Sports Betting Odds Explained - Most are completely confused when looking at betting lines for the first time. Loot explains what all the plus and minus signs signify and more! Vigorish Explained - There is a misconception in sports betting that one only has to hit 50% of their bets to break even. Sometimes we forget about the house edge. Sports betting odds are created by bookmakers to show what the outcome of a game or event is likely to be. They also dictate how much profit a player can make when.

Reading sports betting odds requires understanding the peculiar language used by the house in different areas. The visual difference in American, decimal (European), and fractional odds (British) make it seem as if the odds are different in each area. In reality, they represent different ways of expressing the amount of potential profit gained from money wagered. This article will explain how to read odds in each system to allow you the best chance of profiting from your bet.

The sports betting odds express how much money you can win for each dollar gambled. Odds typically track the likelihood of an event happening, although they also reflect the possibility of the house receiving a large amount of money on a bet. When an event is more likely to happen --- Tiger Woods winning the Masters or Alabama winning a football national championship --- the odds are lower, reducing the payout, and managing the risk to the house. When an event is less likely to happen, such as a small college winning the national championship or a marginal pro winning one of golf's major championships, the odds increase, allowing for a higher payout. However, the small chance of the event occurring reduces the risk to the house that would flow from higher payouts.

Understanding betting odds could keep you from losing money within your bets, so keep in mind the variances at play, and try to protect your money at all times.

American odds are written as and are called money-line bets or “moneyline” odds. Your profit potential in American odds is written as a total sum that you win or the amount you need to bet based on a common-$100 range. The profits that you win from American odds are given to you alongside your initial principal.

Example: Bookies express odds with a plus or minus, with the '-' indicating the favorite, while the '+' represents the underdog. For example, to win $100 on -150 odds you must wager $150. Odds of +180 mean that you win $180 with a successful $100 bet. Note that the sum of the odds does not have to equal zero. The favorite could be -120, while the underdog is +210. Larger numbers represent a stronger favorite/underdog. A participant with -500 sports betting odds rates as a much larger favorite than one with -120 odds.

Decimal odds are also called European odds.This type of sports betting odds is typically associated with players in Canada and Europe. The numerals in decimal odds identify how much you gain for every dollar or euro you spend. However, the higher that the number is, which is specifically for numerals “.10” and above, the less likely the outcome is though a higher payout is listed.

Example:Houses place a number, such a 3.0 or 2.5, to express decimal odds. A professional soccer team may receive odds of 3.0 to win its next match. The 3.0 odds means that a winning bet of $1 pays $3. To determine your payout, multiply the amount of your wager by the odds. Winning a $10 bet on 50.0 odds results in a payout of $500. The larger the number, the less likely the event will occur. Odds of 2.0 have far higher chances of occurring than odds of 100.0.

A simple slash (/) is used in fractional odds, and these are pronounced as “a 20-to-1 chance” or “20/1.” The first digit in fractional odds tells you what the profit amount is while the second digit tells you how much you must wager in order to gain the listed-profit mark.

Example:These are the odds you see in sports pundits predictions for events (although not the exact odds as those given by the house). Houses set the odds using fractions, such as 20/1 or 1/5. The number on the left indicates how much you win if you bet the number on the right. In our examples, a bet of $1.00 wins $20.00 for the 20/1 odds, while a wager of $5.00 wins $1.00 in the 1/5 odds. The smaller the discrepancy in the numbers, the more likely an event will occur. If the number on the right is smaller than the number on the left the chances of the event occurring rise. A team with 1/5 odds possesses a much higher chance of prevailing than a team with 20/1 odds. Make sure you focus on the discrepancy and not the numbers themselves. A golfer with odds of 6/4 is favored to win over a golfer with odds of 5/2.

The various ways of displaying odds help punters to obtain different perspectives on probability, profit, cost and risk. The variance in how you can write odds helps you to strategically gather data. For example, American odds tell you about the amount you need to spend, fractional odds can determine how much you win per-amount wagered and decimal odds track what your overall risks are per-dollar spent.

Modern bookies give you the option of changing sports betting odds to the formats you prefer.

American Odds Example

Decimal Odds Example

Fractional Odds Example

Frequently Asked Questions for Sports Betting Odds

Who Sets Your Sports Betting Odds?

Betting exchanges and bookmakers employ professional compilers to calculate the odds that bets are displayed as. A bookie’s own financing, ingenuity and statistical data are factors behind the specific odds shown on their exchange. The global activity in sports gambling also plays a role in which odds a bookie offers.

What Does Plus & Minus mean in betting?

A plus designation indicates an underdog. A minus designation identifies the favorite. The plus indicates the potential payoff of a $100 bet while the minus shows the amount needed to realize a $100 payoff. -350 odds means that a winning $350 bet results in a $100 profit (plus the return of the $350 stake).

Are lower odds better?

Low odds generally indicate the potential for something. The higher odds mean that something is unlikely. A lot of people get the two confused. They assume it should be the other way around. However, in the sports betting world, you want something to have a low betting odd. That means there is more potential for the player.

Why would you bet on negative odds?

Gamblers like “low odds” because these odds are in their favor. There are no guarantees, but you can lower your risk via high-probability bets that have lower profits, being called low-odds bets.

What Does +100 mean in betting?

Odds of +100 represent an even money bet. A winning +100 wager pays $100. A +100 line will occur when the odds of winning or losing are relatively evenly balanced. It also represents a much riskier bet than a -200 and a less profitable wager than a +200.

What Does -100 Mean In Betting?

Sports betting odds of -100 represent an even money bet. Houses may issue even money odds as -100 or +100, depending on their preference.

Knowing how to read odds allows you to understand how much you might profit from your wager. The type of sports betting odds provided by the house reflects not different odds of success for the same event but historical preferences for each system. Now that you know how to calculate your potential payout, you will know whether the proposed wager makes sense.

How to Read Sports Betting Odds: Fractional, Decimal & American Odds

If you’re planning to start betting and you’ve had a look around at a couple of betting sites you will have come across betting odds. Betting sites show you odds to give you an indication of how much you can win if you place a successful wager. Once you know what you are looking at betting odds are simple to understand, but if you are a beginner looking at multiple sites it might be a bit overwhelming.

Don’t be too hard on yourself if you are staring at your screen scratching your head. There are many ways that bookies can show you the same information. Each online bookies have their preference in the way they show you the odds.

Fractional Odds

Fractional odds (aka traditional or British Odds) are popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

You’ll quickly identify that you are looking at fractional odds by their lay-out. They can be displayed with either a slash (/) or a dash (-). For example 4/1 or 4-1, this would be pronounced “four-to-one”

The chances are you’ve probably come across this method of displaying odds found yourself asking what it means. Some of the largest bookmakers in the world use still fractional odds. It remains popular largely due to tradition.

How to read fractional odds

In fractional odds, the numerator (first number) refers to the amount you will win if you were to wager the denominator (second number). In addition to your winnings, the betting site will also return your original wager.

I will use 4/1 or “four-to-one” as an example. If you were to wager £1 and win, you will receive your winnings, £4, plus your original wager, £1, for a total payout of £5. If you were a little gutsier and you had wagered £100 then the total payout would be £500

Total payout = [Stake x (Numerator/Denominator)] + Stake

At the time of writing, one major online bookmaker had the following odds for the outright winner for the 20/21 premier league.

From this, we can see that Man City are the bookies favorite to lift the trophy at the end of the season. If you place a £6 bet on Man City and they win you will receive £11 back, that’s the £5 you won and your £6 original wager back. If you wager £4 on Liverpool and they win you’ll get back £13 (£9 winnings + £4 stake). A wager £1 on Chelsea would return you receive £10 (£9 winnings + £1 stake) if they win.

A £100 wager on each team would payout £183.33 for Man City, £325 for Liverpool, and £1000 for Chelsea.

Related: If you’re anything like us then you love to watch and bet on the Premier League which is why we’ve put a guide together so you can watch every premier league game this season

Decimal Odds

Decimal odds are popular across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. They are also increasingly popular with younger users in the UK.

The growing popularity of decimal odds is likely to the ease of reading. You can look at the odds, and in a split second you can work out who’s the favorite and who’s the underdog.

How to read decimal odds

Betting Odds Explained Sports Betting

Decimal odds show you the total payout from the get-go.

To know how much you are going to receive if you win your bet you simply have to multiply your stake by the stated odds.

Total Payout = Stake x Decimal Odds

Let’s have a look at the same odds for the premier league displayed as decimal.

Here even at a glance, you can see that Man City are a heavy favorite followed by Liverpool and trailed by Chelsea.

With decimal odds, it’s easy to see what you are going to receive if you place a winning bet. If you were to bet £1 on each of these teams to win the Premier League each teams success would result in the return of £1.83 for Man City, £3.25 for Liverpool, £10 for Chelsea.

Note that the stated odds are what you get back, you don’t add your original wager to decimal odds.

American Odds

American odds or money line odds are popular across the united states.

Unless you are already familiar with this style of odds then it’s probably going to be a bit confusing, I know it’s my least favorite style. It is still useful to understand how they work, especially if you like to bet on American sports or follow any American media.

How to read American money line odds

Money line odds don’t provide an intuitive way to compute the return for a given stake. Moneyline odds can be displayed with either a plus (+) or a minus (-) in front of the number. Favorites are signaled with a minus (-), this indicated the amount that you would need to wager to win £100. Longer shot bets are signaled with a plus (+), this shows the amount you will win if you are to wager £100. In both cases, you also receive your initial wager if you win.

I know it sounds more complicated than fractional or decimal odds and to be honest they are. Let’s come back to our premier league example to see how money line odds actually look.

Now when we’re looking at money line odds we first need to take special care to notice the modifier and then look at the quoted odds. In our Premier League example, Man City are still the favorites to lift the trophy so we would expect there to be a negative modifier and that is exactly what we see. So for if at the end of the season we want to win £100 by betting on Man City we will need to wager £120, if they do win the league then we would get back £220 (£100 winnings + £120 stake). Liverpool have been given a positive money line, as they are not the favorites. This means that when we bet £100 on Liverpool to win our bet could return £325 (£225 winnings + £100 stake). Likewise, a £100 bet on Chelsea would return £1,000 (£900 winnings + £100 stake

Converter

We’ve searched the web to find the best odds converter for you to use and by far the best tool we’ve found is made by us-bookies

Conclusion

Most online bookies available in the UK will give you the option to switch between fractional and decimal odds, some will even offer American odds. You don’t need to be able to be literate in all the different ways odds can be displayed, you only need to get comfortable with one and you will be able to change the settings in your betting site to show the odds how you like them.

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