subject: How to Calculate Odds and Payoffs [print this page] How to Calculate Odds and Payoffs How to Calculate Odds and Payoffs
It is astonishing how many people don't the toteboard. The most simple information is the win odds quoted for each horse. The odds don't tell you what the horse will pay, but the amount of profit you will get and the amount you have to bet to get it. 6-5 means you will get ?6 profit for every ?5 wagered. 20-1 means you get ?20 profit for every ?1 wagered (i.e. bet ?2 and get ?42 back). Below is a handy chart look up the payoff for a ?2 bet at various odds. Remember, your actual payoff may differ from this chart as the odds on the toteboard are rounded off, so 2-1 odds on the toteboard may actually be 1.9-1 or 2.2-1. Payoffs use the actual odds and are rounded down depending on the rules at that track. This rounding is called breakage which can be a complex topic for beginners.
If you want to evaluate the exact win odds on a horse, you will need to use a couple of other figures from the toteboard: total win pool and amount bet on that horse. The total pool is all the money bet on all the horses to win, but it is NOT the amount that will actually be paid out to the holders of winning tickets. Before the track pays off the winners they deduct the "take" which is generally between 14%-20% and is different for every state. This money goes to pay state and local taxes, money for the horsemen, track expenses, and the track's profit. To calculate the exact odds on your horse, just subtract the take from the total pool then subtract the amount bet on your horse to give you the amount of cash to be paid out. Divide that figure by the amount bet on your horse to get the exact odds. This figure will always be rounded off the payoffs are determined. Here is a simple example of win odds calculation:
Pay-offs for ?2 win bets:
ODDS PAYS ODDS PAYS ODDS PAYS
1-5 ?2.40 8-5 ?5.20 6-1 ?14.00
2-5 ?2.80 9-5 ?5.60 7-1 ?16.00
1-2 ?3.00 2-1 ?6.00 8-1 ?18.00
3-5 ?3.20 5-2 ?7.00 9-1 ?20.00
4-5 ?3.60 3-1 ?8.00 10-1 ?22.00
1-1 ?4.00 7-2 ?9.00 15-1 ?32.00
6-5 ?4.40 4-1 ?10.00 20-1 ?42.00
7-5 ?4.80 9-2 ?11.00 30-1 ?62.00
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