How Betting Odds Work

Bets on Games with Two Players/Teams

For two way bets, where a winner must be picked between two players or teams, the odds will reflect how likely each is to win the game. If the teams are evenly matched, the odds will be short on both players/teams. If one of the contesting players or teams is the clear favourite to win the game or match, then the odds on them will be very short, whilst the odds on the other player or team will be relatively long. Let’s look at some football examples

Liverpool vs Manchester City

In this match, both teams are evenly matched so the odds offered on each team will almost be the same. It is difficult to predict which team will win the game, but the odds offered on either team will definitely attract the attention of football punters. Bettors who enjoy placing risky bets may pick one of the teams to win the game, but it is not easy to determine which team will win.

Liverpool vs Brighton

Here, Liverpool is the favourite to win, meaning that they will have much shorter odds, and Brighton will have far longer odds, but they are not likely to win. Some punters avoid placing bets on favourites in these kinds of matches, because even though the chances to win the bet are extremely high, the winnings will not be big unless the initial stake is really high.

Bets on Races with Multiple Contestants

In sports where there are multiple contestants, such as horseracing or motorsport racing, there are odds offered on every racer. There are more possible outcomes than games between two players or teams meaning that the odds on which contestant will win may be much longer.

The likelihood of each racer to win the event will be calculated based on their form, track record and other criteria, which may help determine the outcome of the race.

In a horse race, for example, there may be 10 contestants. The horses that have won more races and have good running form may be presented with relatively higher odds than the favourite in a football match. In races where there are 10 contestants, usually there are two or three horses that are considered likely to win and they will have similar odds. A punter can choose to place money on the horse that has the shortest odds, though there may be horses where the difference between the odds are miniscule. Other punters may choose to pick out the two or three favoured horses and do some quick research to see which horse may have the edge.

The other contestants in the race will range from horses with relatively long odds to those with extremely long odds. These are the racers who are the least likely to win, but there are cases where the horses with the longest odds have won the race, causing major upsets.

Deciding if the Odds are Good Value

Once the odds are clear, it is important for bettors to try and put a value to the bet. There are some basketball games or football matches where there is a team that is highly favoured to win, but if the odds offered on the team are extremely short, then this bet may not be too useful. The only way bettors can make a sizable profit is to place a huge amount of money on this bet, but if it were to fail for any reason, it would be catastrophic for the punter.

There may be games or matches where the odds on the favourite to win may be more generous, such as when they are facing an opponent that is expected to pose a challenge. In football this may be the leader in the league playing against a mid-table team or a team from the top 6. Here, the favourite will have odds that may be just long enough to make the bet attractive. The chances of the favourite winning will still be very high and the punter may feel more confident about placing larger amounts of money in the hope of sizable winnings.

How to Use Parlays

Parlays are one of the most popular bets for sports punters because they combine single bets into one and multiply the odds of each bet against the odds of the other bets. For a parlay to win, all bets must win, which can make it risky to combine too many bets into one parlay.

Parlays can be formed with multiple bets that relate to different matches or games, or they can be combined from multiple bets that relate to the same match or game as long as the bets do not contradict each other.

The odds on favourites in single bets may be low, although if they are multiplied together then suddenly they can offer a huge potential cashout.