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Betting Glossary - Essential Betting Terms beginning with B

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Back
To bet a horse is to back it. A heavily backed horse has a lot of bets laid on it.
Backed
When a bookmaker takes a lot of money on one particular runner, it is said that it has been heavily backed.
Backward
used to describe a horse who needs time to mature
Banker
A selection that is fancied very, very strongly indeed. Will often be the cornerstone of combination bets.
Bar
This shows what the lowest odds of horses not mentioned in the betting forecast are likely to be - '50-1 bar' means those not quoted are 50-1 or bigger.
Bay
Brown or tan horse with Black mane/tail
Beard
a friend or acquaintance who is used to place bets as to conceal the true identity of the real bettor.
Best Price Percentage
Price percentages are used to calculate over-roundness. A completely fair book is classified as 100% overround. However the 'bookmakers' profit margins mean the figure is almost always above 100%. But, if one aggregates the best prices from different bookmaking firms on any event, the percentages become lower. On some occasions, when odds greatly differ from firm to firm, the best price percentage may even drop below 100% showing that the best book on that event is actually in the punter's favour.
Bet
Any wager.
Betting Forecast
A best guess in newspapers as to the likely starting prices in a race.
Betting Ring
The main area at a racecourse where bookmakers' boards are displayed.
Betting Shops
Outlets for cash betting in the High Street or at a racecourse.
Betting Tax
Betting tax is no longer payable on bets in the UK. Prior to 2000 it used to be that deductions were payable on off-course bets. You could choose whether to pay the tax on your stake (called 'tax paid-on') or on your winnings. There was no tax on bets placed at the racecourse.
Between the Flags
Point to Point racing, where flags identify course layout/obstacles
BetWell
This is what it is all about - the amount of money you lay, or bet, on a horse. You lay a bet at odds which determine your winnings - see "odds".
Bismarck
A horse which is favourite but which the bookmakers nevertheless do not expect to win.
Bits against/on
bookmaking slang for odds of 11/10 or 10/11
Blinkers
a pair of screens attached to a horses bridle to prevent it from seeing sideways
Blood line
Horses family tree
Blown up
Stopped running due to exhaustion or injury
Board prices
This refers to the currently available odds displayed on the boards of on-course bookmakers. It is from these that the starting price is derived.
Book
A bookmaker (who often works from a betting shop, though increasingly over the Internet or by telephone) will open a book of bets, in other words, he will come up with a range of bets and an opening betting market for a horse race. As the betting proceeds, on the basis of what the punters think will win, and are betting on, he will change the odds so that his profit (if he gets the market correct) will still give him a profit. Therefore, all the odds in a race times by all the bets laid at those odds will never be greater than the money a bookmaker has taken in bets - so that, if he gets it right, he makes a profit!
Book is closed
The race has probably started, and no more bets will be accepted.
Bookie
Bookmaker
Bookie's Runner
A person who who works on behalf of a bookmaker on course
Bookmaker
A person who takes bets, calculates odds and pays out winnings
Bottle
The 'tic-tac' / Slang term for 2/1.
Boxed in
A horse that cannot overtake another horse because it is blocked by other horses.
Break-even
PositionPrice at which your gamble starts to pay off and you begin to move into profit.
Breast Girth
A band round the body of a horse used to secure the saddle
British Horseracing Board (BHB)
Organisation with responsibility for strategic planning, finance, politics, race planning, training and marketing UK Racing (from 1993). The Jockey Club became the Regulator of Horseracing and continued with its traditional role.
Broke
The outcome of too many losing bets.
Brought Down
A horse that has fell due to another horse clashing with it.
Buck
Sports betting term for a $100 wager.
Bumbling and Boring
term used when a horse veers off course near the end of a race and bumps an opponent
Bumper
flat race for prospective jump horses
Buried
A racing accident when the horse has fallen on top of the jockey
Burlington Bertie
The 'tic-tac' / Slang term for 100/30.
Buy (Points)
a player pays an additional price to receive half a point or more in his favor on a point spread game.
Buy the Index
Type of bet in spread betting whereby you gamble that an index based on the possible outcomes of an event will finish above the upper limit of the spread.
Buying Price
A spread bet will have 2 prices - the buying price and the selling price. You will not be surprised to learn the buying price is higher.