigger odds”), but the customer must qualify for its Sky Bet Club, which is covered below. bet365’s help page says that when BOG has been applied, a confirmation appears at the bottom of the bet receipt, which is the easiest way to know a given bet is covered.
Early Prices, Board Prices and When BOG Starts
BOG only works on bets struck at a fixed price, so it is tied to the prices bookmakers show on the day of the race. Those prices have names, and they come in a fixed order.
What Early Prices Are
Early prices are the fixed odds a bookmaker offers on a race on the day itself, before the betting on the course takes shape. Sky Bet’s racing rules define them as “the odds we offer for Horse Racing on the day of the event” and say they are usually offered up to 15 minutes before the off. bet365’s rules use the heading “Early Morning Prices/Day of Event Prices” for the same stage. Before the final declarations, prices are ante post instead, a different product with different rules that our guide to ante post betting covers.
When Bookmakers Price Up Races
There is no single industry time. Sky Bet’s racing rules say its early prices become available between 9.30am and 10.15am on most days, and between 8.30am and 9am on Saturdays. Other firms publish their own times in their racing rules. Once early prices are up, bet365’s rules say bets are on a non-runner no bet basis after the final declarations stage, with Rule 4 deductions applying if a horse is withdrawn.
Board Prices in the Last 15 Minutes
As the off approaches, the label changes. Sky Bet’s rules say that once a race is inside its final 15 minutes, the prices shown as an alternative to SP are known as board prices (its rules also use the phrase “Board/Show Price”). A board price is still a fixed price you take, so it can qualify for BOG in the same way an early price does. The SP is then returned at the off, and every qualifying bet is compared against it.
What Time Does BOG Start?
Each bookmaker sets its own start time, and it is usually later than the moment you can first bet. At the time of writing (October 2026), Sky Bet’s terms say BOG applies to bets “placed on the day of the race between 9am and the start of the race”, while bet365’s help page says BOG on horse racing “only applies to bets placed from 08:00 UK Time on the day of the race”. Put Sky Bet’s two published times side by side and you can see why the start time matters: on a Saturday its early prices can appear from 8.30am, before its 9am BOG window opens, so a price taken in that gap would be settled at the odds taken.
Best Odds Guaranteed With Each Way Bets
An each way bet is two bets of equal stake, one to win and one to place, with the place part paid at a fraction of the odds. If that is new to you, start with our guide to what an each way bet is.
How the Place Part Is Settled
Both Sky Bet and bet365 list the win or each way market as the market BOG covers, so a standard each way bet qualifies. Because the place odds are a fraction of the odds the bet is settled at, a bigger SP normally lifts the place part too. Neither help page we read sets this out as a separate sentence for the place part, so if a placed each way bet comes back lower than you expect, the settlement breakdown in your account history shows which odds were used for each half, and the bookmaker’s customer service can explain it.
An Each Way BOG Example
You back a horse £5 each way (£10 in total) at 8/1 in a 12-runner handicap. bet365’s each way rules give handicaps of 12 to 15 runners one quarter the odds for the first three places. The horse drifts and is returned at 12/1.
| Result | Without BOG (8/1) | With BOG (SP 12/1) |
|---|---|---|
| Finishes 2nd | £15 | £20 |
| Wins | £60 | £85 |
The working, finishing second: without BOG, the place odds are 8/1 x 1/4 = 2/1, so the £5 place stake wins £10 and returns £15. With BOG, the place odds are 12/1 x 1/4 = 3/1, so it wins £15 and returns £20. The win half loses either way. If the horse wins: without BOG, the win half returns £45 (£40 plus £5) and the place half £15, so £60 in total. With BOG, the win half returns £65 (£60 plus £5) and the place half £20, so £85. Our each way calculator does the same sums for any price and place terms.
Extra Place Races
Many bookmakers pay extra places on selected races, and those races often sit outside BOG. Sky Bet’s terms exclude “Extra Place races over and above the standard terms”, and bet365’s help page excludes adjusted place terms such as its Each Way Extra. On a busy festival day, with Cheltenham betting for example, it is worth checking whether a race carries an extra place offer, because the trade-off may be between the extra place and BOG rather than having both.
Best Odds Guaranteed and Rule 4
When a horse is withdrawn before coming under starter’s orders, stakes on it are refunded, and winning bets on the others struck before the market is re-formed can have their winnings reduced under Tattersalls Rule 4(c). The size of the deduction depends on the withdrawn horse’s price, and our Rule 4 calculator looks it up for you. How BOG interacts with that deduction is one of the places where bookmakers’ rules genuinely differ.
Sky Bet’s Rule
Sky Bet’s terms say that if a customer takes a price which is then subject to a Rule 4 deduction, “the deduction will be applied unless the horse returns at a bigger starting price. In which case their bet will return at the starting price without a Rule 4 deduction.” In plain terms, the SP has to beat the price you took, before any deduction, for the SP route to apply.
bet365’s Rule
bet365’s help page compares against the reduced figure instead: BOG “still applies if the SP is greater than the revised odds of your bet after the Rule 4 is applied.” So the SP only has to beat your price after the deduction has been taken off.
Same Bet, Two Rules: A Worked Example
You take 6/1 for a £10 win single. Later a horse is withdrawn and, for this example, its price means a 20p in the pound deduction. A new market is formed, the SP is returned on the smaller field, and your horse wins. Without BOG, winnings of £60 lose 20p in every pound (£12), leaving £48, so the return is £58. Your revised odds are 6/1 less 20%, which is 4.8/1.
| SP of your horse | Sky Bet’s rule | bet365’s rule |
|---|---|---|
| 9/2 | £58 | £58 |
| 5/1 | £58 | £60 |
| 7/1 | £80 | £80 |
At 9/2 (4.5/1), the SP is below both 6/1 and 4.8/1, so both rules keep the reduced taken price: £58. At 5/1, the SP is shorter than the 6/1 you took, so Sky Bet’s wording keeps the deduction and pays £58, but 5/1 is bigger than the revised 4.8/1, so bet365’s wording pays the SP: £50 winnings plus £10, or £60. At 7/1, the SP beats the taken price under either rule, so the bet is settled at 7/1 with no deduction: £70 plus £10, or £80.
When the SP Itself Carries a Deduction
If a horse is withdrawn so late that no new market can be formed, the SP is returned on the original field and SP bets are reduced too. Sky Bet’s Rule 4 page allows for this, adding that the SP route returns without a deduction “unless the SP also has a Rule 4 applied”. bet365 adds a separate case: if no SP is declared for a withdrawn horse, the bet is settled at the odds it was placed at, subject to Rule 4.
BOG in Doubles, Trebles and Accumulators
Multiples are where BOG terms vary most, so read the wording for your bet type before assuming cover.
Each Leg Compared on Its Own
bet365’s help page says that for horse racing the offer “includes singles, multiples, Bet Boost and Showcast bets”. Sky Bet’s terms illustrate the payout cap with “the horse racing bet (multiple bet or single)”, so standard multiples are in scope there too. Since every leg of a multiple has its own taken price and its own SP, the comparison is made selection by selection, and the improved odds are then multiplied together in the usual way. Our bet calculator lets you enter the settled odds leg by leg to check a return.
A Double With BOG
A £5 win double. Leg one: you took 3/1 and the SP was 4/1. Leg two: you took 5/2 and the SP was 2/1.
- With BOG: leg one uses 4/1 (5.0 in decimal) and leg two keeps 5/2 (3.5). £5 x 5.0 x 3.5 = £87.50 returned.
- Taken prices only: £5 x 4.0 x 3.5 = £70.
- Both at SP: £5 x 5.0 x 3.0 = £75.
BOG produces a combination neither of the other routes can: the bigger SP on the drifter and the bigger taken price on the horse that shortened. If you need a refresher on converting fractional odds to decimal, see our guide to betting odds explained.
Multiples That Don’t Qualify
Some multiples are carved out by name. Sky Bet’s terms exclude “enhanced accumulators”, “Sky Bet packaged multiples and Price Boost Multiples”. Price boosts of any kind tend to sit outside BOG, though bet365’s page sets out its own rule for a Winnings Boost: you receive the greater of the boosted original price or the BOG starting price, with no boost applied to the SP.
What Best Odds Guaranteed Doesn’t Cover
The exclusion lists are long, but the same handful of items appear in both sets of terms we read.
Ante Post, Tote and In-Running Bets
Ante post bets are struck before the final declarations, often weeks ahead, and are excluded by both Sky Bet (“ante post betting”) and bet365 (“Ante-Post bets”). Tote bets are excluded by both, because pool dividends are not fixed odds and have no taken price to compare. Sky Bet also says BOG “does not apply to In Running Racing”, which makes sense: the SP is fixed at the off, so a price taken during the race has nothing to be compared with.
International Racing, Specials and Other Markets
Both bookmakers limit BOG to UK and Irish racing, unless stated otherwise. Sky Bet’s BOG terms only cover the win or each way market and exclude money back offers, price boosts and “any other specials”. bet365 excludes Position Payout and its Colossus bets alongside the Tote.
Caps on BOG Payouts
Bookmakers limit how much extra BOG can pay. Sky Bet’s terms cap “the maximum increase per bet or per race” at £50,000 for horse racing, with a lower £25,000 per race limit where repeat bets involve the same selections in the same races. Its own example: a bet that would return £60,000 at the original odds and £127,000 with BOG has a £67,000 uplift, which is capped at £50,000, so the bet returns £110,000. A cap like this only bites on very large bets, but it shows that the extra comes with a ceiling.
Who Gets BOG: Eligibility and Restrictions
BOG is a promotion, not a rule of racing, so a bookmaker decides who receives it.
Loyalty and Qualifying Conditions
Sky Bet makes BOG available only to customers who qualify for Sky Bet Club. Its page says qualifying means opting in to the club and betting £30 in a week at odds of evens or greater, and that a customer who fails to qualify in a weekly period loses access to BOG. Sky Bet also says that the price you take, not the higher guaranteed price, counts towards qualification. bet365’s general racing rules describe BOG as available to “all new and eligible customers”, which also leaves room for exceptions.
Accounts Having BOG Removed
Bookmakers’ terms allow them to switch BOG off for individual accounts. Sky Bet “reserve the right to withhold, restrict or cancel this offer from individual account holders at its reasonable discretion”. Its help page lists the usual reasons: customers in self-exclusion or a cool-off period are ineligible, accounts its trading team decides need “tighter liability management” will not be permitted to take part, and betting patterns that look like promotion abuse lead to exclusion. If BOG stops appearing on your bet receipts, these terms are the first place to look.
What to Check Before You Rely on It
Four checks cover most cases: the bet is placed after that bookmaker’s BOG start time, it is on a standard win or each way market at UK or Irish racing, the race carries no extra place or boost offer that switches BOG off, and your bet receipt confirms BOG applied.
Taking a Price When BOG Applies
Why the Taken Price Rarely Costs You
Without BOG, taking a price is a judgement about where the market will move. With BOG on a qualifying bet, the drift case is covered, so the taken price returns at least as much as an SP bet in every outcome in our first table. The exception is a Rule 4 case like the Sky Bet example above, where an SP bet struck in the new market can pay slightly more. BOG adds nothing to losing bets or to bets outside the terms, and it doesn’t make any horse more likely to win.
Keeping Track of Settlements
With BOG a settlement has more moving parts: two prices, place terms, and sometimes a Rule 4. Note the price you took, check the SP in the official result, and compare the return with our calculators. Bet amounts you can afford to lose, whatever offers are attached to a race.
Betting always carries a risk of loss and no tipster, system or staking plan can guarantee a profit. Only stake what you can afford to lose, and set a budget before you start. Gambling responsibly.
Frequently asked questions
Best odds guaranteed is a promotion where a bookmaker settles a qualifying racing bet at the starting price whenever that SP beats the fixed odds you took. A 4/1 winner returned at 6/1 is paid at 6/1. A horse that shortens is still paid at the 4/1 you took, so the settled price can only go up.
On race day, from a start time each bookmaker publishes, until the off. In October 2026 bet365 listed 8am and Sky Bet listed 9am. Bets struck the night before or earlier in the morning are settled at the odds taken, even if the horse drifts, so check the start time before you place.
It is the official price of each horse at the moment the race begins, published with the result. Any bet placed at SP is paid at that figure, and with BOG it is also the benchmark your taken price is compared against when the bet is settled.
Each bookmaker chooses its own time on the morning of the race. Sky Bet's rules give 9.30am to 10.15am on most days and 8.30am to 9am on Saturdays. From 15 minutes before the off, the prices on show are called board prices instead.
No. Ante post bets are struck before the final declarations and are excluded from BOG in the terms of both Sky Bet and bet365. They usually carry no stake refund if your horse doesn't run, which is a separate risk from missing out on a bigger SP.