What is "odds"

Odds \Odds\ ([o^]dz), n. sing. & pl. [See Odd, a.]

1. Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. The odds are often expressed by a ratio; as, the odds are three to one that he will win, i. e. he will win three times out of four ``Pre["e]minent by so much odds.''
   --Milton. ``The fearful odds of that unequal fray.''
   --Trench.

   The odds Is that we scarce are men and you are gods.
   --Shak.

   There appeared, at least, four to one odds against them.
   --Swift.

   All the odds between them has been the different scope . . . given to their understandings to range in.
   --Locke.

   Judging is balancing an account and determining on which side the odds lie.
   --Locke.

2. Quarrel; dispute; debate; strife; -- chiefly in the phrase at odds.

   Set them into confounding odds.
   --Shak.

   I can not speak Any beginning to this peevish odds.
   --Shak.

   At odds, in dispute; at variance. ``These squires at odds did fall.''
   --Spenser. ``He flashes into one gross crime or other, that sets us all at odds.''
   --Shak.

   It is odds, it is probable; same as odds are, but no longer used. [Obs.]
   --Jer. Taylor.

   odds are it is probable; as, odds are he will win the gold medal.

   Odds and ends, that which is left; remnants; fragments; refuse; scraps; miscellaneous articles. ``My brain is filled . . . with all kinds of odds and ends.''
   --W. Irving.

   slim odds low odds; poor chances; as, there are slim odds he will win any medal.

in wagering sense, found first in Shakespeare ("2 Henry IV," 1597), probably from earlier sense of "amount by which one thing exceeds or falls short of another" (1540s), from odd (q.v.), though the sense evolution is uncertain. Until 19c. treated as a singular, though obviously a plural (compare news).

n. 1 The ratio of the probabilities of an event happening to that of it not happening. 2 The ratio of winnings to stake in betting situations.

1. n. the probability of a specified outcome [syn: likelihood, likeliness] [ant: unlikelihood, unlikelihood]

2. the ratio by which one better's wager is greater than that of another; "he offered odds of two to one" [syn: betting odds]

Odds are a Canadian alternative rock band. The band's power pop style has been frequently compared to that of contemporaries such as Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, The Clash, XTC, The Tubes, and other bands they have influenced, such as Sloan, Weezer, and Franz Ferdinand.

Odds are a numerical expression, usually expressed as a pair of numbers, used in both gambling and statistics. In statistics, the odds for or odds of some event reflect the likelihood that the event will take place. Odds against reflect the likelihood that a particular event will not take place. In gambling, the odds are the ratio of payoff to stake, and do not necessarily reflect exactly the probabilities. Odds are expressed in several ways (see below), and sometimes the term is used incorrectly to mean simply the probability of an event. Conventionally, gambling odds are expressed in the form "X to Y", where X and Y are numbers, and it is implied that the odds are odds against the event on which the gambler is considering wagering. In both gambling and statistics, the 'odds' are a numerical expression of the likelihood of some possible event.

In gambling, odds represent the ratio between the amounts staked by parties to a wager or bet. Thus, odds of 6 to 1 mean the first party (normally a bookmaker) stakes six times the amount staked by the second party.

In statistics, the odds for an event E are defined as a simple function of the probability of that possible event E. One drawback of expressing the uncertainty of this possible event as odds for is that to regain the probability requires a calculation. The natural way to interpret odds for (without calculating anything) is as the ratio of events to non-events in the long run. A simple example is that the (statistical) odds for rolling six with a fair die (one of a pair of dice) are 1 to 5. This is because, if one rolls the die many times, and keeps a tally of the results, one expects 1 six event for every 5 times the die does not show six. For example, if we roll the fair die 600 times, we would very much expect something in the neighborhood of 100 sixes, and 500 of the other five possible outcomes. That is a ratio of 100 to 500, or simply 1 to 5. To express the (statistical) odds against, the order of the pair is reversed. Hence the odds against rolling a six with a fair die are 5 to 1. The probability of rolling a six with a fair die is the single number 1/6, roughly 17%.

The gambling and statistical uses of odds are closely interlinked. If a bet is a fair one, then the odds offered to the gamblers will perfectly reflect relative probabilities. A fair bet that a fair die will roll a six will pay the gambler $5 for a $1 wager (and return the bettor his or her wager) in the case of a six and nothing in any other case. The terms of the bet are fair, because on average, five rolls result in something other than a six, at a cost of $5, for every roll that results in a six and a net payout of $5. The profit and the expense exactly offset one another and so there is no disadvantage to gambling over the long run. If the odds being offered to the gamblers do not correspond to probability in this way then one of the parties to the bet has an advantage over the other. Casinos, for example, offer odds that place themselves at an advantage, which is how they guarantee themselves a profit and survive as businesses. The fairness of a particular gamble is more clear in a game involving relatively pure chance, such as the ping-pong ball method used in state lotteries in the United States. It is much harder to judge the fairness of the odds offered in a wager on a sporting event such as a football match.