NB
In betting terms, “nb” simply refers to a tipster’s “next best” selection for a day’s racing.
If you’re looking at a newspaper or in online media, you will often see a tipster’s pick for a day’s racing or for an individual race meeting. Most tipsters will give their “nap” selection for the day. This simply means it’s that tipster’s top selection for the day; his or her most fancied runner of all the selections he or she has made.
You’ll also usually see “nb” next to one of the horse or greyhound picks for the meeting, most commonly in brackets, and this simply refers to his or her second best pick of the day. It is literally, as the name suggests, the next best recommendation.
Tipsters are often worth following – but it’s always worth following their reasoning behind a nap selection or the nb pick of the day. They will usually set out their reasons in an accompanying article – or short notes at the bottom of each race etc. For gamblers, this information is clearly very useful potentially, but it’s also important to weigh up the betting value, particularly for the nap and nb selections. In most cases, the tipsters are simply making their top selections, but as bettors we‘re interested in the overall value as well. Simply put, if the nap selection is even money favourite in a six runner handicap whilst the nb is a 5-1 shot in another six runner handicap, then the latter tip is far better value on paper, all other things held equal.
You may also spot the letters “IWAC” next to a horse. This stands for “in with a chance” and does take account of the value. In other words, this is a relative longshot but one which the tipster feels has a reasonable chance of winning and which may represent good each way value.
It’s worth following different tipsters’ progress at different racecourses over a reasonable length of time before deciding how seriously to take his or her tips when making your own choices. Following the tipster’s nap and nb selections alone should, theoretically, offer even greater insight into their tipping abilities.
