What can be gained by knowing the odds ?

Las Vegas bookmakers, sportsbettors, even scientists searching for cures to diseases all understands ratios and probabilities. Odds are those things that predict the chance of something happening and odds are written as ratios.

Knowing the odds can be useful in a number of real life situations.

• in finance - spread betting of commodities, futures, forex, stocks, sports
• in science - the golden ratio
• in engineering - gear ratios
• the list goes on and on and on

Gambling is a terrible thing if it becomes a sickness. Gambling involves games of chance and while some people seek temporary enjoyment in such games found in casinos spread throughout the world some gamblers end up losing a lot more than money. There are however some people who approach games of chance with an advanced knowledge of odds. These gamblers take chances but to them every bet taken is calculated ahead of time. While some of these gamblers are found in casinos or card rooms a lot of others are trading other peoples money on the financial streets located all over the world.

To the professional gambler, investor, trader, card shark, sports handicapper....knowing odds is about working a pre-planned strategy that takes into consideration several factors.

• Risk aversion
• money management
• political events
• news
• etc

For example it takes a long time to learn how to spread bet. It's a journey that moves from learning odds as they effect spreads or differences in price quotes to selecting a spread betting company where a spread betting account will be held to looking for additional spread betting tips online as an added measure to the well laid out plan.

Looking for the right stock, the right currency to trade, the right option to sell or buy, it all takes some knowledge of odds. 

We hear alot about fractals and sacred geometry and the golden ratio today. The year 2012 is loading the blogs and alternate news portals with volumes of fantastic stories of events that might take place. Whether anything actually does transpire in that year is a matter of waiting to see. Every event that is predicted to happen could be written as an equation and Las Vegas book makers could actually hold betting contests on any one of these events if they so desired.

For example some people tell us that in 2012 there will be a Venus transit. This is a crossing of the planet Venus between the sun and the earth. Well it hasn't happened yet but the odds of a Venus transit happening are about as close to 100 percent as one could get. If the Venus transit of that year does not happen then it will be a very disturbing year indeed.

Another much more fantastic thing that is predicted to happen in this year of change which some call is that the entire human population will undergo a massive collective consciousness shift. Now put odds on that one.

A Vegas bookie would likely give you a million to one odds bet on the Venus transit event and the opposite on the second event.

It's about knowing the odds and book makers get paid because they do. 

Risk allocation and knowing the odds go hand in hand. This is true in games of chance, in medicine, in military strategy planning, in trading or investing, and in many other situations.

Plan - Prepare - Execute

Engineers study physics and place numerical values on everything. This is seen in designs that often involves interlocking gears.

A product that start out in the mind of an engineer or designer which involved cogs also involves gear ratios.

The history of cars is loaded with such designs that use gears and ratios.

As does the rest of the history of this planet and the entire universe.

This little rock rotates around the sun at a ratio of 365.x to 1. The sun rotates around the milky way, the milky way around the cosmos. Entire volumes were written by ancient scribes about this phenomenon.

Knowing the odds is not a perfect thing. It is only a thing that can be used in realistic life situations where people who are serious about giving themselves a better than fair chance in any situation will look at the probabilities of something happening or not happening.

Sure it is more fun to just let go and let things happen by chance but luck has a way of balancing itself out and when spreads are added to the equation then luck becomes a demon.

Financial spreads are the commissions one pays for playing a game where three parties are involved. Spreads are the middle mans payment.

Learning financial spread betting is a way of challenging the odds.

Spread betting information is easily found all over the internet but beware that it is gambling and gambling without knowing the odds can find you losing much more than a few bucks.

Only two things are left to say.

1. What are the odds that the disc in the background of the above picture is something more than a cloud.
2. If you think knowing the odds can help you in life or in business then check out the following page and read about traders who might be able to succeed by knowing the odds.