What are Betting Odds? How to Read Betting Odds?

Understanding exactly how betting odds work is the main factor that every punter needs to know to wager successfully. The betting odds themselves show the likelihood of a certain outcome happening in the eyes of the sports betting sites and also show how much punters stand to win if their bets are successful. There is a lot more to understand when it comes to betting odds, whether you are interested in sports or politics. Whether you want to bet on the Golden State Warriors, Kansas City Chiefs, or any other hockey or football teams, you have got to learn about the betting odds.

In this article, we are going to discuss how to read betting odds, the different types of odds formats, and how they can be converted to probability. So, if you are looking for an article that has Betting Odds Explained, you have come to the right page. Let’s move ahead to explore the world of betting odds.

 
Betting Odds Guide

Table of Contents

What are Betting Odds?

Betting odds project the probability that a selection will occur and highlight the rate of returns to sports bets. Sports odds are shown in multiple ways, including decimal, fractional, and American format. We have extensively discussed the types of betting odds formats later in this article, but a sports bettor should consider the different odd types and how they are used in online sports betting. 

To simply put, sports bettors can enjoy large layouts only if they choose sportsbooks with the best odds and place wagers against one team which happens to win. So, if you’re someone who is new to sports betting, you need to learn how they work and learn to interpret different odds types to place smart NBA or NFL point spread bets, total points line, or prop bets.

How Betting Odds Work?

Betting odds is used by sportsbooks to represent the probability or likelihood of a certain event occurring. They are represented as a ratio between the amount bet by the punter and the sportsbook. For instance, a betting odds of 2/1 indicates that the sportsbook site wagers two times the bettor’s wager amount. Hence, if the sports bettor happens to win the bet, he gets to take home two times the bet amount. 

Punters often use the concept of implied probability in betting odds, which refers to the chance or probability of an outcome in question happening. Low betting odds indicate that online sports betting sites find a major event more likely to happen, offering lower payouts if the punters were to win. 

Sports betting sites use probability to calculate the betting odds, and based on their prediction, the best betting odds are then displayed. The betting odds that sportsbooks display are used to calculate the probability of a particular game event occurring. Whatever the type of odds that a player chooses to use, they are essentially based on implied probability. 

If you find any price linked with the betting odds, it shows the chances of what a sportsbook thinks is the best bet. Sportsbooks initially work out the probability in the form of a percentage and use a betting odds converter to calculate the price. Lower odds reflect higher probability and vice versa.

Types of Betting Odds Formats

Fractional Odds - UK Odds

Fractional or UK odds are simple to understand. Before we explain how to read betting odds, let us first understand what fractional betting odds are. These are used by online sports betting sites to indicate how much a punter can secure when they stake a particular bet amount. 

Fractional betting odds are represented as a fraction, showing you how much profit you can make for every bet placed with fractional betting odds. For instance, betting odds of 7/2 returns $4.5 from a $1 stake since (7/2)*$1=$3.5. 


Fractional betting odds are also used to calculate a bet’s probability where the numerator of the fraction is less likely to happen while the denominator is more likely to occur. Fractional betting odds with 9/1 have a probability of 10% to occur, while a ½ betting odds has a 50% chance of occurring.

Decimal Odds - European Odds

Decimal or European odds are even easier to understand, presenting a more continental way of presenting betting odds. They are simply odds displayed in decimals instead of fractions. All punters need to do is simply multiply their bet amount by the odds displayed on the best sportsbooks to work out their potential winnings. 

For instance, if a player stakes a $1 wager with 5.00 odds, it would return $5, whereas a $2 bet amount and betting odds of 1.75 would return $3.50. With decimal betting odds, sports bettors must note that the total return that they get from decimals also includes the original bet amount.

Moneyline Odds - American Odds

Moneylines or American betting odds are represented as a negative or positive number showing punters the amount of money they will need to bet against or for an event that is most likely to occur or a team that is most likely to win.

Odds have a (+) sign denotes that the bets are odds-against, whereas a (-) sign indicates that the bets are odds-on. Alternatively, while wagering on the underdog team, a number with a plus sign is displayed, showing how much profit punters will earn if they bet $100. For instance, with an odds of 250+, if a player bets $100, he wins $250.

Conversely, while wagering on a favorite team, the odds are represented with a minus sign, showing the amount that the punters need to bet to make a $100 profit.

For instance, odds of -150 show the amount that punters need to place to secure $100.

How to Place Bets Online?

Placing bets online is a straightforward process and gets done within a few clicks and minutes –

  • Choose a reliable sports betting platform to register and create a betting account.
  • Go to the official website, navigate to the Join or Registration tab, and then work through the given prompts. It should not take more than a few seconds to fill in the registration form displayed on the screen.
  • Once all the information is provided correctly, the sportsbook site requires customers to deposit some amount of funds.
  • Move to the Cashier page and choose a convenient payment method to make deposits as securely and instantly as possible.
  • With the funds deposited, choose from the range of sports betting markets available on the sportsbook.
  • Then, choose suitable betting odds and add them to the bet slip to start wagering on your favorite sports.

Converting Betting Odds to Probabilities

Betting odds are used by bookmakers to convey the chance or probability of an outcome occurring.

To get a good grasp of sports betting and make accurate predictions, punters need to be aware of the probability involved, which are based on data, knowledge, and stats, but ultimately, they serve as an estimate as to how the football and other markets can play out, being very subjective in nature.

You can always use a betting odds calculator to determine the probability of an event occurring. The probability of success for an outcome can be calculated for fractional betting odds using a straightforward math formula mentioned below –


Probability (%) = B / (A+B)

Taking the example of a 5/1 bet, the formula for fractional betting odds will look like –

  • 1 / (5 + 1) = 0.167% = 16.7% chance of winning

Popular Betting Odds Conversion ​

Fractional to Decimals Conversion

Converting fractional betting odds to decimal follows the formula – (A/B)+1 = C For instance,
  • Fractional Betting Odds of 4/1 can be written as (4/1) + 1 = 5.0 Decimal Betting Odds
  • Fractional Betting Odds of 7/3 can be written as (7/3) + 1 = 3.3 Decimal Betting Odds

Fractional to American Betting Odds Conversion

Converting fractional betting odds to American betting odds involves determining whether the odds are greater or less than even money (1/1) –
  • For greater odds (2/1) use +100 = (2/1)*100 = +200
  • For lesser odds (1/2) use -100 = -100/(1/2) = -200

American Odds to Decimals Conversion

Converting Americans to decimals is similar to what we did for fractionals to Americans.

First, we need to decide whether the original price is positive or negative. Considering American betting odds of +200 and -200–


For positive (+200), the formula will be (+A /100) +1

  • (200/100) +1 = 2+1 = 3.00


For negative (-200), the formula will be (100/-A) +1

  • (100/200) + 1 = 0.5+1 = 1.5

American Odds to Decimals Conversion

The popular betting odds and markets include – 

NBA – The National Basketball Association has multiple sports betting markets, including moneyline, point spread, totals, and prop bets. 


NFL – The National Football League is the most competitive betting markets which include totals, moneylines, and point spreads, along with rushing yards, next scoring play, and passing yards for proposition beds. 


MLB – The Major League Baseball features several games for wagering with favorable odds, considering the low volume of bets available on every market. 


NHL – The National Hockey League is one of the smallest of the “big four” sports in the USA, but it offers competitive betting odds, considering the range of hockey betting markets and volume of game events taking place. 


March Madness – This is a College basketball game with dozens of betting odds and markets featured. 


Golf – Masters, PGA, US Open, and The Open are the four major betting opportunities for golf punters, with group betting and outright winner being the largest betting markets. 


UFC – The Ultimate Fighting Championship gets popular every season with the advantages of proposition bets like the method of victory and round betting, instead of the overall games’ match winner. 


Horse Racing – Betting odds for horse racing vary from one sportsbook to another, with popular bets like show, win, and place. 


Tennis – A tennis match can be played throughout the year, offering a huge range of betting markets and some of the best betting odds during low-ranked game events. 


Politics – Betting odds during political elections are getting more popular every year, providing access to wagers like betting on the next President, local elections, and the Prime Minister.

Key Points on Sports Betting Odds

Reasons for Betting Odds Change

Betting odds fluctuate for many reasons. The first reason is that an event has occurred which has led the bet to either strengthen or weaken the chances of the outcome. For instance, the chances of winning inevitably reduce if a particular team player gets an injury. This also indicates that the odds will increase or lengthen. The second reason why betting odds change depends on the volume of bets that the sports betting platform takes. 

Sportsbooks are constantly looking out for equal exposure to the results of a particular market. This ensures that the sportsbooks get a guaranteed profit. If a large volume of bet or a huge single bet is placed on a result, it would get overexposed. To resolve this, sportsbooks shorten the sports betting lines and make them less extractive while lengthening the betting line on alternative results to make them more attractive.

Parlay Bets Explained

Parlay bets are more than a single wager where you can create one coupon with multiple bets. For a Parlay bet to win, players need their selections to win. Even if a single bet within the Parlay bet loses, the entire bet loses. So, how do we work with the betting odds for a Parlay bet? This simplest way is to switch American betting odds with decimal odds by multiplying each price by the next. So, if you get five shots with even money, it will appear like this – 

  • 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 32.0

Understanding the "Juice" (Vig)

Let’s now understand the meaning of Juice or Vig, commonly used in the sports betting industry. Sports betting sites provide their services but not for free. They charge something called the Juice or Vig on every bet placed on the platform. This is their cut for offering the best odds for game events. Juice is charged by creating a betting market, where they get to earn a small profit on every possible outcome.

To get a sneak peek into how this juice is calculated, let’s take a look at the coin flip case given below – 


The truest form will be either even money (+100) or 50-50, but a sportsbook site will not offer even money on the coin flip. They would rather offer -110 for both heads and tails. If you wager $1000 on both outcomes, this is how it will work – 


  • $1000 stake on heads with betting odds of -110 is equal to $909.09

  • $1000 stake on tails with betting odds of -110 is equal to $909.09

  • Profit is $1000-$909.09 = $90.91

Conclusion

Betting odds are considered valuable if you can assess the probability of the outcome of a game estimated by sports betting websites. Note that the probability displayed by the odds is are implied probability and does not reflect the event’s true probability. 

Whether you choose NFL betting or want to wager on Champions League or any other major games, it is important to understand how odds function and explore the different types of betting odds formats. 


Regardless of what you choose, responsible betting is a must. You can never be guaranteed a potential profit, no matter how skilled and knowledgeable you are about sports betting odds. Hence, place bets and stick to a strict budget to avoid building any problem gambling behavior.

FAQs

What’s the easiest odds format to understand?

Decimal betting odds are the easiest formats to understand and calculate. , Kaki, working, which are different presentations of the same probabilities.

Yes, betting odds change in real time, and they can change even after the bet is placed. However, the odds on which the bets are placed remain the same.

The best betting odds are available on the roulette table game, which provides a 50% odds.

The general thumb rule for betting odds of 5/2 means that the odds on a game is 5/2 (=2.5-1=1.5).

Yes, moneylines are also known as American betting odds, which are popular in the USA.

Betting odds are of different types, including fractional, decimal, and moneylines, which essentially present the same possibilities of an event offering but in different formats.

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