How to Read Betting Odds
Do you want to know the key to become a successful sports bettor? How to read betting odds is a crucial step and we will tell you all about it!
If you want to become a successful sports bettor, understanding how to read odds is a crucial step. It will help you to determine how much money you want to place on bet, and to figure out which bets offer the most value. After reading this article, you will have enough knowledge to go for the next steps of sports betting. Now let’s take a look at the odd types.
Learn to read Betting Odds
American Odds
If you see a three digit number with a +/- in front of it like -150, +230, you’re dealing with American betting odds.
The – and + on a betting line indicates whether you’re betting on the favorite or the underdog and your prospective payout. Negative numbers represent the favorite on the betting line, and indicates how much you’d need to bet to win $100. The positive numbers represent the underdog, the number refers to the amount of money you’ll win if you bet $100.
How to calculate winnings with American odds
For example, If the team you want to place your bet is -130, you will need to wager $130 in order to win $100. If the team is +130, your $100 wager will be $130.
How to calculate implied probability with American odds
There are different formulas for positive and negative odds, you can use these formulas to calculate implied probability for them:
100/(Positive odds+100)
(For positive odds)
(Negative odds)/(Negative odds+100)
(For negative odds)
A team with +110 odds’ implied probability of winning the game is 47.6%
A team with -130 odds’ implied probability of winning the game is 56.5%
How to calculate implied probability with Fractional Odds
To calculate the implied probability of that 8/13 odds, take the number of times they expected to win and divide it by the total number of trials. In that case, it gives us 61.9%.
Decimal Odds
Decimal odds are the easiest to work with, compared to other two types of odds. They are displayed like 2.40, 1.60 on the sports betting line.
How to calculate winnings with Decimal Odds
Determining your payout with decimal odds is very simple. All you need to do is to multiply your wager by the odds associated with the team you are betting on. You can subtract the original wager from the payout to calculate winnings.
For example:
If you bet $75 on 2.40 odds, you will possibly get
(75 x 2.40) – 75 = $105
If you bet $75 on 1.60 odds, you will possibly get
(75 x 1.61) – 75 = $45.00
How to calculate implied probability with Decimal Odds
To calculate implied probability with decimal odds, you should use this formula:
Implied Probability: 1 / Decimal Odds
Let’s say there are two teams with 2.40 and 1.60 odds.
Implied Probability of 2.40 odds: 1 / 2.40 = 41.7%
Implied Probability of 1.60 odds: 1 / 1.60 = 62.5%
Fractional Odds
Fractional odds are commonly used in the UK and when betting on horse racing. They are displayed like 9/5 or 1/2.
The number on the left how many times the outcome is expected to fail, the number on the right is how many times the outcome is expected to succeed. For example, let’s say a team receives 8/13 odds, it means that if this competition happened 21 times (8+13), the team would lose 8 of them and win 13.
Conclusion
There are lot of odds converters that also gives you the implied probability of the odds. Keep in mind that these converters will make things easier for you. Also, if you think that the odds given by the bookmaker are not accurate or too low, you can always look for better odds. With that being said, now you know how to read sports odds. Go to your favorite bookmaker and start winning some money!
