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Let's Make The Odds Board User Friendly
Going to the racetrack for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. Horses warming up, the track
announcer updating the scratches and driver changes, looking at a program for the first time with all
those funny little symbols, and the odds board updating every minute. That's a lot to take in for a
first timer at the racetrack. With so much to observe, and so many questions one may have why do we
complicate things even more with an odds board that takes an hour to explain? It's time for a change;
let's spruce things up and make life a little simpler.
At present we quote odds in the most convoluted and highly inaccurate manner ever devised by mankind
and to make matters worse we quote dividends based on a $2.00 wager. 9/5, 9/2, 1/9, 19, let's dump all
this nonsense and replace it with a simple decimal system quoted on $1.00 payouts. Below is an example
of the current way of displaying odds.
9/5
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Either $1.80 or $1.90
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9/2
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Either $4.50, $4.60, $4.70, $4.80, or $4.90
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7
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Anywhere between $7.00 and $7.90 (in 10 cent increments)
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7
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Anywhere between $8.00 and $8.90 (in 10 cent increments)
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20
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In many cases, odds of 20-1 could be as high as 24.9-1 because the board does not display 21-1, 22-1, 23-1, 24-1. The profit on this quote could be anywhere between $20.00 and $24.90 (in 10 cent increments).
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Using the decimal system the odds board would look like this (no more guess work on what the horse's
current odds are)
1.8
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$1.80
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4.7
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$4.70
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7.2
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$7.20
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8.4
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$8.40
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21.6
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$21.60
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Easy to understand, simple to calculate the current payout, with much more accuracy. In fact we use the
decimal system for showing odds or payoffs in the result charts.
Just a few years back the stock exchanges used to quote stocks in fractions instead of their current
way using the decimal system. We would see the stock quotes like General Electric 20 3/8, or XYZ stock
27 1/128. This was cumbersome and the stock exchanges recognized this and made the changeover.
Let's get with the times and make some changes for the bettor.
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