A Beginner's Guide To Betting

Traditional format odds, like you see at the racecourse and mentioned on television, are always 2 numbers separated by a slash.

Taking odds of 1/3 on a horse as an example; if you add the 2 figures together and imagine that the race could be run over and over that many times (1 + 3 = 4), then the 2nd number (3) is the number of times that horse would be expected to win.

So, for every 4 times the race was run that selection would be expected to win 3 times.

Similarly, odds of 33/1 suggest that if the same race was run over and over then that selection would only be expected to win once every 34 times.

How much money should I put on?

As for the money involved, it’s good to remember that when you place a bet, shorter odds suggest a better chance of winning but also smaller returns from a winning bet.

With bigger odds, you don’t need to stake very much to win a lot.

Think of the 2nd figure in traditional odds as being what you are staking and the 1st figure as the profit you’ll get back.

So, odds of 1/3 show that for every £3 you stake, you get £1 profit back if you win. However, at 1/1 (Evens), you would double your money - £1 back for every £1 you stake.