When creating odds, a bookmaker looks at nine-ten different factors for that horse race. They will look at the jockey, they’ll look at the actual trainer, the form of the horse, it’s breeding, all these amazing different extras that they have to take into account. From that, you get a price next to each and every horse in the race. Now obviously the favorite will be even money shot 2 to 1 which is the lowest price you can get. As you go out, the less and less likely we think it is the higher the price, so you might get hundred to one which means if you put one pound on you’d win a hundred. Sometimes the bookies do get it wrong, and horses with a hundred to one have won big races, so you look at the odds and from that, you’ll see whether you think it’s good value. You can go for a middle-level shot about eight to one ten to one, which is eight times your money or ten times your money, but at the lower end the favorites which are where most of the money goes, you can go as low as 8 to 11, which is for 11 pounds on you win only 8 so you have to be very sure that horse will go on and win.
If you look at the screens in any one of the shops you’ll see the race written up on the left-hand side you’ll have the number of the horse. You’ll then have the name of the horse in the middle and then the prices on the right-hand side of that. The prices are absolutely key, they’ll go in descending order. Horse at the top we’ll have a price next to it which is the shortest price in the race which means that favorite and therefore the less money you’ll get back if it goes on and wins, but obviously that has the best chance of winning. So if you look at any screen at any one time if it’s got nine on the right that means nine to one if it’s got three on the right, it means three to one and that means you’ll get paid three times your money.
A price doesn’t necessarily need to be single-digit so, for example, nine to one means, if you put one pound on, you win nine pounds, but then there are all kinds of other variations. If you look at the board at any one time you might see 11 to 2 which means for two pounds you win 11 pounds so six and a half to one. It’s just making it easier for you to understand in monopolies. So if you go to any screen and see a price you don’t necessarily understand, then just go and ask any staff member and they’ll explain it to you in layman’s terms.
If you go on to the internet site in the top right-hand corner you’ve got an option of whether to have it in fractions or decimals. In fraction form, even money means if you put one pound on you win one pound and that will come up on the screen is one strike one, or if you ask for decimals it will be 2.0 now the 2.0 takes into account that you get back to your state money when your selection wins, so if you put one pound on you win one pound, you get the pan back so 2.0 infraction turns.