Sports Betting Odds Explained. To properly understand sports betting, you need to understand odds. They are an integral part of any sports wager, and they are used to determine whether a wager is worth making or not. The potential payout of any wager you place is calculated using a combination of the relevant odds and your stake. Betting Odds are written in terms of 100 as an industry standard. The easiest way to think of the plus and minus signs is as follows. If it is a plus, you will receive more than a $100 payout on a $100 bet. Betting Odds Explained In the world of sports betting the first thing you will need to learn is to read and understand the odds. There are three traditional ways that online sports betting sites display odds. They include American, Decimal, and Fractional. Learning about betting odds Top Sportsbooks. There are hundreds of sports wagering sites vying for your business and it can be difficult to identify. This is a simple wager on which team will win a particular game. Odds compilers will weigh up the relative. Odds explained Analyzing the Data. Data analysis is the first and most crucial step in the process of calculating the odds. Cash Projections. The next step after calculating each outcome's possibilities is to include the cash projections into. After bookies have.

• Explaining Sports Betting Odds
• How To Calculate Odds Payout
• Betting Numbers Explained

Explaining Sports Betting Odds

If you want to come out on top against the bookies it is vital that you understand the fundamentals. When it comes to sports betting there is nothing quite as fundamental as the odds that the bookies offer. Unfortunately, betting odds can prove very confusing. That’s especially true for people who are new to betting.

That’s where this article comes in. We’re going to explain exactly how betting odds work, how they are set and the differences in the ways they are displayed. After taking in all the information below, you will be much better equipped to set about making some profit.

What Do Betting Odds Represent?

At their most basic, betting odds tell you two things:

1. How much you stand to make should the selection win
2. The probability of the selection winning

Take this example. If you were looking through the weekend Premier League fixtures and saw a team had fractional odds of 2/1 (that’s decimal odds of 3.0) you would know that you stand to win £2 in profit from every £1 that you stake should the team win. You’d also know that the bookmaker who set the odds ranks the team’s chances of winning as one in every three times the game is played.

If you saw a team had fractional odds of 8/13, you’d know that for every £13 you stake, you will win £8 or profit and that if the game was played 21 times in total, the bookies think the team would win 13 times and fail to win eight times (what is known as the implied probability).

Working out an implied probability percentage from fractional odds is simple. You just divide the stake by the combined sum of the two numbers which make up the fractional odds. In the case of 2/1 the equation looks like this:

1 / (2+1) = 0.33 or 33%

For odds of 8/13 this is the equation:

13 / (8+13) = 0.62 or 62%

That’s how the maths works but when it comes to the actual odds that bookmakers set, it’s a little more complicated.

How Do Bookmakers Set Their Odds?

The basic business model of a sportsbook is fairly uncomplicated. Bookmakers set the odds and take bets on an event. When that event ends they pay out everyone who backed the winner and then keep the rest for themselves.

But, consider the following horse race.

As you can see, the combined implied probability of the selections above is 100%. From a bookmaker’s perspective that is a big problem. That’s because, presuming they’ve got the same amount of liability on each selection, they’d never make any money as they’d have to collect and payout the same amount.

So, the bookmakers will build something called an overround into their odds. Here’s a real example of a match odds market from a football match:

With an total implied probability of 101.7%, the bookmaker who set those odds is guaranteed to make a profit of 1.7% assuming that they have the same amount of liability on all three selections. Of course, it rarely works out that the bookies manage to spread their liability evenly but you need to know that when you look at a betting market you’re not simply looking at a reflection of how the bookies think the event will pan out. There’s much more going on behind the scenes.

Armed with this knowledge of how the bookmakers set their odds, you can concentrate on finding value. That is, finding a bet where you believe the odds (and therefore the implied probability) is too big. If the bookies think that a side has a 50% chance of winning but you think they’ve got a better chance than that, that’s value.

The Difference Between Decimal and Fractional Odds

You will have seen above that we’ve spoken about both fractional and decimal odds. They are just different ways of conveying the same information but they do add another layer of complexity.

All the major online bookmakers will shows their odds as both fractions and decimals so it’s important that you understand just what they are showing and how to switch between the two. Thankfully, it only requires simple maths.

To go from a fraction to a decimal is as easy as dividing out the fraction and adding one. Here’s how that looks for odds of 2/1:

(2/1) + 1 = 3.o

And using our second example from above, 8/13, it looks like this:

(8/13) + 1 = 1.62

If you want to go from decimal odds to fractional odds is similarly simple. You just minus one from the decimal odds, turn that number into a fraction and reduce it down to it’s simplest form.

Let’s take decimal odds of 4.5, this is the equation:

4.5 – 1 = 3.5
35/10 -> 7/2

If the decimal price is 1.25, you convert it into fractional odds like this:

1.25 – 1 = 0.25
25/100 -> 1/4

Here’s a list of some of the most common fractional odds and their decimal equivalents (for a more in-depth list click here).

Key Terminology

When reading betting advice or searching for a value bet on the bookies’ websites you’ll come across some key terms relating to betting odds. To round up our article on betting odds, we’ve covered the most widely used terms to ensure you don’t get confused in your search for winners.

Stake – The amount of money that you place (or wager) on a specific bet.

Price – The price of a bet is simply another way of referring to the odds. You can either say that a football team can be backed at odds of 2/1or that their price is 2/1.

Odds On & Odds Against – Two of the key terms that you’ll hear when it comes to betting odds are ‘odds on’ and ‘odds against’. These terms refer to whether a price is greater or lower than evens. Any price above evens is known as odds against, while anything below evens is odds on.

Short and Long Odds – If something is described as being short odds it means the price is low. A long odds shot will provide you with a bigger win but is much less likely to win.

See All Guides

Most sporting events have a perceived favorite, so applying a spread to the game is the bookmakers’ way of creating an even playing field. This is most often seen when betting on the NFL. When you bet “against the spread,” it’s not enough for the favorite to win the game; now, they have to win by more than a specified amount (the spread) in order for them to “cover the spread.”

As we explained with moneyline betting, a negative number (-) indicates the favorite and a positive number (+) indicates the underdog.

ATS (Against the Spread) Betting: Case Study

As you can see, New England is the favorite in this game by 7.5 points, since they have the negative number. You will often see half-points attached to the spread to avoid “pushes,” or ties for the newbies. As we covered in our how to read odds guide, games with half-point spreads are said to contain a “hook.”

How To Calculate Odds Payout

In this circumstance, favored New England is said to be “laying” 7.5 points. This means you subtract 7.5 points from their total score when the game concludes. If they still have more points than the Chiefs, then they “covered.” Therefore, the Patriots will have to win the game by at least 8 points for you to win your bet.

While New England is “laying” 7.5 points, Kansas City is “getting” 7.5 points. This means you add 7.5 points to their total score when the game concludes. If, after doing so, they have more points than the Patriots, then they “covered.” So, in order to win your bet, the Chiefs just cannot lose the game by 8 points or more. For example, if the Chiefs only lose by 3 points, you would win if you bet on Kansas City.

Here are a couple of mock outcomes, with the team who covered the spread in bold.

• Kansas City 21 – New England 24
• Kansas City 17 – New England 25
• Kansas City 3 – New England 41
• Kansas City 30 – New England 27

What Can Change the Spread?

The spreads in football games are subject to change based on where the money is going and weekly injury reports. If Tom Brady is hit by the Madden Curse before the season even starts and is unable to suit up, you’ll see the spread decrease, likely landing around New England -3.5.

Calculating Payouts Against the Spread

Now you may have noticed in the chart above that there is a three-digit number next to each spread, which looks an awful lot like a moneyline. It is, in essence. Those negative numbers (-110 in this case) indicate how much you have to bet in order to win $100. (Sportsbooks still take their cut when you’re betting against the spread.)

Generally, you will see “even bets,” meaning the payout is the same no matter who you bet on. But that’s not always the case, as you’ll see in the chart for our next example.

If the result of this game is Seattle 21 – Green Bay 28, would you win if you bet on Seattle to cover?

(NO! They lost by more than three points.)

Do Other Sports Have Spread Betting Options?

Betting against the spread on the NFL is undoubtedly the most popular form of spread betting, but there are other options.

You will also see point spreads in hockey, baseball, and soccer. They are referred to in different terms, but they refer to the same principle of operation as the spread.

In hockey, the spread is called apuck line; in baseball, it is a run line; and in soccer, it is a goal line.

Puck lines and run lines are almost always fixed at 1.5.

Learn the Basics of Sports Betting

Want to learn more about the basics of betting on sports? Educate yourself with sports betting 101.

Betting Numbers Explained