Bookmaker's Percentages

Assume you have a field of 4 horses of equal ability carrying equal weight over their best distance in a truly run race, the corresponding true 100% market would be as shown below.

True Odds Market
Horse	Odds	Fraction	Percentage
Happy Hunter	$4.00	3/1	25%
Down Zero	$4.00	3/1	25%
Let's Go	$4.00	3/1	25%
Howzat	$4.00	3/1	25%
Total Percentage			100%

100% Market = No profit for Bookmaker
If a bookmaker framed a market to 100% he would never make any money, so to make a profit he needs to adjust the market in his favour. A bookmaker will frame a market with horses under and over there true price to allow the percentages to be in his favour.

The market below will show you how a bookmaker may frame this truly run 4 horse race to make a profit.

Bookmaker's Overround Market
Horse	Odds	Fraction	Percentage
Happy Hunter	$2.00	1/1	50%
Down Zero	$3.00	2/1	33%
Let's Go	$5.00	4/1	20%
Howzat	$6.00	5/1	17%
Total Percentage			120%

120% market = Profit for Bookmaker
As you can see above, the bookmaker has adjusted his market to 20% overround which means the bookie has set his odds to make a 20% profit on all stakes taken from each bet, no matter who wins, assuming things go exactly as he has planned.

How can punters turn the odds in their favour?
We have already determined that each horse has an equal chance and that the true price of each horse is $4.00 if the race was truly run.

The 'overround' market above shows how the bookmaker has reacted as Happy Hunter has been made favourite at $2.00 and Down Zero 2nd favourite at $3.00, which is well under under their true odds of $4.00. The bookie has had to ease Let's Go and Howzat out to $5.00 and $6.00 respectively to allow for the shortening of the other two horses, which means the latter two are now well above their true odds and representing good value.

Overlay value betting opportunity
Let's Go and Howzat are what's known as an 'Overlay bet' as they are both above the true price of $4.00 that was determined for them.

Serious punters will do their form study and frame their own markets and compare them to the bookie's markets and look for the value bets like Let's Go and Howzat to make a profit. If you can always get value on your bet then you are on the right track to making a profit as you will never be backing horses under their true odds.

Profit will depend on how well the market is framed compared to each horse's chance of winning a particular race.

Always look for value!
Most punters, whether they know it or not, frame a market inside their head, because when they look at the tote odds or the bookmaker's odds they will have a dollar figure in their head that they have placed on each horse, and will consider a horse too short or good value for a bet depending on their price.

A punter should always be looking for value when having a bet, and always be on the lookout for horses who are showing above their true odds and representing good value.

The table below can be used as a guide for converting Decimal, Fraction & Percentages.

BOOKMAKER'S PERCENTAGES
Decimal	Fraction	Percentage
$1.10	1/10	91%
$1.20	1/5	83%
$1.25	1/4	80%
$1.29	2/7	78%
$1.33	1/3	75%
$1.36	4/11	73%
$1.40	2/5	71%
$1.44	4/9	69%
$1.50	1/2	67%
$1.53	8/15	65%
$1.57	4/7	64%
$1.67	4/6	60%
$1.80	4/5	56%
$1.90	9/10	53%
$2.00	1/1	50%
$2.11	10/9	47%
$2.25	5/4	44%
$2.50	6/4	40%
$2.75	7/4	36%
$3.00	2/1	33%
$3.25	9/4	31%
$3.50	5/2	29%
$3.75	11/4	27%
$4.00	3/1	25%
$4.50	7/2	22%
$5.00	4/1	20%
$5.50	9/2	18%
$6.00	5/1	17%
$6.50	11/2	15%
$7.00	6/1	14%
$7.50	13/2	13%
$8.00	7/1	13%
$8.50	15/2	12%
$9.00	8/1	11%
$10.00	9/1	10%
$11.00	10/1	9%
$12.00	11/1	8%
$13.00	12/1	8%
$14.00	13/1	7%
$15.00	14/1	7%
$16.00	15/1	6%
$17.00	16/1	6%
$18.00	17/1	6%
$19.00	18/1	5%
$20.00	19/1	5%
$21.00	20/1	5%
$26.00	25/1	4%
$31.00	30/1	3%
$34.00	33/1	3%
$41.00	40/1	2%
$51.00	50/1	2%
$60.00	60/1	2%
$67.00	66/1	2%
$81.00	80/1	1%
$101.00	100/1	1%