Advantages of understanding the different sports betting odds

Functioning of the betting odds

Understanding the meaning or betting odds, the way in which they work and how they can be utilized by potential wagers in sports online betting is a crucial step for amateur bettors.

Just seeing the odds online and guessing the multiple big-name books will serve no purpose, if you do not know the three most common types of sports betting odds. Learning the types, will give you the knowledge on how almost every book represents their odds and the way in which you’ll be able to place a smart bet on them. Reading the odds correctly, will restrain you from placing incorrect bets.

So, here are a few common representations of wagering odds for your lucky bet.

Comparing the various odds

Sports odds usually represent the winning chances of a wager, who has placed a particular sports bet. The three most common types of odds are:

American Odds (Symbolized using plus/minus, or a number such as +110)

Fractional Odds (Odds represented as a fraction, ie. 12/5 and the most common type in the UK)

Decimal Odds (Shown as a number with a few decimal places such as 3.40 and most common in Europe and UK)

Each of these odds interprets a wagers success in different ways. So a detailed understanding of these odd formats will help you convert the different sports betting odds which do not display the American, Fracional or Decimal formats, into a familiar format. These conversions might be more handy than big calculators or other features offered by big books and are sure to make you a very educated bettor.

American Odds

Online sportsbooks whose clientele base is mostly Americans, follow the American odd or money line odd format. Though this format is quite popular, it might be a bit confusing for the novice wagers, since the numbers work differently for the favorite and the underdog.

American odds guide you as to how many dollars you have to wager, when you want to bet on your favorite. So, if an online American odd site sets favorite as $110, your wager of $100 is either scaled up or down to make you win. If the team wins, you will get you a profit of $110 and the total amount you’ll draw will be $210.

During an underdog betting, such as an NFL game listed as +240, American odd will tell you how much you will win by betting $100. If the underdog pulls off the upset, your total gain will be $340.

Fractional Odds

Named as Traditional, British or UK odds, Fractional odds are most popular in the UK and common in horse racing venues around the world.

Depending on the stakes, a set of fractional odds, gives an idea of the net total that a gambler can win. For example, if you bet on a $20, a 1/5 fractional odd may give you a payout of $100, while on the other hand, if you’re betting on a heavy favorite a bettor may just earn 1/5 of the $20, ie. $4. Fractional odds help the gambler to earn back even the original stake if the wager wins.

Decimal Odds

Decimal odds are one of the most difficult odds top read and are practiced in Western Europe, Australia, Canada and Asia. But with time all wagers get a hang of the decimal odd and find it easier to read, which makes it highly evident on the worlds biggest name sportsbooks.

In case you want to calculate your winning bet using a Decimal odd, you have to just multiply your win with the decimal odds given in the book. For example, if you bet $100 on a team and the decimal odd mentioned at the event is 2.00, you end up earning $200, which is $100 multiplied by 2.0.

Some of the world’s best online sportsbooks allow sports bettors to view odds in the format they want, which is a good news. But to be the best and win contests, you will still need to learn these types and start applying them in your online sports betting.

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