How to understand odds?

Question

i don't really understand the odd like if a horse is 15/1 is that good in a 10 horse race? can someone explain that to me

Answer 1

I am still learning.Yesterday,my sister bet a 2.00 box trifecta for me and she paid 12.00.I picked Hard Spun,Street Sense and Stream Cat and they were 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The odds were so low that I only won 6.80 on a 12.00 bet.I put 10.00 on Smarty Jones to win the Kentucky Derby in 2004 and I think he was 4 to 1.I won 51.00,if I remember right. You never know! Sometimes longshots win and you can make a little money. Edward seems to understand this quite well.

Answer 2

Edwards answer is definitely on the MONEY ! But, one other thing to keep in mind is the favored horse on the board ALOT of times doesn"t win the race. Another small tip is when it gets closer to start time of the race the odds will change alot. If there isn't very much money being played on the race it only takes a small amount of money to change the odds on the board.

Answer 3

it means if the race was run 15 times this horse MIGHT win it once. Not a good chance. If a horse was 3/5 it would probably win it 3 out of 5 times.

Answer 4

Ric D answer is far out,the odds of a horse usually depends on a number of things.The most common is form,this means where the horse has finished in recent races and where the horses finishing behind have finished in their next races.You should also take into account the weight a horse has to carry in a race,this is determined by the handicapper which again will asually depend on form.Always remember the horse does'nt no what price it is.

Answer 5

15-1 is great if you think the horse has a chance to win.  At those odds, even place and show ought to pay well.  If you don't like the horse, even 99-1 is not good enough.  Basically, anything above 8/5 is good if the horse is going to win.  It's a mistake to handicap based on the odds, but it is good to consider them when you are placing your bets.  All things being equal, you should bet the horse you think has the best chance to win, but if you see a horse at 15-1 and you think his chances are more like 5-1, you should jump on it.  The odds are based on other people's opinions on the probable outcome of the race, and one thing we know for sure about racing is that no one knows anything.  Your guess is as good as anyone's.