The Three Types of Betting Odds

The thing that scares new gamblers the most is looking at the betting board. It looks less like a sports game and more like a highly complex Wall Street trading terminal. It is filled with numbers and symbols. If you can’t read the odds, you are throwing your money away. You will have absolutely no idea who the favorite is, you won’t know exactly how much money you have to risk, and you won’t know your profit. While the numbers look incredibly complicated, they are just three ways to say the same thing. Here is how to decode the numbers, explaining the math behind the payouts.

The US Format: How Vegas Does It

In the USA, you will see the +/- system. The entire system is based on $100. It uses symbols to show the favorite and the underdog.

• The Minus (-) Symbol: The Favorite: Whenever you see a massive minus sign next to a team (e.g., -150), they are expected to win. The math is based on winning $100. If the odds are -150, you must bet $150 to win $100. (Your total payout would be your $150 stake + your $100 profit = $250).
• The Underdog (+): The positive number is the weaker team, they are not expected to win. It shows your profit on a $100 bet. If the odds are +200, a $100 bet will win you a massive $200 in pure profit. You get $300 back.

The European Format: How the Rest of the World Bets

If you use an international site, the +/- system does not exist. Instead, the entire rest of the world uses Decimal Odds. Decimals are incredibly simple, because you just multiply.

3. Fractional Odds: The Oldest System

If you use a British bookmaker, or if you play the ponies, you will use the old system: Fractional Odds (e.g. In the event you loved this information as well as you would want to obtain more details about avantgarde casino review i implore you to visit our own website. , 5/1 or 1/2). While they look confusing, they are actually very simple once you understand the basic formula.

• The Formula: Profit / Stake: The left side is the profit. The bottom number is the bet.
• Reading 5/1: If you see 5/1, you win five dollars for every one dollar bet. If you bet $100 on this horse, you will win $500 in profit.
• The “Odds-On” Favorite: 1/2: If the numbers are flipped, and you see odds like 1/2, this indicates a massive, heavy favorite (known in the UK as an “Odds-On” bet). You risk $2 to win $1. You must bet $100 to win $50.

In conclusion, whether you use American or Decimal, a decimal in Europe, or a 4/6 fraction at a horse track in London, the absolute, underlying mathematical probability is exactly the same. Modern sportsbooks will allow you to simply go into your account settings and switch the display format to whichever system your brain naturally processes the fastest. The goal is simply understanding what the numbers actually represent. Once you can instantly look at a board and calculate exactly how much money you are risking, and know your payout, you are officially a sports bettor.