“… And that’s how bookies use odds to cover themselves. Now, how they figure out how many bets they need on the King at ‘x’ odds to cover the bets they have on Badaxe at ‘y’ odds is beyond me.”
I looked at the Deveel next to me with new respect.
“Gee, Geek. I never really realized how complicated your work is.”
The Deveel softened a bit. They’re as susceptible to flattery as anyone else.
“Actually, it’s even more complicated than that,” he admitted modestly. “You’ve got to keep track of several contests at once, sometimes even use the long bets from one to cover the short bets on another. Then there are side bets, like who will score how often in which period in the Big Game. It isn’t easy, but a sharp being can make a living at it.”
“So what are the odds tonight?”
The Deveel grimaced.
“Lousy. It’s one of those Badaxe and the King matchups, if I was following your example right. In this case, the team you’ll see in red trunks are Badaxe. They’re hotter than a ten dollar laser and have won their last fifteen bouts. The weak sisters … the King to you . . . will be in white trunks and haven’t won a bout in two years. When the Mob put their bet down, the odds were running about two hundred to one against the whites.”
I whistled softly.
“Wow. Two hundred in gold return on a one-goldpiece bet. Did you remember to act surprised when they put their money down?”
“I didn’t have to act,” the Geek said through tight lips. “Not with the size bet they came up with. Being forewarned, I had expected they wouldn’t be going small, but still…”