comeback money

Noun

comeback money (uncountable)

1. 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.
   • 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
   • 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)