Odds understood

Remember you bet the figure on right to win that on left

so...................4-1 means you bet 1 rs. to win 4......so total of 5 ................

Example

In considering a soccer match (the event) that can be either a 'home win', 'draw' or 'away win' (the outcomes) then the following odds might be encountered to represent the true chance of each of the three outcomes:

Home: Evens

Draw: 2-1

Away: 5-1

These odds can be represented as relative probabilities (or percentages by multiplying by 100) as follows:

Evens (or 1-1) corresponds to a relative probability of ¹⁄₂ (50%)

2-1 corresponds to a relative probability of ¹⁄₃ (33¹⁄₃%)

5-1 corresponds to a relative probability of ¹⁄₆ (16²⁄₃%)

By adding the percentages together a total 'book' of 100% is achieved (representing a fair book). The bookmaker, in his wish to avail himself of a profit, will invariably reduce these odds. Consider the simplest model of reducing, which uses a proportional decreasing of odds