How To Understand Betting Odds

How to Read Decimal Betting Odds

The decimal odds format is easy to understand. To calculate the potential winnings, the bettor needs to place a stake and then multiply that by the odds offered. For example, if a bettor placed a stake of $10 on a bet that has an odds of 2.3, then they would stand to win 2.3 x 10, or $23.

Decimal betting odds are even more useful when it comes to parlays. Here, single bets are combined and the odds are multiplied together to create even larger odds. Parlays are popular with sports fans as can be customised and offer far longer odds.

When it comes to decimal odds, calculating the odds of parlays are the most straightforward. Here all bettors need to do is multiply the odds of the individual bets in the parlay together. If a parlay includes three bets that come at odds 2.1, 1.8 and 3.5, the odds for the parlay would be 2.1 x 1.8 x 3.5 which becomes 13.23.

These will not be necessary online because the odds are automatically calculated and displayed as the parlay is constructed. Nonetheless, those with good multiplication skills will be able to do some quick maths as they look over the different bets to get an idea idea of what their odds would look like if they chose certain bets.

How To Read Fractional and American Odds

Fractional odds are used a lot in the UK. These odds are not as easy to read as the decimal odds, but they can still be understood to a certain level without using a lot of calculation.

Here, bets will be presented in fractional form such as 5/1, in which case the bet will pay 5 times the stake, with the original bet returned. If a $10 bet is placed on a 5/1 bet, this can win $60.

Odds that say 1/1 are odds where the bet pays even money. What this means is that a winning bet will pay the same amount as the original stake, as well as returning the stake, so a $10 bet will win $20.

American odds are only used in America, but there may be some running promotions on American sports that use the format. The American odds system presents odds with values that are either negative or positive.

There may be a two way sports bet, with the bets presented in the following way

Home team to win -120

Away team to win +230

The negative number shows how much money must be placed for the bet to win $100. In this case, $120 can be placed on the home team to win, and the bet can pay out $100. To calculate this amount in decimal odds, bettors must divide 100 by the negative number, so in this case the decimal odds are 0.83.

The positive value shows how much a bettor may win if they place a $100 bet. These winnings do not include the original stake, so a bet of $100 on the away team to win can pay out $330 (including the original bet). To calculate this value in decimals, bettors need to divide the number by 100 and then add 1. Dividing by 100 will show how much the bet would win for each dollar, and adding 1 shows how much would be won including the original stake.

When it comes to parlays with fractional and American odds, it can be very difficult to calculate. Therefore, it may easier to convert into decimal odds first. This adds many extra steps to the odds calculation, so it is probably more convenient just to allow the website to do the calculations. Of course bettors who want to see exactly how much their odds improve with certain bets can use their calculators to make their own calculations.

How To Bet On Sports

Now you have all the information needed to know how to place bets and to calculate how much each bet stands to win. These values are always calculated by the sportsbook, but it is also useful to know exactly how the betting odds work.

With decimal odds, bettors can calculate roughly how much they would need to place to win a certain amount, if the target is for example $60 and the bet comes at odds 3.0, the bettor can calculate that a bet of $20 will bring exactly $60. Of course this is one of the easier examples, but decimals do make it easy to make quick rough estimates when assessing the different bets available.