Odds Betting Doesn't Make Sense

[Vol Jbolaz]

The sooner you bet on the winner, the better your return. Okay, I like that.

The further back the winner is, the more places they have to make up, the better your return. Okay, I like that.

You get more money if you can guess who will be second than who will be first. Wait, what?

During the first round of betting, if you bet on the car in P1 to win and they do, you only get $3mil. However, if you bet on P2 to win, and they finish in P2, you get $4mil. I really can't wrap my brains around why that makes sense to anyone.

If you bet on P4 and they finish in P3, you also get $4mil. Okay, they made up a space, so... I guess there is something to reward there, but... P2 pays just a much without making up any spaces.

Its seems to me the meta would be to bet on the P3 car during the first round. If that car finishes in P3, then you get the same payout as if you bet on P1 to win and they did. If P3 makes up spaces, then you get paid even more. This meta feels weird and wrong.

[Purkrabi]

Agree. This should be adjusted. It makes no sense to bet on 2nd or 3rd player and getting more money if they keep positions than betting on first to win....

[barbacot]

I personally like the system. Remember that you are not an external gambler watching the cars being driven by others. You are directly involved in the driving (of all cars, usually). So betting one way or the other motivates you to take consecutive actions accordingly. Also, at the first bet the cars are usually very close together, a few places up or down don't matter so much. Also, betting on the cars further away in the pack will make the race more interesting, more close until the end.

[BVander44]

Where can I find what the payouts are? The rules mentioned here are not in the official rules.

[Phoxtrot]

Yeah, I almost never play with them because they go too far.

[Lymon Flowers]

Where can I find what the payouts are? The rules mentioned here are not in the official rules.

Hello,
they are summarized in the "how to play" tab under the game. Basically, here are the rules:

Two additional betting variants are provided:

• odds betting: instead of normal betting payout, multiply the current position of the car you bet on (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) by the betting modifier (3 for finishing 1st, 2 for finishing 2nd, 1 for finishing third on the first bet; 2,1,0 for the second and; 1,0,0 for the third) to get the payout at the end. For example, your first bet is on a car that is in 4th place and it ends up in 1st place at the end of the race, your payout is 4x3 = $12M! If you bet on a car that is in second on the second bet and maintains that place to the end of the race, you would only earn 2x1 = $2M. And finally, if you bet on the 1st place car on the last bet, but they end up placing only 3rd, you would get nothing because 1x0 = $0M.
• odds betting, winner only: same as above but only the winning car provide payouts, making it a high risk, high reward game of all or nothing!