online games
How To Read Betting Odds
n sports betting, the odds reveal a few bits of key information. For starters, they let you know which team is favoured. The odds also tell you how much money you stand to gain if your bet wins. Moreover, the odds tell you how much of a commission the bookie charges for accepting the bet.
It’s easy to learn how to register with 1xBet or another reputable bookmaker, but it’s not quite as easy to read the odds and make sense of them. One of the more confusing aspects of the odds is that they are expressed in a variety of ways. The most common forms of odds are decimal, fractional, and American. While they might look completely different, they all mean the exact same thing. So, let’s take a look at how you can decipher them.
Decimal Odds
Decimal odds are perhaps the easiest form to understand. Let’s say you want to place a Draw No Bet wager on an EPL match between Chelsea and Liverpool. The decimal odds will look something like this:
Chelsea 1.71
Liverpool 2.09
What does this tell us? Well, it indicates that Chelsea is a favourite because the number, and hence the potential payout, is lower. We can easily calculate the potential winnings by simply multiplying the wager amount by the odds. If we plan to stake £100 on Chelsea, we stand to earn a return of £171.00. When we subtract the £100 stake amount, we are left with a profit of £71.00. A £100 stake on Liverpool would potentially net a total payout of £209.00 giving us a £109.00 gain.
While calculating the odds margin, or bookie’s commission is a whole different topic best saved for another day, we can tell you that the above odds boil down to an odds margin of 6.33%. Not too bad, but far from ideal. In the end, the decimal odds have given us some valuable information.
Fractional Odds
Now we will take the same game, but this time we will be dealing with fractional odds. The selection on the betting menu will look like this:
Chelsea 71/100
Liverpool 109/100
You should be able to see some similarities in the fractional odds and the decimal odds. Because 71/100 is less than 109/100, we can first deduce that Chelsea is the favourite. The easiest way to decode fractional odds is by looking at the denominator as the stake amount and the numerator as the amount of profit you stand to make. If you bet £100 on Chelsea, you stand to make a £71 profit. If you bet £100 on Liverpool, you stand to earn a profit of £109.
American Odds
American odds are always displayed in terms of a “+” number and a “-“ number. If you were to look at our example game using American odds, you would see it like this:
Chelsea -141
Liverpool +109
With American odds, the “-“ sign represents the favourite and the “+” sign represents the underdog. Right off the bat we see that Chelsea is favoured and that Liverpool is the underdog. Now, figuring out the potential payouts is a bit different than it was for the decimal and fractional odds. The best way to go about this is by thinking of the “-“ number, which is -141 in this case, as the amount of money you need to stake to win £100. So, if you wager £141 on Chelsea, you would earn a net gain of £100.
On the flip side, we look at the “+” number, which is +109, as the amount you can profit from a £100 wager. When you bet £100 on Liverpool, you will walk away with a £109 profit if they win.
Use the Odds Format that You Understand Best
The most important thing about odds displays is that you are comfortable with them and you understand what they mean. We all have different preferences which is why online sports betting sites let you choose how you want to see the odds.
Once you are familiar with a particular format, you will immediately be able to figure out which team is favoured and how much money you stand to win on a given selection. You can even get fancy and calculate the betting margin to get an understanding of how competitive the odds are. After all, getting the best odds is one of the most critical components of a successful sports betting strategy.