Win rate

This article is about the odds of gambling and betting. For the economic term, see profit ratio (economy) .

As odds in a refers to gambling , or a bet the factor by which the use of the betting subscriber is multiplied in case of winning to the payout amount and the height to determine the net profit. A distinction is made between bets at fixed and variable odds.

Fixed odds betting

Fixed odds bets on sporting events are offered by bookmakers : the odds are fixed when the bet is placed and cannot be changed afterwards, the bookmaker acts as the opponent. To limit the risk, bookmakers offer bets on all possible outcomes, so ideally they make their profit through arbitrage .

Fixed-odds bets can also be found in many games of chance , such as roulette , wheel of fortune , craps , sic bo etc.

Variable odds betting

Variable odds bets are placed on the totalizer . Here, the bettors bet among each other ( parimutuel betting ). The odds are not yet fixed when the bet is placed, they are only determined after the betting event. This is also the case with the Calcutta auction, which is related to the totalizator system .

With these types of bets, not the entire sum of the stakes is paid out in the form of winnings, but only a certain proportion; the payout rates range from less than 50% for state providers to around 85% for horse races .

The organizer acts as a so-called totaliser , as a mere broker of the bets, and does not bear any risk himself: He makes a profit that only depends on the sum of the stakes, but not on the specific outcome of the betting event .

Presentation of the odds

The following different forms are common for the presentation of the odds:

Continental Europe

Bookmakers on the European continent give the gross odds . If a bookmaker offers the bet on X to win at odds of 5.50, a stake of € 1 will give you € 5.50 back if you win - they also say “5.50 for 1” - ie the European odds are the ratio of Payout amount to bet. The payout amount or gross profit is made up of the stake and net or net profit ; in the example given, this is € 4.50.

United Kingdom

In games of chance such as B. Roulette, odds are given as net odds and this is the practice followed by bookmakers in the UK . The net odds are defined as the ratio of net winnings to stakes and are referred to as odds for sports and racing bets (see there). A British bookmaker would therefore offer odds of 4.5 against X in the example above . Odds are usually presented in fractions, i.e. 9/2 ( against ), pronounced “9 to 2”.

If the net profit is equal to the stake, this is called even money, or even for short , in this case the European odds are 2.00.

If the net profit is less than the stake, the bookmaker offers bets on Y , this is called odds on . The quota 5/2  on is equivalent to a quota of 2/5  against , ie a gross quota of 1.40. Odds on are often written in red, which is why an odds on favorite is in the reds .

United States

In the USA, on the other hand, the following representation is common:

If a positive number is given as odds for X , this means the actual profit on a bet of $ 100. The notation +450 means a net rate of 4.50 or 9/2 or a gross rate of 5.50; the number 450 is called the take price .

However, if the net profit is smaller than the stake, then Y is not written about +40, but the stake - the so-called lay price - which is required for a profit of $ 100 and to distinguish it from the previous case with a Provided with a minus sign or printed in red.

An odds of −250 for Y means that you have to risk $ 250 to make a profit of $ 100 if you win. In this example the net odds are 100/250 = 0.4 or 2/5; a British bookmaker would call for bets at “2/5” or “5/2 on”, a continental European bookmaker would offer odds 1.40.

Stock market price

Betting odds can also be given as stock exchange prices. The price indicates how much one would have to pay for a security that pays € 100 if the event wagered occurs. The quotation of the stock exchange price answers the question: How much do you have to bet in order to get back € 100 if you win?

If X is quoted at a rate of 18.18, this means that if you bet € 18.18, € 100.00 will be paid out if you win. This corresponds to a gross rate of 100 / 18.18 = 5.50, a net rate of 4.50 (9/2) and an American rate of +450.

A rate of 71.43 for Y, on the other hand, means that € 100.00 will be paid out for € 71.43 if you win. This corresponds to a gross rate of 100 / 71.43 = 1.40, a net rate of 0.40 (2/5) or -250.

If the betting rates are interpreted as percentages, they indicate when a bet makes sense. For example, if one believes that event X has a probability of more than 18.18% or that Y has a probability of greater than 71.43%, the corresponding bets are advantageous (i.e. they have a positive expected value ).