Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
Is 8/1 good odds?
When people say there's an 8/1 chance of this happening - is this likely, unlikely or what?
for example if a horse is backed at 8/1 how likely is it to win?
3 Answers
- Divide By ZeroLv 75 years agoFavorite Answer
If it's 8:1 against, then there's a 1 in 9 chance of it happening, or 11.1%.
If it's an 8:1 favorite, then there's an 8/9 chance, or 88.9%.
- Donut TimLv 75 years ago
"Good odds" means "positive expected value".
If a horse pays 8 to 1 but its true chances of winning are 5 to 1 against then it has good odds and is a good bet. The bet has a positive expected value.
If you make many of these types of bets, you will lose some and win some, but on average you will make money.
If the same horse pays 8 to 1 but its true chances of winning are 12 to 1 against then it has bad odds and is a bad bet. The bet has a negative expected value.
If you are looking for the horse with the very best chances of winning, bet on the favorite. (But it will likely not have a positive expected value.)
