Race Horse odds?

Question

Can some one help me with the process of coming up with the odds and what they mean?

Answer 1

The odds, are based on how the public is betting....  What makes a favorite, or a long shot, is how popular a entry is......

Answer 2

This is a very accurate table with considering factors of how much your state and track take from the overall pool of money bet on the winning horses.

1-9 $2.20

1-5 $2.40

2-5 $2.80

1-2 $3.00

3-5 $3.20

4-5 $3.60

1-1 (aka: even money) $4.00

6-5 $4.40

7-5 $4.80

3-2 $5.00

8-5 $5.20

9-5 $5.60

2-1 $6.00

5-2 $7.00

3-1 $8.00

7-2 $9.00

4-1 $10.00

9-2 $11.00

5-1 $12.00

6-1 $14.00

7-1 $16.00

8-1 $18.00

9-1 $20.00

10-1 $22.00

Beyond 10-1 you are safe to take the odds and multiply by 2 for most accurate payouts.

Answer 3

Odds are computed by the actual betting being done. If a horse is being bet heavily, it's odd will come down. For instance, a horse opens at 10-1, but after several hours of betting, the track computes a larger percentage of bets has been placed on the horse than a 10-1 number would have. So the track adjusts the odds to 9-1.

The math looks something like this: Total money bet-the cut the track takes=Total pot available for payouts. The track then computes how the pot would be divided. A likely-winning horse will have many bettors and therefore be low odds because the money will be divided among all those bettors. A longshot as fewer bettors and therefore will payout a higher amount.

FYI- Insurance works the same way.

What the odds mean is pretty simple. The left number is what you get paid for the number on the right. So 10-1 odds means you get 10 dollars back for every dollar wagered. 3-2 odds means you get 3 dollars back for ever 2 dollars bet. The higher the ratio, the more unlikely it is to happen.