Parimutuel Betting and the Betting Pool

For many people, online sports betting is the ideal way to bet on major sporting matches and horse races. As opposed to live betting, online betting gives bettors the opportunity to bet on any sport, anywhere in the world without ever leaving the comfort of their own homes. The accessibility of online sports betting has meant that more and more people are giving sports betting a try. However in order to win decent money online, you have to know what you are doing. Most people don’t really understand what parimutuel betting is and how the betting pool affects the payouts. Many people also get confused with fixed odds betting and how it works.

Fixed Odds Betting

When it comes to online betting, there are two main types of bets that can be place. The first is parimutuel betting and the second is fixed odds betting. Fixed odds betting is certainly one of the most popular types of betting both offline and online. As opposed to parimutuel betting where there is a betting pool, with fixed odds betting, all the bettors know the betting odds when they place their bet. With fixed odds bets, the bet itself is displayed as a fraction. There are two numbers to look at in a fixed odds bet, namely the winning amount and the stake. The first number in the fraction is the winning amount and the second number is the sake.

Parimutuel Betting

With fixed odds betting, a bet can be 5/1 in this instance the sake is 1 and the winning amount is 5. If we are using single units, the total amount for a winning bet is 6 as the bettor receives the stake plus the win. This is by far the most popular way to bet on most sports games at online betting websites. The second type of betting is parimutuel betting. This type of betting is usually reserved for horse racing or most types or any type of sport where there are there are clearly a number of clearly defined winners. This type of betting incorporates a betting pool. When players bet online, they do not know exactly what the payout is going to be on the bet until the betting is closed and the even has started.

The Betting Pool

Parimutuel betting or pool betting is actually quite easy to understand. In this betting system all the bets of the same type are put together in a large betting pool. The pool can be large or small depending on the type of sport and the popularity of the race or sport. In a major horse race each pool can be worth millions. The bettor doesn’t know exactly how many people are going to be in the pool and so cannot get an accurate payout number from the site or agency. Once all the bets are made and placed in the betting pool, the betting site or agency takes off the house cut to cover operational costs. The remainder of the money is split between the winning bets and the final winning odds are calculated for each bet.