Ante Post Price
An ante-post event is one which is scheduled to take place in the future and the bookmakers have formed a market on the basis of information known at that time. Due to the time scales involved some of the entrants may or may not take part.
In horse racing an ante post event is one in which fixed odds are available prior to the final declaration stage, usually 24/48 hours before the event. For big race meetings, such as the Cheltenham Festival, bookmakers will usually promote offers of ‘Non Runner/No Bet’ (the opposite of ante post!) the week before the event.
A customer placing a bet on an ante-post event should be aware that if their selection does not take part in the event then the bet is deemed to be a loser, no stakes are returned
Early Price
Early prices are generally offered for horse racing events, usually on the day of the event, from around 9am in the morning. Early prices are a fixed price which can be taken at the time of placing the bet and are calculated by each individual bookmaker.
Bookmakers can offer early prices on as many events as they wish and will not always offer early prices on every event, although due to the nature of the industry they will offer as many as possible throughout the day.
A bet placed at an early price is deemed to be non runner/no bet and if the selection takes no part then the stakes are refunded.
Early prices are offered throughout the day of the event, usually until about 15-20 minutes before the event start when they will be removed to make way for live prices direct from the course.
Live Price/Live Show
Live prices (also known as Board Prices from when they were marked up manually on a board in the shop!) are usually available on a race from around 15-20 minutes before the event. Live prices are collated at the individual racecourses and are an average of prices being offered at the course on that event.
When live prices are available the customer can opt to take the price at the time the bet is placed or take no price and the bet will be settled at ‘starting price’.
Starting Price (SP)
Once a race is complete, and the winner and places known, an official starting price or SP is declared from the track based on the various bookmaker prices available when the race started.
In events which did not have a fixed price market available, or a customer opted not to take a price, all bets will be settled at SP.
Best Odds Guaranteed
A number of online bookmakers now offer ‘Best Odds Guranteed’ on selected events. This means that if a customer places a bet at a fixed price on the day and the SP is returned bigger then the bet will be settled at SP. If the ficed price is bigger then that price will be used. BOG effectively removes the worry of taking a price or not on a bet and if this is available on a market the price should always be taken.