Greyhound Betting Glossary

Every Term You’ll Encounter at the Track, on the Card, and in the Market

Greyhound racing has its own vocabulary — a mix of betting terminology shared with horse racing, track-specific jargon unique to the dogs, and abbreviations that appear on every race card. If you’ve read a form string and wondered what “Ck” means, or seen “CSF” on a result and didn’t know how it was calculated, this glossary covers it. The terms are organised alphabetically and defined in the context of UK greyhound racing and betting. For additional terminology, see the Timeform Greyhound Glossary.

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A–Z Glossary

Accumulator (Acca): A bet combining two or more selections where the returns from each winning leg roll into the next. All selections must win for the bet to pay out.

Ante-post: A bet placed on a race before the final declarations are confirmed. Common on major events like the Greyhound Derby. Standard rules: non-runner, no refund.

BAGS: Bookmakers’ Afternoon Greyhound Service. Daytime meetings scheduled specifically for off-course betting consumption, broadcast to betting shops and streamed online.

Banker: A selection considered near-certain to win, often used as the anchor leg in accumulator or forecast bets.

BEGS: Bookmakers’ Evening Greyhound Service. The evening equivalent of BAGS, covering scheduled evening meetings for off-course betting.

Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG): A promotion where the bookmaker pays the higher of your accepted price or the Starting Price. Available on most BAGS and BEGS meetings at major firms.

Board price: The odds displayed by on-course bookmakers before a race. The board price may differ from the final Starting Price.

Bumped (Bk): A form notation indicating the dog was physically contacted by another runner during the race.

Calculated time (ct): An adjusted finishing time that accounts for going, grade, or other factors. Used on some race cards to normalise performance comparisons.

Checked (Ck): A form notation meaning the dog had to alter course during the race to avoid another runner, losing momentum and time.

Closer: A dog whose running style involves sitting behind the pace in the early stages and finishing strongly in the latter part of the race.

Combination forecast: A forecast bet selecting three dogs and covering all six possible first-and-second finishing orders. Costs six times the unit stake.

Combination tricast: A tricast bet selecting three dogs and covering all six possible finishing orders for first, second, and third. Costs six times the unit stake.

Computer Straight Forecast (CSF): The official dividend for straight forecast bets, calculated by algorithm based on the Starting Prices of the first two finishers.

Computer Tricast (CT): The official dividend for tricast bets, calculated by algorithm based on the Starting Prices of the first three finishers.

Decimal odds: An odds format where the quoted number represents the total return per unit staked, including the stake. A decimal of 4.0 returns £4 for every £1 bet.

Disqualified (D): A form notation indicating the dog was disqualified from the race result, typically for interference.

Double: An accumulator with two selections.

Drift: A price movement where the odds lengthen — the dog becomes less fancied in the market. Opposite of shorten.

Each-way: Two bets in one: a win bet and a place bet at equal stakes. In greyhound racing, place means first or second, paid at one quarter of the win odds.

Evens (EVS): Odds of 1/1. Stake equals profit. A £10 bet at evens returns £20.

Fell (F): A form notation indicating the dog fell during the race.

Forecast: A bet requiring the punter to predict the first and second finishers in a race. Can be straight (exact order), reverse (either order), or combination (three selections, any order).

Form string: The sequence of finishing positions from a dog’s recent races, displayed on the race card. Read left to right from oldest to most recent.

Fractional odds: The traditional UK odds format expressed as a fraction (e.g. 5/1, 7/2). The numerator is the profit, the denominator is the stake unit.

GBGB: Greyhound Board of Great Britain. The sport’s regulatory body, responsible for licensing tracks, registering dogs, and enforcing rules of racing.

Going: The condition of the racing surface. Not formally classified in greyhound racing as it is in horse racing, but affected by weather, particularly rain.

Grade: The classification level of a greyhound at a specific track. Grades run from A1 (highest) downward. Dogs move between grades based on recent performance.

Hare: The mechanical lure that greyhounds chase around the track. Operated electronically and designed to maintain a consistent distance ahead of the dogs.

Implied probability: The probability of an outcome as suggested by the odds. Calculated as: denominator / (numerator + denominator) for fractional odds, or 1 / decimal odds.

In-play: Betting that takes place after the race has started. Also called in-running or live betting.

Jacket: The coloured coat worn by a greyhound during a race, corresponding to its trap number. Trap 1 is red, 2 blue, 3 white, 4 black, 5 orange, 6 black and white stripes.

Kennel: The trainer’s establishment where greyhounds are housed and prepared for racing. Kennel form refers to the collective recent performance of a trainer’s dogs.

Lay: A bet against a selection winning. Available on betting exchanges. The layer pays out if the selection wins and collects the backer’s stake if it loses.

Leader: A dog whose running style involves leading from the traps and attempting to control the race from the front.

Odds-on: Odds where the potential profit is less than the stake. The numerator is smaller than the denominator (e.g. 4/6, 1/2). Indicates the dog is considered more likely to win than not.

Open race (OR): A race that accepts entries from dogs of any grade. Typically the highest-quality races on a card.

Overround: The bookmaker’s built-in margin on a race. Calculated by summing the implied probabilities of all runners. A total above 100% represents the bookmaker’s edge.

Place: In greyhound racing, finishing first or second. Place bets and the place component of each-way bets pay on this basis in standard six-runner fields.

Railer (Rls): A dog that runs tight to the inside rail, covering the shortest possible distance around the track.

Reserve (Res): A replacement dog listed on the race card that will run if a declared runner is withdrawn before the race.

Reverse forecast: A forecast bet on two dogs to finish first and second in either order. Costs two units.

Sectional time: The time recorded for a portion of a race, typically to the first bend and from the first bend to the finish. Reveals pace profile and running style.

Shorten: A price movement where the odds decrease — the dog becomes more fancied in the market. Opposite of drift.

SIS: Sports Information Services. The company that produces and distributes live broadcast coverage of UK greyhound racing to bookmakers and media outlets.

Slow away (SAw): A form notation indicating the dog was slow to leave the traps at the start of the race.

SP (Starting Price): The official odds at which a greyhound starts the race, determined by the on-course market at the moment the traps open. Used to settle bets placed at SP.

Straight forecast: A forecast bet requiring the exact first and second finishers in the correct order.

Tissue: The bookmaker’s or punter’s initial private set of odds, created before the public market opens. Used as the basis for assessing value.

Tote: The pool betting system at greyhound tracks. All stakes go into a pool, a deduction is taken, and the remainder is divided among winning bets.

Trap: The numbered starting box from which a greyhound begins the race. UK tracks use six traps, numbered 1 (inside) to 6 (outside).

Treble: An accumulator with three selections.

Trial (T): A form notation indicating the run was a non-competitive trial rather than a race. Times from trials may appear on the card but don’t carry race context.

Tricast: A bet requiring the punter to predict the first three finishers. Can be straight (exact order) or combination (any order among three selections).

Value bet: A bet where the bookmaker’s odds imply a lower probability of winning than the punter’s own assessment suggests. The foundation of long-term profitable betting.

Wide runner (W): A dog that runs wide of the rail on the bends, covering more ground but often finding cleaner racing room.

The Language Gets Easier — and Then It Disappears

Every term in this glossary felt unfamiliar at some point. Within a few weeks of regular greyhound betting — reading cards, watching races, placing bets — the vocabulary becomes second nature. You stop translating “CSF” and just know what it means. You glance at “Ck” in a form string and immediately register the implication. The language stops being a barrier and starts being a shortcut.

That’s the point of any specialised vocabulary: it compresses information. A racecard can describe a dog’s last six runs, its pace profile, its trainer, and its competitive level in a few centimetres of text. Learning to read that text fluently is the entry requirement for serious greyhound betting — and this glossary is where that fluency begins.