odds question

phatus · 2013-04-24 20:31:33

what odds are more than 1/2?

For example is 2/3 more? What about 7/5?

bobbym · 2013-04-24 20:38:30

Hi;

You mean 1:2 or probability 1 / 3?

2/3 is not odds it could be a probability.

Please look here for a good explanation of the whole notation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odds

phatus · 2013-04-24 21:04:05

Hello and thanks for the help

Let me rephrase the original question. So ignore what i said before. If a bookies says i can place a bet at 1/2 odds or more what do they mean by this? What is considered more than 1/2?

bobbym · 2013-04-24 21:05:53

Depending on how he phrases it, he is saying that you will bet 1 to win 2. I am assuming it is 2 to 1 against. Else you would be laying the bet and have to bet 2 to win 1.

1/2 is 1 to 1

Using the fraction notation is not correct. The correct way to state these type problems is to say:

When a bookmaker offers betting odds of 6 : 1 against some event occurring, it means that he is prepared to pay out a prize of six times the stake, and return the stake as well, to anyone who places a bet.

phatus · 2013-04-24 21:25:37

Okay i thought they wrote it as 1/2 on the site but could be wrong. Either way it should be written as 1:2 then.

So if i bet £1 at 1:2 i would get a £1.50 return if the bet won. The original bet plus 50%. I don't understand what they mean by odds greater than 1:2.

bobbym · 2013-04-24 21:35:06

If he says it is 2 to 1 against when you bet 1 unit you get paid 2 units.

Think of it like this. If I were to play the current world champion at chess Vishy Anand, the book would post say 1000 to 1 against me. That means anyone betting 10 dollars on me would win 10000 dollars if I win.
Anyone betting on him would have to lay 10000 dollars to win 10 dollars when he wins.

phatus · 2013-04-24 22:30:15

I think we're getting crossed wires here. I understand what you're saying but i think because of the way i've written the betting odds you don't understand what i'm saying. I'm not 100% sure how bookies write betting odds on their website so i could be writing it incorrectly. I thought it is written as 1/2 but could be wrong and maybe it's 1:2 or something like that.

As an example of betting odds if i bet on player 1 to beat player 2 and the odds were 1/10 and i place £10 on the bet and player 1 wins i would be given a return of £11 (original bet plus £1). So i wouldn't be getting a good return because player 1 is expected to win most of the time. So if the odds were 1/2 and i placed a £10 bet i'd get a return of £15 if player 1 won.

Basically i have won a free bet at a bookies and it says it has to be placed on odds of 1/2 or more. I don't understand what is more than 1/2. I assumed it means if my profit return is greater than 50% as it would be at 1/2.

bobbym · 2013-04-24 22:46:34

As an example of betting odds if i bet on player 1 to beat player 2 and the odds were 1/10 and i place £10 on the bet and player 1 wins i would be given a return of £11

That is saying player 2 is 10:1 against.

If player 2 is 2:1 against, that means 1 is a 2 to 1 favorite. I bet 10 dollars on 1, I expect to get 5+10 dollars back.

phatus · 2013-04-24 22:54:35

If player 2 is 2:1 against, that means 1 is a 2 to 1 favorite. I bet 10 dollars on 1, I expect to get 5+10 dollars back.

Yes that's what i said in my last post. See:

So if the odds were 1/2 and i placed a £10 bet i'd get a return of £15 if player 1 won.

That's not answering my question though.

bobbym · 2013-04-24 22:56:51

Yes but you are phrasing it in a very unorthodox fashion.

I would guess that he is requiring you to bet on something that is bigger than a 2 to 1 dog.

phatus · 2013-04-24 23:06:27

That's just the way they write it on betting sites. I can't access betting sites at the moment as i'm at work but here's a copy/paste from a google search:

oddsconverter.co.uk/CachedGuide to UK, American and European odds formats and betting calculators. ... 1/2 , 1.50, -200, 13/8, 2.63, +162.50, 9/2, 5.50, +450. 8/15, 1.53, -187.50, 17/10 ...

At oddsconverter it shows 1/2 as a decimal bet of 1.50. This means if i bet £10 i get £15 return. So the person i'm betting on would be considered a favourite to win.

bobbym · 2013-04-24 23:12:25

Hmmm, I have lived in Vegas for almost 100 years and that is not the way it is posted here.

Looking at that it looks like they want you to bet on a favorite. Something that is more than 2 to 1. This way they do not have to pay anything other than a small amount.

phatus · 2013-04-25 00:14:32

Ah okay i think that's the case because i asked the website by e-mail if 7/5 (this is what i wanted to bet on) would be more than 1/2 and they said it wouldn't. I was confused because i thought the 'more' was referring to the return. So 'more' than 50% profit return. I think you're right that they mean i have to bet on a favourite at 1/2 or 'more' which means an even greater favourite like 1/10 for example.

Thanks for the help. Sorry for the confusion.

Nehushtan · 2013-04-25 00:26:37

phatus wrote:

what odds are more than 1/2?
For example is 2/3 more? What about 7/5?

1/2 means if you bet £1 and you win, you receive £1.50 (1/2 × £1 = £0.50 plus £1 stake).

1/2 is read as 2 to 1 on.

For 2/3, £3 wins £2 plus £3 = £5. If you had staked the £3 on the 1/2 above however you would have got £1.5 + £3 = £4.5. Therefore 2/3 is a longer odds than 1/2 (it pays out more if you win).

And 7/5 is definitely longer than 1/2 (its greater than 1/1 whereas 1/2 is less than 1/1).

bobbym wrote:

Using the fraction notation is not correct.

Why is it not correct? Most bookmakers here use fraction notation.

phatus wrote:

So if i bet £1 at 1:2 i would get a £1.50 return if the bet won. The original bet plus 50%. I don't understand what they mean by odds greater than 1:2.

Think of it this way. If you bet £x you will earn £1.5x if you win. Now stake the same amount (£x) on the odds youre looking at. If your earnings are more than £1.5x, then those odds are longer than 1/2. Otherwise they are shorter.

bobbym wrote:

Yes but you are phrasing it in a very unorthodox fashion.

No, hes phrasing it in a way I understand very well.

Last edited by Nehushtan (2013-04-25 00:40:45)

phatus · 2013-04-25 00:32:45

And 7/5 is definitely greater than 1/2 (its greater than 1/1 whereas 1/2 is less than 1/1).

This is where my confusion is because the website (think it's Ladbrokes) said 7/5 isn't more than 1/2. That's why i was asking here because i assumed it would be. I think i'm going to have to send them another e-mail to get them to clarify this.

Nehushtan · 2013-04-25 00:40:05

I think youre confusing the terms greater and less. A horse that has a low probability of winning would have longer odds giving you higher returns if you win, whereas the favourite (the one with the highest probability of winning) would have the shortest odds meaning your returns if you win are the smallest. In other words, greater chance of winning = lesser returns if you win, lesser chance of winning = greater returns if you win.

phatus · 2013-04-25 01:04:10

Yes 7/5 has a lesser chance of winning but a greater return if it wins compared to 1/2.

So would you agree with the following statement: 7/5 is more than 1/2

The betting website doesn't.

Nehushtan · 2013-04-25 01:20:35

In what sense more than?

If an odds give you more returs when you win, we say the odds are longer; otherwise they are shorter. The longer the odds on a horse, the less probability it has of winning.

I think its better to avoid the terms greater/more than or less than to avoid confusion. Thus we say that the odds of 7/5 are longer than those of 1/2 (2/1 on).

Last edited by Nehushtan (2013-04-25 01:27:29)

phatus · 2013-04-25 01:30:04

Nehushtan wrote:

In what sense more than?
If an odds give you more returs when you win, we say the odds are longer; otherwise they are shorter. The longer the odds on a horse, the less probability it has of winning.
Try not to use the terms greater/more than or less than. They are confusing.

The website says 'the bet must be placed on odds of 1/2 or more'. I think maybe they have just worded it badly. I assume they're saying the bet must be placed on odds of 1/2 or shorter as 7/5 would be longer and they say i can't use these odds for the bet.

I think what i need to do is find a 1/2 or shorter bet and confirm with the website this is acceptable. If it isn't then one of the people who have replied to me must be wrong.

Nehushtan · 2013-04-25 01:39:31

Youre right, it looks confusing.

Math Is Fun Forum

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odds question

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