How do odds work in horse racing?

Sometimes you will see Evens or EVS displayed. This is the equivalent of a 1/1 fraction. Again it means the horse in question is expected to win the race. EVS: For every 1 unit you stake, you will receive 1 unit if you win (plus your stake). Decimal odds: These are usually displayed in this format: 5.00. 5. read more

Betting odds are usually expressed as fractions, 2/1, 7/2 and 6/4 as examples. With the aid of a simple calculator or spreadsheet we can calculate how much we can win from a bet and also the percentage chance of our chosen selection. read more

If you want to calculate the exact win odds on a horse, you will need to use a couple of other figures from the toteboard: total win pool and amount bet on that horse. The total pool is all the money bet on all the horses to win, but it is not the amount that will actually be paid out to the holders of winning tickets. read more

If you see fractional odds the other way round – such as 1/4 – this is called odds-on and means the horse in question is a hot favourite to win the race. In spoken form this is “Four-to-one on”. read more