I don't understand the numbers that are displayed in betting shops. I don't under the concept of odds in betting. I add them up and they don't total 100%, so I have no idea what those numbers represent. I keep this a secret, lest people laugh at my stupidity.
Assuming this is a real post, 50/1 or "fifty to one" odds indicate that should your bet pay off you will be paid back 50 units for every unit of currency you bet, plus your original stake.
Thus, betting £1 at 50/1 will mean you will be paid back the sum of £51 should what you bet on, in fact, happen.
If you mean American and/or decimal odds then I too do not understand them and need a converter to convert them to good old British odds...
>>4989 What do you mean, "assuming this is a real post?"
Anyway, I think I understand it. So when I see it like this (50/1), it means that they denominator is a multiple of what I will be paying, and the numerator is a multiple of what I will be getting? Does that mean 50/1 are good odds? Or risky? (2/1) seems pretty safe to me. Could it be the odds of, say, Arsenal beating a team from the lower leagues?
I have no idea what the American decimal odds are.
50/1 implies that the chance of that outcome is approximately 1.96%. Odds of 2/1 imply a probability of 33.33% and 1/1 ("evens" in bookmaking parlance) implies a 50% chance. Odds with a low implied probability are called "long odds" and odds with a high implied probability are called "short odds". Commentators will often talk about the odds lengthening or shortening, as bookmakers adjust their odds based on new information or changes in the betting. Odds shorter than evens are called "odds on". Odds of 1/4 imply a probability of 80%.
The job of a bookmaker is to set odds slightly longer than the actual probabilities, such that the probabilities implied by the odds for all of the possible outcomes sum to greater than 100%. This is called "over-round" and is how bookmakers turn a profit. In the long run, the over-round ensures that the bookmaker will pay out less than he takes in. The over-round is equivalent to the house advantage in casino games like roulette.
From the gamblers perspective, "good odds" are where the bookmaker has over-priced an outcome, providing the gambler with an opportunity to profit. If a gambler believes that a horse has a 1 in 4 chance of winning, then odds longer than 3/1 would be favourable for him.
This traditional notation (fractional odds) is inconvenient for giving very precise odds or performing calculations, so modern gamblers tend to favour decimal odds. Decimal odds represent the total return on a given stake, so a bet of £1 at odds of 2.00 will return £2, a bet of £100 at 1.02 will return £102, a bet of £5 at odds of 10.00 will return £50 and so on.
Nah mate, the return on decimal odds is just stake * odds. I think you're confusing profit and return. Your profit on a £100 bet at 1.02 would be £2, but your return would be £102.
Give 'em a buzz lad. Thay can probably kill two birds with one stone. Although don't do that yourself, the DNA on two corpses will probably have you sent down.
