Chapter 12: The Master of the Betting Table

This story is purely a work of fiction.

"You two wait here for a bit. I'll arrange a VIP room for you so you can watch the game in comfort," Chi Zhaoming said as he left them and headed to the broadcasting room. In no time, he returned to Wu Zhengzhe and Xiao Jin. "Come with me." Chi Zhaoming led them to the VIP suite, where the panoramic view made Xiao Jin visibly excited. Chi glanced at the elated Officer Xiao and decided to sit down and watch the game with Wu Zhengzhe.

The first half was intensely contested. Just seventeen minutes in, Zhang Shuo from the Tigers scored a goal, and the first half ended 1–0.

"What a damn letdown. Half an hour in and we've already conceded a goal. I told you I didn't want to come, but you insisted! Now look, it's enough to ruin my appetite," Wu Zhengzhe grumbled non-stop.

During halftime, Xiao Jin explained to Wu Zhengzhe, "Don't focus so much on the outcome. The key is in the process. Football is actually a lot of fun."

"With results like these, what's so fun about it? I think you're crazy—paying money just to suffer!"

"Wrong. I never care who wins or loses. I only care when the team I bet on wins and I make money, or if I lose, then I hate that team. I just enjoy placing bets—it's a thrill! Not long ago, I bought a house. When it came time to renovate, the contractor asked for the payment, but I was short on cash, only had five thousand yuan. I couldn't cover the extra twenty thousand for the renovations. I told the contractor to settle up a bit later."

"You know what happened? Over the next week, I used that five thousand as my stake, called in bets for the OR major leagues, and hit on all three matches. That covered my construction costs," Xiao Jin said, his words flowing without pause.

"Well, you just got lucky. But one day it’ll catch up to you! There was a neighbor in my courtyard who lost his house because of betting on football. Now he’s got no place to live. And another friend used to own a big factory—over a hundred workers—but he ruined it all through gambling, racked up a mountain of debt, and has been missing for two years, hiding from his creditors. Some say he was taken out by the mob. Now his wife lives a hard life—I see her often, and it’s truly miserable," Wu Zhengzhe cautioned, trying to dissuade Xiao Jin from gambling.

But Xiao Jin just laughed heartily, unconcerned. "Him? He just didn't know what he was doing. I'm not bragging, but when it comes to betting odds, I'm practically an expert. There isn’t a match I can’t predict!" Xiao Jin boasted shamelessly.

"Enough with the boasting. Did you see today’s game coming? It’s 1–0 now—what do you think the final score will be?" Wu Zhengzhe challenged.

"Don’t even have to think about it. The Tigers will win, obviously!" Xiao Jin replied crisply.

"As if you needed to say that! Anyone could guess that. The Rivers just got promoted—they can’t beat a powerhouse like the Tigers. I thought you’d have some special insight, but it’s just the same as everyone else! Stop pretending you know everything—putting a hat on a sparrow doesn’t make it wise!" Wu Zhengzhe looked at Officer Xiao with disdain.

"But, but—" Xiao Jin dragged out the words, "there’s a twist I want to point out..."

"The twist is—what, the Tigers are going to lose today? Hilarious," Wu Zhengzhe interjected.

"Wrong! When it comes to law and cases, you’re the expert, Wu, but when it comes to betting on matches, I’ve yet to meet my match," Xiao Jin said, waving his index finger in the air.

"Today's match, the Tigers have a one-and-a-half goal handicap. Not much chance they’ll win by two goals. Don’t believe me? Want to see what I bet on?" Xiao Jin answered with full confidence.

He opened his laptop and quickly navigated to a betting site Wu Zhengzhe had never seen before. Wu saw that the Tigers had a one-and-a-half goal handicap, Xiao Jin bet five thousand on the Rivers, and the odds were 1.0, meaning a possible win of five thousand.

"You really did bet on the Rivers, huh? Chasing the underdog instead of the favorite—got guts! What does one-and-a-half mean?" Wu Zhengzhe asked, bewildered.

The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t notice Chi Zhaoming standing behind them.

"With that head of yours, you’ll understand in a second. Honestly, you outrank me at the precinct, but when it comes to betting, you’re ‘seven orifices with six blocked’!" Xiao Jin teased.

"Seven orifices with six blocked—doesn’t that mean I’ve still got one open?" Zhengzhe retorted, somewhat pleased with himself.

Unexpectedly, both Xiao Jin and Chi Zhaoming behind him burst into laughter.

"What are you two snickering about?" Zhengzhe asked, puzzled.

"Officer Xiao is laughing at your complete ignorance," Chi Zhaoming managed between laughs.

Realization dawned on Zhengzhe, and he looked a bit embarrassed.

"Let me be your teacher for today—whether it’s OR odds or MC handicaps, I know them like the back of my hand," Xiao Jin boasted.

"Alright, alright, I’m not interested in this stuff," Zhengzhe tried to cut him off. But just then Chi Zhaoming’s voice came from behind, "No, let him continue—it’s interesting."

Xiao Jin turned to Chi Zhaoming and asked, "Director Ming, you’re interested in these things?"

"I keep hearing people talk about OR and YR odds, and I’d really like to understand them," Chi replied, pulling out a notebook to jot down Xiao Jin’s explanations.

Xiao Jin handed the laptop to Zhengzhe. "Listen up! I’ll start from the beginning." He then launched into a thorough explanation of odds and YR handicaps.

When he finished, Xiao Jin asked Chi Zhaoming, "That covers the basics you wanted to know—did you get it?" He glanced at Chi’s notes and exclaimed, "Wow, you kept up with me even as fast as I was talking?"

"You don’t know what I studied—journalism. I’m great at shorthand," Chi Zhaoming replied, not the least bit modest.

After hearing this, Xiao Jin took the notebook. It was filled with symbols and numbers he couldn’t make sense of. "This is your shorthand?"

"Yep. You can’t read it, but give me a few minutes and I’ll translate it all into full sentences," Chi answered.

In no time, Chi had organized everything Xiao Jin had explained into clear text. Xiao Jin compared it to his own words—almost word for word.

OR odds are simply the odds for win, draw, or loss offered by the OR company for a match. For example, let’s say Team A and Team B are playing, and the odds are 2.30, 3.10, 2.60. This means if you bet on Team A to win, you’d win (2.30–1.0=1.3) times your stake; a draw would win you (3.10–1=2.1) times your stake; betting on Team A to lose would win (2.6–1.0=1.6) times your stake. The reason you subtract 1 is because the number before the decimal includes the original stake—so 17.6 would mean a 16.6-fold payout, and so on. So OR odds offer three betting options.

YR odds began in A City in 1989 and are now widely used. YR odds are derived from OR odds, and essentially, instead of win, draw, and loss, they use handicaps to split the result into upper and lower sides. Handicaps start at level and rise by half a goal each step. For example, using the same match between Team A and Team B, the conversion is as follows:

1. 2.30–2.60 Level (0): Both sides start even. Bet on whoever wins; a draw is a push.
2. 2.00–2.30 Level/Half (0/0.5): If the handicap team draws, their backers lose half; if they win, their backers win.
3. 1.80–2.00 Half ball (0.5): The handicap team must win for their backers to win; any other result loses.
4. 1.50–1.72 Half/One (0.5/1): If the handicap team wins by one, their backers win half; win by two or more, they win all.
5. 1.44–1.50 One (1): If the handicap team wins by one, it’s a push; two or more, they win.
6. 1.30–1.44 One/One and a Half (1/1.5): Win by one, their backers lose half; win by two or more, win all.
7. 1.20–1.30 One and a Half (1.5): The handicap team must win by two or more; any less, loses.
8. 1.10–1.20 One and a Half/Two (1.5/2): Win by two, backers win half; three or more, win all.

MC odds have even deeper handicaps, sometimes giving two goals or more. A two-goal handicap means if the team wins by two, it’s a push; only winning by three or more counts as a win. All these are matched—one side wins half, the other loses half. Odds are expressed as water levels: 0.8 means you win 0.8 times your stake; 1.1 means you win 1.1 times your stake.

"But I noticed you left something out," Chi Zhaoming asked Xiao Jin.

"What did I miss?" Xiao Jin replied.

"You only explained handicaps and the single/double and outright bet types, which are straightforward. But I’m unclear about the meaning of ‘over/under’ in a given match."

"The starting points for over/under are 0.5, 0.5/1, 1, 1/1.5 (these are usually for the first half), then 1.5, 1.5/2, 2, 2/2.5, 2.5, 2.5/3, 3, and so on (these for the full match). For example, 1.5 means betting on whether the total goals are more or less than 1.5. If the line is 2 or 3, and the goals match it exactly, it’s a push—no win or loss. To win on ‘over 2’, you need at least three goals, and so on. The ones with a slash are a bit trickier: if the total goals are less than the number on the left, it’s under; more than the number on the right, it’s over. If the goals match the right-side number, over wins half (under loses half); if they match the left-side number, under wins half (over loses half). Do you get it now?" Xiao Jin explained.

"I get it now. At least now, if you show me any handicap, I’ll know what it means," Chi Zhaoming replied.

"Smart, I’m impressed!" Xiao Jin praised.

As the match went into the ninety-third minute, a wave of jeers swept the stadium. The visiting Tigers had scored again, making it 2–0, leaving both Wu Zhengzhe and Chi Zhaoming in shock.

"Didn’t you say the Tigers couldn’t win by two goals today, Officer Xiao? Miscalculated, didn’t you? Haha, you lost big this time!" The two couldn’t hide their schadenfreude.

Suddenly, the stadium erupted in wild cheers, deafening the crowd.

"The referee called offside! Offside! Look, quick! The goal doesn’t count. No goal, no goal... Hahaha, hahaha!" Xiao Jin’s shouts left Wu Zhengzhe and Chi Zhaoming stunned.

Xiao Jin nearly jumped for joy. He was thrilled, ecstatic—another five thousand yuan in his pocket. "Tonight, drinks are on me. No one goes home sober!" The three agreed to meet for drinks that evening. (To be continued)