Odds-On

A price where you have to stake more than the amount you expect to win.

If a horse is very likely to win, the odds may be shorter than Evens (1/1), for example, 1/2. This means that the bookie thinks the horse is more likely to win than not to win by a ratio of 2 to 1. Such odds are pronounced as 2 to 1 on.

What this means in practice is that you have to stake more than you will win - so, for example, odds of 1/2 mean you will win £1 for every £2 staked - and so you will get a total return of £3.