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If you have 1 chance in 10 of winning or 10% probability, the "odds" are 9-1 against you.
That's how we use the term "odds" around here - and that's how it's taught in school. However, I'm wondering if this use of the term "odds" is universal. Do they use it differently in gambling circles in England? While looking up the Kelly Criteria on Google I ran across these two sites.
Punting Ace Kelly Site
Betting Systems Kelly Site
They both use the term "odds" in the Kelly formula to be 10 in the example above. They have "odds -1" in the denominator. Not a good thing for coin flips unless they mean for the "odds" term to be 2 in that case.
I think the sites are British because they use the terms Punter and Punting.
Anybody know what the Brits are up to with this?
PairTheBoard
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In this particular case, they are using "odds" to refer to the betting odds offered, given in the decimal system.
A break even bet would have decimal odds of 2.00, since you get back twice what you put in. This is the equivalent to +100 in the American system. 3.00 is the same as +200, 1.50 is the same as -200, etcetera.