> The idea in pare-mutuel betting is not to pick the winner. The favorite usually wins, but the house cut makes betting the favorite a net lose. Isn't this a m

> The idea in pare-mutuel betting is not to pick the winner. The favorite usually wins, but the house cut makes betting the favorite a net lose. Isn't this a misstatement in the other direction? Favourites can be underrated too. They're probably not, or at least not enough for you to beat the house cut, but that's true of every bet -- they're all likely to be net losers unless you have special information, or a special way of using it.