i was watching belmont stakes and union rags had won .. the odds were 5-2... say someone bet 20$ what would the pay out have been? just curious, i'm not sure how the odds work if there is a 2 for the second number.

For every 5 you put up you would win 2.

Example, $500v$200

wat

I think this is the horse racing, if you bet 20$ on 5-2 you would win 2.5 your bet, so $50 if I'm not mistaken

this is how i understand it.

5-2 is essentially 2.5-1 but they only use whole numbers in the betting odds afaik

this is wrong



this is right + your stake is returned
so a bet of $20
$50 profit
$20 stake back
= $70 cash back total



this is right
odds can be displayed either as fractions (using only whole numbers ofc) or as decimals

the decimal odds for 5/2 would be 3.50
for these, just assume your stake is 1, and subtract this
e.g.

i.e. for every $1 you put on, you get $3.50 returned
again
$2.50 profit
$1 stake
= $3.50 cash back total


hope this help