How to Use Best Odds Guaranteed for Profit

Best odds guaranteed might be one of the better features to come out of the bookies in recent times. 

In this article, we’re going to look at what best odds guaranteed is and which bookmakers offer it.

Then we’re going to show you strategies to make the most of it.

With the sheer amount of money being pumped into UK betting markets, the odds are constantly fluctuating. 

This presents a problem for gamblers. When do you bet to maximise your potential profit?

In an effort to level the playing field, and provide value to customers, most bookmakers use a feature to implement this.

That’s where best odds guaranteed comes in. 

What is Best Odds Guaranteed?

Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG) is a feature that a lot of bookmakers have taken up over the past few years. 

It allows customers to receive better odds for any bet they have placed pre-event if the starting price is higher than the odds they originally placed the bet at. 

Starting price is simply the odds that are locked in as an event is about to start. It represents the final price offered before an event becomes in play.

Take a look at this example:

We’ve had a tip that Archaeology is the runaway victor of this horse race. 

A few hours before the race we place a £10 bet at 7/2. If Archaeology goes on to win, we will win £45.

However, in the time between us betting and the start of the race, Archaeology’s favourite status has wavered and the odds drift to 4/1.

At odds of 4/1, we would win £50. 

Nevertheless, Archaeology goes on to win the race. 

We’ve won our bet but hold on…

The starting price was better than the odds we managed to get. That means that we could have made another £5.

Another person betting on the same outcome could have won more than us. That doesn’t sound fair.

That’s the beauty of best odds guaranteed.

This race is covered by BOG so it means we also get the better odds and instead take home £50!

The bookmaker will automatically settle this for you and it will be represented in your winnings. There will normally also be something on your betting slip telling you that you have received better odds. Bookies are usually quick to show that they’re benefiting us for once!

Don’t worry, your odds should never shorten – even if the starting price is lower than the odds you managed to get. 

It is important to note that you are getting the best odds available at that bookmaker. It does not mean you are getting the best odds out of all the bookmakers. We always advise you to have a look around to see who’s offering the best odds. 

Which Bookmakers offer best odds guaranteed?

It was a feature that was introduced primarily for horse racing. 

It runs on the win and each way markets. 

Now, most major bookmakers offer it on all UK and Irish races. As always there are some stipulations, for example – only if you bet within a certain time frame eg. bets placed on the same day of the race.

Here is a list of the major UK bookmakers stance on BOG on horse racing:

Bet 365 – Applies to win and each-way markets. On all UK and Irish races

Betfair Sportbook – Usually on all UK and Irish racing. Should be marked on the card.

Betway – On all UK and Irish races

William Hill – Available after midnight on the day of the race. On all UK and Irish races

Coral – On all UK and Irish races

Ladbrokes – On bets placed after 9 am on race day. On all UK and Irish races

Paddy Power – From 8 am on race day. On all UK and Irish races

Sky Bet – On all UK and Irish races

Other sports and international racing are subject to individual bookmakers rules. Check the terms and conditions of that market but it’s usually fair to assume it’s not in place. 

Is this good for matched betting?

Yes! Most definitely. Any boost in potential profit is welcomed.

We back selections at the bookmakers and lay them at an exchange, such as Betfair Exchange or Smarkets. Best odds guaranteed isn’t available at the exchange but it is at the bookmaker. 

This means if the back bet comes in we stand to win more money. 

We can use this to our benefit.

Best Odds Guaranteed Strategy

We can use techniques from both matched betting and arbitrage betting to try and make the most of the potential boost in the odds.

This works best in horse racing because we know there will be BOG and there is a high frequency of events.

We are looking for races where the odds for a horse to win the race at a bookmaker and the odds to lay the same horse at an exchange are similar.

Software like Oddsmonkey can make it easier as they search through and present the closely matched odds for you, however, there’s no reason why you can’t search manually. It might take a bit of time but it may be worth your while.

Here’s an example of a best odds guaranteed strategy that you can try out:

We’ve found a horse, Molls Memory, that is available to back at a bookmaker for odds of 7.0.

At Betfair Exchange, we can lay the same horse for the same price 7.0.

We place two bets of £10. 

One back bet at the bookmaker and one lay bet at the exchange. 

This means we have all outcomes of the race covered.

If Molls Memory doesn’t win we will break even and have not lost anything.

However, if it goes on to win and best odds guaranteed kicks in then we have ourselves a profit. 

Molls Memory wins the race and the starting price was 9.0 compared to the 7.0 we backed it for. 

That equals a profit of £20.

Another best odds guaranteed strategy that could be used is based on the dutching system.

We’re going to look for races where we can back the whole field.

This sounds strange but using Oddschecker we can view all the odds for upcoming races.

There are only three runners in this race. It is better to look for races where there are six or fewer participants. 

Oddschecker has a useful feature called ‘best book’. In the above example, you can see the value is 104%. We want to look for a book value that is 104 or ideally less. This will keep any potential losses to a minimum. It also shows us which bookmakers have the best odds for each horse. 

Note – this best odds guaranteed strategy carries more risk than the previous example. It is better to use this once you have got familiar with the first strategy.

Using a dutching calculator and a stake of £100 it will show us how to split up the stake across the bookmakers. 

We then go to the relevant bookmakers and place the bets. Whoever wins we stand to lose £3.77.

Having had a bit of experience, we feel these odds will drift out by the start of the race. If best odds guaranteed kicks in on the winner we have a good chance of getting some profit. 

This strategy works best if you can find races where you can cover the field for the minimum amount of loss. 

Tips

It’s better to try and get your bets in as early as the bookmaker allows you to qualify for best odds guaranteed. If you’re betting five minutes before the off you’re not giving the odds enough time to differ from the starting price. 

Try to read the way the market is going. You want to maximise the chances of getting higher odds and your horse winning. 

For this to happen you could look to back a favourite or close favourite who’s price you think will drift as it gets closer to the off. 

Make sure that you lay your bets shortly after backing at the bookmaker. You don’t want to be stuck in the market hoping for a win. The aim is to cover all outcomes and at the very least come away haven broke even.