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One of the most crucial aspects of sports betting is being able to successfully read and understand the betting odds. However, although such an important part of sports betting, many people still find the odds to be quite confusing. As a matter of fact, Erik King from Kiwislots emphasizes the importance of understanding various processes from the world of both betting and gambling as the most crucial step towards reaching success.
That's precisely why understanding sports betting odds and being able to read them accurately is of such high importance. Otherwise, if you don't understand what you are doing, you can't really expect to achieve any positive results. So, instead of simply relying on your own intuition and choosing your betting options entirely at random, here is a rundown of sports betting odds and how they work.
What are sports betting odds?
Simply put, sports betting odds is the term used to describe the probability and likelihood of a particular outcome. In order to calculate the odds, you need to assess the ratio between the number of events which could produce the desired outcome and the number of events that do not. Once you determine that likelihood, you'll end up with the odds.As an example, say you're looking to bet on football and you have a favorite sports team you wish to place bets on. The team has 3-1 odds. So, if you bet that the team will win – and they actually end up winning the game – you can expect to win 3x your original bet, plus win back your wager. So, that means that if you've placed a $10 bet on a team that has 3-1 odds, you can expect to win $30 + $10 if they score a win.
Types of betting odds
Now that you hopefully have a bit clearer understanding on what the sports betting odds actually are, it's time to discuss three main different types of odds. These are:- Fractional odds – also known as "British" or "traditional" odds
- Decimal odds – commonly referred to as "European" odds
- Money lines – also commonly called "American" odds
Once we go in a bit more detail regarding each of these types of odds later in the article, you'll see why some bettors consider the American odds to be a bit more complicated than the other two. That being said, however, that doesn't mean that they're any less popular of a choice.
Fractional odds
Since all of the betting odds are best understood through examples, that's precisely the way in which we'll try to explain them closer.Fractional odds, as the name itself suggests, are represented as fractions. Most commonly, fractional odds are written using the / or – sign. So, 3/1 or 3-1 odds are the same, meaning that a particular bet has a 3-to-1 chance of success. The example we've mentioned earlier is a great example of how fractional odds work.
So, if you wager $10 on a 3/1 bet, and the team you've wagered on wins the game, you'll end up winning back your original wager of $10 + $30 profit. Naturally, the higher the amount you wager, the higher the amount you can potentially win.
Decimal odds
Unlike fractional odds, decimal odds are shown by using decimals. These show you how much money you can expect to win back for every dollar of your initial wager. So, if the team you're betting on had 3.0 odds and you've wagered $20, you can expect to win $60 ($20x3.0=$60). However, you'll notice that here – unlike the fractional odds – the final profit will also include your original wager. What this means is that you'll actually be in the profit only $40, as you've originally wagered $20.Money lines
In the end, we have money lines, most commonly used in the US. American odds are generally based around a $100 wager. The odds for favored teams are marked with a minus sign (-) followed by a three-digit number, while the odds for underdogs feature a plus sign (+). Team favorites, as well as underdogs are determined by the bookmaker. Here, no matter if you bet on the underdogs or the favorites, you'll always get your original wager back if the team manages to win. That being said, however, your final profit will vary significantly based on which of the two you've wagered on.- +300 – Placing a $100 bet on the underdogs in this instance will result in winning $400 if the team wins the game.
- -300 – Here, you'll be required to wager at least $300 in order to win $100. If the team wins, you'll end up with $400 withdrawable winnings, out of which only the $100 will be your actual profit.
