If you want to get in touch with sports betting, it is best to get a good understanding of the odds first. There are several questions you may have about odds.
- What are odds?
- What do odds tell us?
- Why do different companies show different odds for the same result?
The first thing you need to know is that the payout you get for your bet is based on the amount you bet and the odds associated with it. It is therefore essential to know the odds.
In sports betting, odds serve two main purposes.
Firstly, the odds represent the expectation of the outcome of a match. The higher the probability of a certain outcome occurring, the lower the corresponding odds and the smaller the payout you will receive. Conversely, if a certain outcome is almost impossible to happen, it will have higher odds. And when it does, you will receive a significant payout.
Secondly, odds are used to calculate how much you will be paid out in the event of a win.When you are ready to bet, you will be given information on the odds of the various possible outcomes of the match. The odds relate to how much money you will win in the end. When you place an equal bet, the higher the odds, the more you will be paid out if you win.
Here’s an example to illustrate. The number one ranked football team in the world, team a, is playing the 97th ranked team in the world, team b. Normally, we would all assume that the number one team in the world would easily win the match. Therefore betting on team a pays low odds, and even if team a wins in the end, you will only reap a small payout.
But the fascinating thing about the game is that anything can happen. Someone with this in mind might choose to bet on team b, because the odds on picking team b are high.If team b loses, he only loses the money he bet. Whereas if team b wins, he will potentially gain a significant amount of money.
I’m sure you now understand the relationship between the odds and the payout you get if you win. Next let’s understand the format of the odds.
Odds Formats
There are three common formats for the amount of odds as follows.
It is possible to encounter virtually any of these three odds formats, so it is important that we are aware of them all. Don’t be nervous, these three odds formats are only presented differently, but all can indicate the actual odds of a particular bet. It is not as difficult to understand as you might think.
Decimal Odds
Fractional odds used to be popular mainly in continental Europe, Australia and Canada.Due to its simplicity and convenience, it has now become the odds format used by most online bookmakers, except for the USA. Fractional Odds are expressed as a positive number and are usually retained to two decimal places.
Let’s take this match in the semi-finals of this year’s Copa America as an example. In this chart above we can see that if you bet $100 on Argentina, the odds for Argentina is 0.885. This means that if Argentina wins the match you will receive (100 ✖️ 0.885 =) $88.50. If your bet is on Colombia, you will receive a payout of $420 in the event of a win.
You can also see from the odds that people think Argentina is more likely to win this match.
Fractional Odds
Fractional odds is the traditional format used in the UK. It is the relatively complicated of the three forms and is now slowly being replaced by decimal odds.
Fractional odds are expressed in terms of fractions. As a simple example, 1/3 means you bet $3 and you get $1 on a win. 12/11 means an $11 bet gets you $12. This sounds simple enough, but the actual calculation is a bit more complicated.
Moneyline
Moneyline is also known as American odds. This is the most common form of odds in the United States and can be expressed as a positive or negative number. A positive number represents how much you will be paid if you bet $100 to win. A negative number represents how much you need to bet to win $100.
Of course, when you win, you get your original stake back in addition to the payout. When you lose, you lose all your bets together.
Finally, it is important to understand that the odds shown by bookmakers for a particular result represent the likelihood that they think that result will occur. And predicting the outcome of a match is not something that can be obtained by precise calculation. Therefore, the odds for a particular outcome may vary from bookmaker to bookmaker.
If one wants to make a consistent profit when betting on sports betting, this is not easy to do. But when combined with an understanding of sporting events and professional knowledge of betting, it is definitely possible.
