Peter has been writing for the gambling industry since 2013, and joined the SportsCasting team in July 2024. Outside of work Peter is a runner, gig rower, guitarist and musician (releasing two albums under the name 'ShiroToKuro'). Peter is also a lover of manga, anime and Japanese cinema and can even read and speak Japanese at the conversational level.
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Ian Bruce became interested in betting in 1987, when he landed a winning Yankee on his first attempt. That stroke of luck (and he admits that's exactly what it was) sparked an interest in understanding the strategies behind successful wagers. Over the years, he has become one of the UK's most prolific writers on betting and gaming, and is best known for his systematic approach to winning. Ian's career in the industry now spans over three decades. His favorite betting method is Dutching because, in his words, "It's the one I win with more often than not."
All posts by Ian BruceSo, what does NAP mean in betting? A ‘NAP’ is a tipster’s number one suggested bet of the day. It is most common in horse racing, but it can be found in other sports, and in greyhounds in particular. This page will go into detail about the NAP meaning in betting, where the term came from, and much more besides.
NAP Betting Meaning – The Origin of the Term
Many people are confused about what does NAP mean in betting, but it’s quite a simple term. The top tipsters in newspapers and online will usually select a range of tips for that day’s race cards. They will, though, select one tip as their ‘NAP’ – which is just the tip out of all their tips that they think has the best chance of winning. If you are only going to place a single bet on any given day, then the tipster is suggesting that their ‘NAP’ is the tip to follow.
It is largely thought that the term ‘NAP’ comes from an old French card game called Napoleon. It’s a very simple, trick-taking game for three to seven players. Named after Napoleon III, players bid to attempt to win a specific number of tricks. One of the bids is called ‘Nap’ in which the bidder will bid to take all five tricks. It’s not the highest bid, but the two bids better than it are very risky, so are seldom bid. Nap is, therefore, recognised as the most common top bid.
The term ‘Nap’ moved across to other forms of gambling and eventually to the world of horse racing betting sites where the term became interchangeable with ‘dead-cert’.
The NAP in Horse Racing
As previously explained, when learning what does NAP mean in betting, it’s most commonly associated with horse racing. Betting tipsters – mostly those employed by newspapers and other gambling-based periodicals – will select a decent number of tips every day, usually one for each race unless they think a race is too close to call and that a bet on it is unwise.
The tipsters will go through their selections and choose one as their ‘NAP of the day’ – the tip that they think is most likely to be correct. As most newspapers employ multiple tipsters, you can usually find a table of NAPs showing each tipster’s NAP pick.
What are NAPs of the Day?
Some newspapers and gambling-based periodicals will have each tipster’s ‘NAP of the day’ but also may present an overall NAP of the day. This is the horse (or selection, if another sport) that has been napped the most times by the tipsters, or the selection thought most likely to win on that day’s race card selected by looking at the combined tips of all tipsters.
You can usually find online a running summary of how successful NAPs of the day have been over the past week/month/season, per publication or even per tipster.
The NAP Bet in Other Sports
The NAP bet is overwhelmingly associated with horse racing. It’s a term that has been in use for well over 100 years and is the ‘tip of the day’ from horse racing betting experts. You may find it used for other sports, such as greyhound betting, but with most sports you can bet on, the term is not used.
The NAP in horse racing is usually a UK term. In America ‘the nuts’ or ‘shoo-in’ may be used in the same way the betting NAP term is used in the UK.
How Does a Tipster Select Their NAP Bet?
When coming up with that day’s NAP in horse racing, a tipster will look at multiple aspects of all races. Below are some of the aspects of a race the tipster will consider. You may want to take these into consideration too if you intend to come up with your own NAP bet tips.
Past Performance
How has each horse performed in its past races? Has it won any, does it place frequently or does it fall, pull up or unseat its jockey more often than is normally expected?Course and Distance
All racecourses have their own attributes. Some have numerous turns, while others have lengthy straights. Which type of course does a horse perform better at? Also, some horses are fast but tire over distance, while others are slow starters but good at grinding out a decent pace over longer distances that sees them overtake horses that tire. Also, for National Hunt races, the type of fence or hurdle on the track is important, as is the number of jumps a horse is expected to deal with.The Going
Depending on the recent weather and location of a course, the going (state of the course) can be anything from soft (muddy) to hard (bone dry). Different horses prefer different goings. Some might hate soft going but love hard going, and vice versa. The going is an important factor when coming up with NAP selections.Jockey Bookings
Having the right jockey is key to a horse’s success in a race. A skilled jockey knows when to attack, when to hold back and when to keep free of bunching. A horse that falters when bunched that’s drawn tight to the rail will need to be pushed into clearer running to succeed. The weight of the jockey is important too, as is their experience, their recent performance, and their knowledge of the course and the horse.Quality of the Competition
A favoured horse may become unfancied if it turns out another fancied horse will be running in the same race. Tipsters will have their favourite mounts but won’t select them as their NAP of the day if their competition is of too high a quality.The Draw
For races where horses start in stalls (or traps in greyhound racing), the draw is important. Some horses become hesitant when bunched and cannot fight their way out of the pack. Others hate being bunched against the rail as they are fearful of being pushed into it. Some horses, however, enjoy fighting their way out, which is why where the horse is drawn is crucial. Some horses, too, hate being in the stall and can be slow starters when released, reducing their chances in sprints in particular.
How to Make the Most of NAPs in Betting
You can just follow NAPs and consult NAP tables to make your daily racing picks, or you could take things a little further. Here are some tips that should enable you to enhance your NAP betting skills.
Use a NAPs Table as a Ready-Made Shortlist
There are so many races in the UK and abroad that evaluating the chances of every single horse is virtually impossible. You can, therefore, collect information from multiple horse racing NAP tables to create your shortlist of potential tips before you go on and do your own research.
Paper Trade NAP Selection
If you are going to make NAP betting your regular source of betting selection information, then it’s best to spend a little time seeing how your NAP betting strategy does before you start using it with real money. We recommend a month at least of dummy betting using spreadsheets or good old pen, paper and a calculator before you start backing your NAP in horse racing selections with money at the best UK bookies.
Confirm Your Opinion
If you prefer to come up with your own horse racing NAPs, then it never hurts to get a second opinion. If you are 50:50 about your own tips, then why not consult a horse racing NAPs table to see what the tipping experts think?
Convert Free Bets
If you don’t consider yourself a horse racing tipping expert and you’ve gained a free bet that you can only (or that you only want to) use on horse racing, then why not put that free bet on that day’s top NAP in horse racing selection? You’ll probably max out your chances of returning profit from your freebie if you do.
Conclusion
You should now have learnt what does NAP meaning in betting, and what does NAP mean in horse racing in particular. You should now be able to find NAPs table selections and place your horse racing bets with confidence, or come up with your own racing NAPs, or NAPs of the day in your other favoured sports.
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