As you suspect, the way betting is currently implemented is intentional. I like to think of the current form it as like a roulette table where you can spread your bets across multiple options. Of course the more options you have the less beneficial this effect is. If you only have two options though and the person bets the same amount they stand to not really lose as such.
Someone else did ask this question before so really i'm giving the same answer I gave them. Do know however that I talked with Experts about it then and he will probably implement a betting "mode" much like how arena is. Multi mode like it is currently now and then single mode which will be they can only bet on one option. No ETA I'm afraid as other things take more importance as you can understand in a project like this.
Thanks,
Dante557