If you're venturing into the world of gambling, it's important to know that betting odds don't usually reflect the true mathematical "odds" of a certain event happening. Instead, gambling odds, especially in games like horse racing and sports betting,  reflect the payout that a bookmaker will give on a successful bet.  For instance, if you wager $100 on a horse with 20:1 odds against him, this doesn't mean that there are 20 outcomes where your horse loses and 1 where he wins. Rather, it means that you'll be paid 20 times  your original wager - in this case, $2,000! To add to the confusion, the format for expressing these odds sometimes varies regionally. Here are a few non-standard ways that gambling odds are expressed:    Decimal (or "European format") odds.  These are fairly easy to understand. Decimal odds are simply expressed as a decimal number, like  2.50.  This number is the ratio of the payout to the original stake. For instance, with odds of 2.50, if you bet $100 and win, you'll receive $250 dollars - 2.5 times your original stake. In this case, you'll make a tidy profit of $150.   Fractional (or "UK format") odds.  These are expressed as a fraction, like  1/4. This represents the ratio of the profit (not total payout) from a successful bet to the stake. For instance, if you bet $100 on something with 1/4 fractional odds and win, you'll profit by 1/4 of your original stake - in this case, your payout will be $125 for a profit of $25.   Moneyline (or "US format") odds.  These can be difficult to understand. Moneyline odds are expressed as a number preceded by a minus sign or a plus sign, like  -200  or +50. A minus sign means the number represents how much you need to wager to make $100. A positive sign means the number represents how much you'll win if you bet $100. Remember this subtle distinction! For example, if we wager $50 with moneyline odds of -200, when we win, we'll get a payout of $75 for a total profit of $25. If we wager $50 with moneyline odds of +200, we'll get a payout of $150 for a total profit of $100. In moneyline odds, a simple "100" (no plus or minus) represents an even bet - whatever money you stake, you'll earn as profit if you win. The odds that bookmakers and casinos set aren't usually calculated from the mathematical probability that certain events will occur. Rather, they're carefully set so that, in the long run, the bookie or casino will make money, regardless of any short-term outcomes! Take this into account when making your bets - remember, eventually, the house  always  wins. Let's look at an example. A standard roulette wheel has 38 numbers - 1 through 36, plus 0 and 00.. If you bet on one space (let's say  11 ), you have 1 : 37 odds of winning. However, the casino sets the payout odds at 35 : 1 - if the ball lands on 11, you'll win 35 times your original stake. Notice that the payout odds are slightly lower than the odds against you winning. If casinos weren't interested in making money, you would be paid out at 37 : 1 odds. However, by setting the payout odds slightly below the actual odds of you winning, the casino will gradually make money over time, even if it has to make the occasional large payout when the ball lands on 11. Gambling can be fun - even addictive. However, certain widely-circulated gambling strategies that at first appear to be "common sense" are, in fact, mathematically false. Below are just a few things you should keep in mind when you go gambling - don't lose more money than you have to!  You're never "due" to win. If you've been at the Texas Hold 'Em table for an hour and you haven't been dealt a single good hand, you may want to stay in the game in the hopes that a winning straight or flush is "right around the corner." Unfortunately, your odds don't change with the amount of time you've been gambling. The cards are randomly shuffled before every deal, so if you've had ten bad hands in a row, you're just as likely to get another bad hand as you are if you've had a hundred bad hands in a row. This extends to most other games of chance - roulette, slots, etc. Sticking with one specific bet won't increase your odds. You may know someone who has "lucky" lotto numbers - though it can be fun to bet money on numbers that have special personal meaning, in random games of chance, you're never more likely to win by betting on the same thing every time than you are by betting on a different thing every time. Lottery numbers, slots, and roulette wheels are completely random. In roulette, for example, it's just as likely that you'll roll "9" three times in a row as it is that you'll roll any specific three numbers in order. If you're one away from the winning number, you weren't "close." If you pick the number 41 for the lottery and the winning number is revealed as 42, you may feel absolutely crushed, but cheer up! You weren't even close. Two numbers that are close together, like 41 and 42, aren't mathematically connected in any way in random games of chance.
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