How does horse betting work?

Question

They said Da Tara had 38 to 1 odds at the start of the race, so you win $38K if you bet $1K.

What about Big Brown? He had 1 to 4 odds. So what if you bet $1K and Big Brown won? You would lose money???

Answer 1

38-1...is for every $1.00 you wager you get back....$38.00

but you have to bet $2.00 so you would win....$76.00 plus

your $2.00 dollars back....$78.00.....but the money on

big brown was so much...it paid...$79.00

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big brown was going off at....1 to 4.....for every $4.00 you

bet you would make $1.00...a total of $5.00 for your

$4.00 investment.....

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Answer 2

you cant lose money if you win a bet...$1000 bet on BB @ 1-5 odds would pay $1200...the$1000 that you bet + $200 for winning.  the odds you see are not the payout... you always get your bet back when you win, then the odds.....@ 38-1, a $1000 bet would pay $39000..... 38 X $ 1000 + the $ 1000  you had bet

Answer 3

If Big Brown won, you would collect $.25 for each dollar bet plus you get your bet back.

So if you bet $1000, and you win at 1 to 4, you get back $1250.

Answer 4

It is called pari mutual betting.fans betting against fans determine the odds.winning bets pay the odds to $1.plus $1.   38 to 1   would be $39      1to 4  would be $1.25.you can not lose on a winning ticket if it a single bet.the track has to pay $.05 to $.10 on the $1.00 varies at different states.