Oh boy - my brain hurts. And I still can't work this out. I know you guys a pretty smart so hopefully you can help me out.


In a fixed odds event, if a horse pays $2 to win what does it pay to place? What if it pays $5 to win? How does the number of horses in the field affect the calculation?

What if you judge a horse to be more likely to get proportionally more 2nd and 3rds than 1sts? Does this mean that no calculation can be applied reliably, or does it just make it more complex?

I suppose basically all I really want to know is how the bookies work it all out.

Cheers,