NationStates Jolt Archive

...because I don't understand them.

8-1??? 4-5??? What do they mean? How are they calculated? If I put 10 pounds on a 5-1 bet, how much would I get back?

Thank you in advance.

Bets are easy. One side is the payoff, one side is what you will pay.

In the case of 5-1, if you won you'd get 50 pounds. If you lost, you'd pay 10.

That's my understanding of it, anyway.

Betting odds are calculated so that the house wins no matter who bets on what. If few people are expected to bet on Horse A, they increase the odds to make that bet more attractive and take in more bets on that horse.