• Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    The thing I struggle with, is how do they manage ensuring thier is a bet on the other side to balance. I mean someone has to make the first bet. I assume you can offer, but if no one or not enough people take the offer then your offer doesn’t conver to a real bet or something? And if that is how it works, say someone puts up money on a significant underdog. There would likely be a lot of interest, probably more than needed to balance the bet. How do they decide who gets the action and who doesn’t?

    • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
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      13 days ago

      The two sides don’t have to be balanced. That’s what “betting odds” are. If there are 3 “yes” bets and 1 “no” bet then there are 3:1 odds. If the “no” wins they will get much more money because they don’t have to split it with anyone.

      • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
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        13 days ago

        Sure, but do the odds change constantly with each person buying in? And if so, does that mean somone who bought in at 10 to 1, could end up getting 2 to 1 by the time it pays out?

        • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
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          12 days ago

          I think that’s how it works but I understand how math works so I’ve never actually made a bet in my life.

        • cdf12345@lemmy.zip
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          10 days ago

          No, in this case, you own the contract. A winning decision is always worth $1 but the current price that people are offering their yes or no contract for sale change like a stock ticker.

          There’s a bid and an ask, and when there are no takers people will adjust their offer or selling prices. Just like stock. The demand on either side changes the current price. In this case there are always two opposite sides with opposite prices in relation to $1

          • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
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            8 days ago

            Okay, so a person wanting to buy may have to buy ay multiple prices if the quantity they want to buy is larger than any one bidder. Ugly from a user ineteraction perspective, but makes more sense. When people put up bids, do they put a range or something so they don’t have to constantly monitor, and it adjustes some magical way?