Do you ever back something.....

No.

Yes if i think i can get out shorter i/r

Yes if the odds been offered are bigger in reflecton to its chance

YES LIVERPOOL

Much too often for my own good.

Even if you win at betting most bets are placed with an expectation that they wont win. Unless you only bet at odds on.

i always think any thing can win the race in question. 

Jaysus paddle that the greatest load of bollix ive ever come across on here and thats saying some. You might enlighten us on your profound
pronouncement

When you talk about thinking a horse will win or lose your only talking about an expectation of the outcome of the race. Thinking something will win or lose has nothing to do with a perceived expectation of profiting from the bet.

I have written down a number between 1 and 10. You have to guess it. Do you think you will get that number right? No, you think you will get it wrong. Or at least you should. But if i give you a big enough price you should have a bet eventhough you dont think it will win.

Galway for the double every year[:p]

paddle excuse my earlier tone. The theoretical question you ask is akin to a lotto type scenario and clearly my expectation is that I will hardly pick the correct number. If you offered me 9/1 or even 10/1 I still would be disinclined to bet because I feel its a game of chance with no skill involved in picking the correct number. However if there are ten horses in a race and if you adopt a professional approach in form study and interpretation then your expectation of picking the winner should be reasonably high. Indeed if there is an odds on fav whom you can dismiss with strong argument then your expectation is increased especially if you can make a strong case for one or two others to beat the fav. In this instance my expecation of what will occur is particularly strong hence I will also have a high expectation of profit.

mr mischief i get sucked into that bet or part of it more often than not every year!!..maybe this is the year the hurlers will finally click tho!!!

The question asked was about expectation of a bet winning. My answer had nothing to do with expectation of profit from the same bet.

Even if you knew an odds on favourite in a horse race was a non trier and you backed a 10/1 shot which should  really be 2/1 you would think that horse will still not win the race. The liklihood is that you wont be going up to the counter to collect after the race. Of course the times that the horse would win more than compensates in money terms against the unliklihood that it does win the race.

So yes in this case and in most bets you think your bet will not win.