comeback money

noun

Money that is used by an agent of a bookie to place a large bet on a horse who has large odds, thereby causing the odds on that horse to decline, reducing the bookie's potential losses in the event that the horse wins.

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Meanings

nouncomeback money (uncountable)
  1. uncountablegamblingMoney that is used by an agent of a bookie to place a large bet on a horse who has large odds, thereby causing the odds on that horse to decline, reducing the bookie's potential losses in the event that the horse wins.

    The "comeback money" may represent large bets which illegal bookmakers are unable to "lay off" among themselves, bets which no one in the bookmaking organization desires to hold.

    1951, United States. Congress. Senate. Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, United States Congressional Serial Set (volumes 1-4, page 162)
    1 more example

    Lots of people notice at the track that the tote board will change at the last moment; odds will drop on a horse from 20 to 1 to 8 to 1, something like that, which means that all comeback money has just come in.

    1950, United States. Congress. Senate, Hearings, volume 5, page 81
Cite this entry
APA

comeback money. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comeback%20money

MLA

“comeback money.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comeback%20money. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “comeback money,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/comeback%20money.

Source: comeback money on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.