How Does a Horse Race Bet Payoff/Pay-Out?

So you get to the race-track and you are eager to bet on the horse race. You see a bunch of random numbers beside the horses. The numbers keep changing every so-often, but you don't know what they mean. These numbers are the ODDS for the given horse. The lower the number, the lower the pay-out. To illustrate, I have listed a large number of odds and their corresponding pay-outs based on a $2.00 bet. The pay-out value listed includes getting back the $2 you initially bet as well as the profit from winning.

Odds - Payoff ($)

• 1-9 $2.20
• 1-5 $2.40
• 2-5 $2.80
• 1-2 $3.00
• 3-5 $3.20
• 4-5 $3.60
• 1-1 $4.00
• 6-5 $4.40
• 7-5 $4.80
• 3-2 $5.00
• 8-5 $5.20
• 9-5 $5.60
• 2-1 $6.00
• 5-2 $7.00
• 3-1 $8.00
• 7-2 $9.00
• 4-1 $10.00
• 9-2 $11.00
• 5-1 $12.00
• 6-1 $14.00
• 7-1 $16.00
• 8-1 $18.00
• 9-1 $20.00
• 10-1 $22.00

This list does not inclued every possible odd (obviously), so to figure it out on your own, here is how it works. Briefly: you take the odds, multiply it by the amount you bet and then add that number to the fill amount you bet.

Example: Lets take the odds 1-5 with a $2 bet.

• Take the odds 1-5 = 1/5 = 0.2
• Multiply the odds (0.2) by the amount of money you bet ($2). Therefore, 0.2 x $2.00 = $0.40 (this is your profit)
• Now take the profit and add the intial bet ($2). Resulting in $0.40 + $2.00 = $2.40

Hopefully this makes things a little more clear when you go to decide which horse you want to bet on!