Prediction Markets

How Betting Works

BETNDRAW uses pari-mutuel betting — there are no fixed odds. Your payout depends on how much everyone else stakes on the other side. The bigger the losing pool, the bigger the winner payout.

01

Pick a Market

Browse open prediction markets on the home page. Each market poses a real-world question with two or more possible outcomes — for example "Will Team A win the match?"

02

Choose Your Side

Select the outcome you believe will happen. You can see how much money is already staked on each side before you commit — this lets you judge the potential return.

03

Enter Your Stake

Type in the amount you want to bet. The minimum is $1.00. Your stake is deducted from your wallet immediately and added to the pool for your chosen side.

04

Collect Your Payout

When the market is resolved by an admin, winners share the entire pool proportionally. The more you staked relative to other winners, the larger your share of the pot.

The Payout Formula

Step 1

Deduct Platform Fee

totalPool = sum of all stakes
fee = totalPool × feePercent
fee is capped at loserPool
distributable = totalPool − fee

Step 2

Calculate Your Share

yourPayout =
   (yourStake / winnerPool)
   × distributable

Step 3

Credit to Wallet

newBalance =
   currentBalance + yourPayout

(capped at maxWalletBalance)

Key insight: you are betting against other players, not against the platform. The platform only takes a fixed fee. The rest always goes to winners — meaning a large losing pool produces a large payout for the winning side.

Worked Examples

All examples use a 5% platform fee for consistency.

Clear Majority Wrong

"Will Team A win the match?" · fee 5%

Yes wins

Bets Placed

BettorSideStakePayout
AliceYes$100$316.67
BobYes$50$158.33
CarolNo$200
DaveNo$150

Pool Breakdown

Total pool$500
Winner pool$150
Loser pool$350
Platform fee (5%)$25
Distributable$475

Because most money was on the losing side, winners get back more than 3× their stake.

Even 50 / 50 Split

"Will the price go up today?" · fee 5%

Yes wins

Bets Placed

BettorSideStakePayout
AliceYes$100$190.00
BobNo$100

Pool Breakdown

Total pool$200
Winner pool$100
Loser pool$100
Platform fee (5%)$10
Distributable$190

With equal money on both sides, the winner earns back their stake plus the net loser pool minus the fee.

Fee Capped at Loser Pool

"Will it rain tomorrow?" · fee 5%

Yes wins

Bets Placed

BettorSideStakePayout
AliceYes$950$950.00
BobNo$50

Pool Breakdown

Total pool$1,000
Winner pool$950
Loser pool$50
Platform fee (5%)$50
Distributable$950

The 5% fee ($50) equals the entire loser pool, so it is capped there. Alice gets her full stake back — winners can never lose money even in edge cases.

Nobody Backed the Winning Side

"Will the event be cancelled?" · fee 5%

Yes wins (no backers)

Bets Placed

BettorSideStakePayout
AliceNo$200Swept to house
BobNo$300Swept to house

Pool Breakdown

Total pool$500
Winner pool$0
Loser pool$500
Platform fee (5%)
Distributable

When nobody bet on the winning side all stakes are swept to the platform. Every bettor receives a transaction record so the ledger balances.

Bet Rules & Limits

Minimum bet$1.00 per market
Maximum single betSet by admin per market
Max total stake per marketPer-user cap, configurable by admin
Minimum participantsMarket postponed until reached
Platform feeAdmin-set %, capped at loser pool
Wallet balance capOverflow redirected to platform

Ready to play? Browse open markets on the home page, or read our full FAQ for more details.