Determining Horse Racing Odds

Horse racing is one of the most popular sports in the world, and it is also one of the popular sports that involve betting. For betting fanatics, the odds at a track are typically shown on a tote board, a large board that displays the odds for horse racing. The horse racing odds determine the amount of money one can win based on his bet. For instance, if the odds are 3:1 for a horse competing on the track and you place a bet of $1 on that horse, you can win $3 if that horse wins.

Factor that Determine Horse Racing Odds

The odds for a given horse are determined by a few factors. One is the money that people have wagered on a particular horse. Another is the sum of the money wagered on all horses. Now, a portion of this money goes to the track’s take, which is usually somewhere from 10% to 20%. These factors determine how much you can win when you bet on a particular horse in the game.

Calculation of Odds

For instance, if $1,100 is the sum of all bets and track’s take is 15%, that reduces the sum of money by 15%. So from $1,100, there would only be $935. Supposing the total amount of bets on a horse is $375, this amount shall be subtracted from $935 to give us $560. This resulting amount is divided by $375, and this gives $1.49, which is rounded up to $1.50, resulting in 1.5:1 odds or 3:2.

Constant Changes in the Odds

Horse racing odds for every participant may have predetermined values at the start (in the morning) when no bets are placed yet. Then the values change constantly throughout the day as people place bets on their favored entrants. One can see the odds changing every minute until the race comes to an end. The payouts are not actually based on the odds when you made your wager, but on odds during the end of the betting period.

Dropping Odds

Such betting systems are affected by the number of people casting bets. As mentioned earlier, the amount of bets on an entrant determines the odds. The amount of bets also depends on the number of bettors. In general, as the number of bettors increase, the odds decrease. For instance, there are two horses in a race and ten people are casting bets, each casting a bet of $2. If there are 5 people betting on each horse, that means a total bet of $20 in the betting pool. As one of the horses wins, 5 people will have to divide $20 among them, so they get $4 each. That means for the $2 they bet, they each get $4, giving a 4-2 odds or 2-1. This is a simplistic representation excluding the house cut in the equation.

However, if horse A has 8 bettors and horse B has only two bettors. The odds for horse A drop to 7-5, because 8 people will share the money pool, hence each winning $2.50 for every $2 bet made. The odds drop to 5-4. Consequently, the odds for the horse B climb to 5-1.

Many betting sites display information on dropping odds to help people make ideal bets. Nonetheless, people who are inexperienced in betting should take it slow. Seasoned bettors, on the other hand, can make use of the information to maximize their winning chances.