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Hundreds of thousands of pounds are matched, and the spread between the back and lay prices is narrow. Over time, backing at exchange odds rather than bookmaker odds produces a measurably higher return on investment, assuming you can find liquidity on your chosen market. That difference — roughly 10 per cent on the individual price — is the cost of the bookmaker margin.
On horses that drift — less money than expected, price lengthening — BOG gives you the benefit of the higher SP. On horses that are supported in the market — money coming in, price shortening — BOG adds nothing, because the SP is lower than the price you took. The value of BOG depends on how much Starting Prices drift from the early prices. That decline puts pressure on bookmakers to attract and retain bettors. It is a one-way ratchet in the punter’s favour — a free option on upward price movement with no downside risk. Using the exchange as a benchmark — even if you ultimately bet with a bookmaker — is one of the most effective habits a punter can develop.
Compare the latest betting odds from bookmakers, and the Betfair Exchange, and get the best price before you place your bets. Our Bet Slip allows you to build up your selections before you begin placing multiple bets with your favourite bookmakers. You can also place single bets from the Bet Slip – just click the price in the Bet Slip. That small time investment — repeated across every bet you place — is the most reliable edge available to the average punter. If the exchange is at 7.0 and the bookmaker is at 6/1, the prices are closer, and after exchange commission the bookmaker might even be marginally better. Here is the workflow that experienced punters follow, stripped of anything unnecessary.
If the exchange back price is 8.0 and the best bookmaker is offering 6/1, the bookmaker is taking a significantly wider margin on that horse. First, it gives you a benchmark for whether the bookmaker prices are competitive. For any given horse, you can see the best available price highlighted, and the difference between the best and worst price is often two or three points of odds — the difference between 7/1 and 5/1 on the same horse in the same race. It does not require you to do anything special — just take an early price on a race where BOG is offered. Despite these caps, BOG remains the single most consistently valuable promotion in horse racing.
It is the bookmaker’s theoretical profit margin before a single bet is settled. A significant share of that GGY exists because punters accept worse odds than they need to. “We trust US Racing to provide accurate and thoughtful coverage of racing. They are the best source for horse racing odds.” Although it won’t tell you how much the horse will pay, it does show the amount of profit you will get if you win and the amount you have to bet to get it.
If the exchange offers bookies not on gamstop 6.0 and the bookmaker offers 5/1, the bookmaker is competitive after commission. If you back at 6.0 (5/1) and pay 5 per cent commission on your winnings, your effective odds are 5.75 (approximately 19/4). The commission you pay on an exchange winning bet reduces your effective odds. Instead of setting odds and accepting bets against them, the exchange matches punters on opposite sides of a bet. When bookmakers extend place terms on big handicaps — paying five or six places instead of four — they compensate by widening the margin on the place element of each-way bets.
A few bookmakers restrict BOG to races shown on ITV or feature meetings, excluding the smaller afternoon cards where drifts are more common. That means BOG triggers on a meaningful proportion of bets, and the average uplift when it does trigger is typically between half a point and two full points of odds. Research on UK racing suggests that around 35 to 40 per cent of runners drift to a higher SP than their morning price.
To figure out your approximate payoff when the odds are 9-2, 7-2, 5-2,3-2 or 1- 2, simply add the two numbers and you’ll know your $2 payoff. Sometimes, when a horse is below the odds of 5 to 1, you might see two numbers with a “-” between them. So, for a $2 winning ticket on a 5 to 1 horse, you would receive about $12.
