Each-Way AtlasGlossary: each-way, odds and racing terms
Early price
An early price is the odds fixed at the moment you place a bet, before the race starts, and your return is worked out from that price. It is worked out as the stake multiplied by the fractional odds, plus the stake. The numbers are on the page about early price or starting price. In UK betting it is shown on the bet slip.
Editorial team of Each-Way Atlas · Checked
What the term means
When you accept a price and confirm the bet, that price is locked. If the horse later drifts or shortens, your bet stays at the price you took, unless a feature such as Best Odds Guaranteed applies.
The wording that defines the term sits in each operator's rules, and we have not yet recorded it. The definition above is therefore a plain description and the operator wording is Not verified.
The short version: an early price is locked when you bet, so later price moves do not change it.
How the return is worked out
In words: the total return on a winning bet equals the stake multiplied by the decimal odds. The profit is that return minus the stake. For an each-way bet, the place part uses the place fraction on top, as described under place terms.
Why this matters to you: an early price gives certainty about what a win pays, at the cost of not benefiting if the price later grows.
Compare it with starting price, which is fixed only when the race starts.
Link with Best Odds Guaranteed
Operators describe Best Odds Guaranteed as paying the better of the early price and the starting price on eligible bets. Which races and bets qualify is set by each operator, and that wording is Not verified here.
Read Best Odds Guaranteed explained for the conditions to look for, and the policies in Best Odds Guaranteed on racing.
| Operator (candidate; licence to be confirmed) | How the rules describe an early price | Date read |
|---|---|---|
| Paddy Power | Not verified | Not verified |
| Unibet UK | Not verified | Not verified |
Common mix-ups
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An early price is not an offer. It is any price you take before the start. * It is not the same as a price boost, which is a raised price on a chosen selection.
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Odds shown as fractions, as under fractional odds, can describe an early price just as they describe any other.
The short version: take an early price if you value certainty over a possible better price.
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