Aug 18, 2011 Scratch and win tickets are still a small amount of money, for the chance to win a larger amount of money. Generally the odd of those are much less that 1 in a million, but great that 1 in a 100. I am not one to think that those odds are all that great either so I do not but scratch and win tickets.
Be careful when using 'high' and 'low' to describe odds.
'Low odds' mean something is likely, and 'high odds' mean something is unlikely, but many people get the two confused.
High odds mean that if you’ve placed a bet, you’ll win a high payout; and low odds mean that if you’ve placed a bet, you’ll win a lower payout.
Low odds are something like 2-to-1 against. These odds mean something is somewhat likely to happen.
If you had made a 2-to-1 bet for $1 that Squiggly would ask for a chocolate dessert, and he did, you would win $2.
High odds would be something like 99-to-1 against. If you bet on a team with those odds, you’d be happy if they won because you'd win a lot of money, but these aren't the odds you want if you need something to happen because 99-to-1 is a long shot.
Here are two more examples:
If you had made a 99-to-1 bet for $1 that there’d be an earthquake in Phoenix and then there was one, you’d win $99. High odds yield a high payout.
If that feels backwards to you, don’t feel bad. I found it confusing too—so much so that I consulted with a mathematician to make sure I was getting it right.
Mathematically, odds and probability are not the same thing. A high probability does mean that something is more likely to happen. But colloquially, outside the world of mathematics, many people treat odds and probability as the same thing.
Further complicating matters, odds for the same event can be presented in different ways. For example, one person might think of the odds of rolling a six on a regular six-sided die as 1-to-5 in favor, and another person might think of the odds as 5-to-1 against.
The problem is that the phrases “high odds” and “low odds” are confusing. When you talk about odds being high, your reader can interpret that as meaning that something is likely or unlikely. The same goes with calling odds “low.”
To be clear in your writing, to make sure everyone understands what you mean, it’s better to describe the likelihood of something happening in a different way. Instead of saying the odds are high or low, you can say there's a “good chance” or a “high probability” of something happening if you mean it's likely. And if you must use odds, it’s better to say they are good or bad, instead of high or low.
That’s the safest bet.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
Convert odds between Fractional, American and Decimal format and see the implied odds at each. Learn how to convert betting odds using our odds conversion formulas.
Fractional | American | Decimal | Implied Odds |
---|---|---|---|
1/10 | -1000 | 1.1 | 91% |
1/9 | -910 | 1.11 | 90% |
1/8 | -833 | 1.12 | 89% |
1/7 | -714 | 1.14 | 88% |
1/6 | -588 | 1.17 | 85% |
1/5 | -500 | 1.2 | 83% |
2/9 | -455 | 1.22 | 82% |
1/4 | -400 | 1.25 | 80% |
2/7 | -344 | 1.29 | 78% |
3/10 | -333 | 1.3 | 77% |
1/3 | -303 | 1.33 | 75% |
4/11 | -278 | 1.36 | 74% |
2/5 | -250 | 1.4 | 71% |
4/9 | -227 | 1.44 | 69% |
1/2 | -200 | 1.5 | 67% |
8/15 | -189 | 1.53 | 65% |
4/7 | -175 | 1.57 | 64% |
8/13 | -161 | 1.62 | 62% |
4/6 | -149 | 1.67 | 60% |
8/11 | -136 | 1.73 | 58% |
4/5 | -125 | 1.8 | 56% |
5/6 | -120 | 1.83 | 55% |
10/11 | -110 | 1.91 | 52% |
1/1 | 100 | 2 | 50% |
11/10 | 110 | 2.1 | 48% |
6/5 | 120 | 2.2 | 45% |
5/4 | 125 | 2.25 | 44% |
11/8 | 138 | 2.38 | 42% |
6/4 | 150 | 2.5 | 40% |
13/8 | 163 | 2.63 | 38% |
7/4 | 175 | 2.75 | 36% |
9/5 | 180 | 2.8 | 36% |
15/8 | 186 | 2.86 | 35% |
2/1 | 200 | 3 | 33% |
85/40 | 212 | 3.12 | 32% |
11/5 | 220 | 3.2 | 31% |
9/4 | 225 | 3.25 | 31% |
12/5 | 240 | 3.4 | 29% |
5/2 | 250 | 3.5 | 29% |
13/5 | 260 | 3.6 | 28% |
11/4 | 275 | 3.75 | 27% |
3/1 | 300 | 4 | 25% |
10/3 | 333 | 4.33 | 23% |
7/2 | 350 | 4.5 | 22% |
4/1 | 400 | 5 | 20% |
9/2 | 450 | 5.5 | 18% |
5/1 | 500 | 6 | 17% |
11/2 | 550 | 6.5 | 15% |
6/1 | 600 | 7 | 14% |
13/2 | 650 | 7.5 | 13% |
7/1 | 700 | 8 | 13% |
15/2 | 750 | 8.5 | 12% |
8/1 | 800 | 9 | 11% |
17/2 | 850 | 9.5 | 11% |
9/1 | 900 | 10 | 10% |
10/1 | 1000 | 11 | 9% |
11/1 | 1100 | 12 | 8% |
12/1 | 1200 | 13 | 8% |
14/1 | 1400 | 15 | 7% |
15/1 | 1500 | 16 | 6% |
16/1 | 1600 | 17 | 6% |
18/1 | 1800 | 19 | 5% |
20/1 | 2000 | 21 | 5% |
25/1 | 2500 | 26 | 4% |
33/1 | 3300 | 34 | 3% |
40/1 | 4000 | 41 | 2% |
50/1 | 5000 | 51 | 2% |
66/1 | 6600 | 67 | 1% |