WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

Horse wagering in the U.S. operates on a pari-mutuel system, which means you’re betting against all the other gamblers, not the house. And what that means is that the bettors determine the odds, so the more money that’s bet on a horse, the better his odds are (and the less the payout is).

A horse’s odds are represented by two numbers that correspond roughly to what a winning bet will pay out. For instance, if a horse’s odds are 4-1, you’ll win about four dollars on a dollar bet (plus the buck you put up). Sometimes a horse will have odds of 3-2 or 5-2—a bit of quick, drunken math determines that those odds correlate to 1.5-1 or 2.5-1. Any horse with odds shorter than 10-1 is among the favorites; a horse whose odds are even is probably the favorite; a horse whose odds are less than one is the overwhelming favorite.

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