CAMELOT FANTASIES

Lady TT, if you hear about someone being bet as even money, that is 1-1 odds.  It usually means they have a great chance of winning compared to the rest of the field.
From a monetary point of view it means for every dollar (or whatever currency), you put in, if your pick wins, you get your dollar back plus another dollar.   Bet a dollar get back a total of 2 dollars.   2 to 1 or 2/1,  means put in a dollar and you get a total of 3 dollars back, your original dollar plus 2 dollars.

So in Rafa's case at 4/5 it means bet 5 dollars and get 9 dollars back,  your 5 plus 4.

Djokovic - 19/10 - bet 10 and get 19 back plus your original 10 for a total of 29.

Stan - 25/1 -  For every dollar you bet, you get back 25 plus your dollar.  So a $40 bet on Stan would return you $1000 plus your original $40.

Now how do they decide what the odds are?  Usually the bookies or some authority determine the starting odds.  But then as money is bet, the odds change, reflecting the money bet per contestant, as compared to the total pool.

In Thoroughbred Horse racing, the sport of kings, I recall the great Secretariat going off at 1/10 odds, an overwhelming favorite to win the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of the Thoroughbred USA Triple Crown races.  He paid $2.20 for a 2 dollar bet to win in his thrilling record breaking romp.  Or if you had bet $10 you would get $11 dollars back, 1 dollar plus your original 10.

Here is that race for your viewing pleasure.  Set view settings for HD.

I'll never forget the announcer exclaiming: 
"He's moving like a tremendous machine..." 


Respectfully,
masterclass

Thank you so much. It's still a little confusing figuring out how much you would win, math phobia and all. But, it sounds like the favorite would pay less and longshots would pay more.

If I'm understanding this, Nadal wouldn't pay much considering he's a favorite, but Nole would pay more if you bet on him, and Stan would be off the chart.

I used to go to the horse races and put down cheapie bets. It was exciting even though I didn't know what I was doing.

It seems that if you want to gamble on sports or whatever, you really need to know what you're doing. Too hard, considering injuries and all, but at least I have a better understanding.

Thanks again.