What is odds in sports betting?

Whenever experienced players discuss a sporting event among themselves, they are talking about the same thing. At what odds does the bookmaker accept bets? What do they mean by this? What do bet odds mean? How much can you win?

A coefficient is a numerical multiplier that expresses the probability of any outcome or event occurring. It also contains the bookmaker's margin and it allows the player to understand how much he will win, with a correctly calculated and perfect bet.

It is also important to know that the odds in the line can be presented in decimal, fractional or American formats. The types of odds in bets usually depend on the country in which the bookmaker operates. Next, we will analyze each of these formats, but in fact they all mean only a probability.  Learn more about افضل موقع مراهنات عربي

Decimal odds format (or it is also called European).

Distributed by the world's largest bookmakers. Widely represented in Europe. Looks like the usual decimal number 1.4, 3.3. The easiest format to understand, because in order to find out the size of the winnings, you just need to multiply the amount of the bet. Suppose at a bet of $100 at odds of 1.7, if the bet wins, the payout amount will be $170, where $100 is the size of the bet itself, and $70 is the net profit. This is how simple the answer to the question of many beginners “how do odds work in bets” sounds?

If you want to convert a decimal odd to a probability, just divide 100 by the odds value. The probability of winning the odds from the example above is 100/1.7 = 58%, however, the bookmaker's margin is also included here. We will discuss what margin is later.

 Fractional odds (or they are also called British)

Common, as it is not difficult to guess in the UK. By the way, Great Britain is the country where bookmakers appeared. To this day, UK bookmakers are the so-called trendsetters in the betting industry. They look like 6/4 and show the ratio of potential profit to the amount that you need to put in order to get such a profit. This means that a $4 bet will give the player $6 more if the bet wins.

To convert a fractional odd to a decimal one, you need to divide the numerator by the denominator and add 1 to the result. In our case, the British odds 6/4 is 1.5 + 1 = 2.5. A fairly high odds, it should be remembered that betting on high odds is a rather risky occupation, and only if you have the proper experience and analytical skills, we would recommend playing at odds greater than 2. Learn more at betfinal عربي. 

American odds

Unlike the two previous odds formats, there are no fractions in American fractions; there are “+” or “-” signs here. For example, the standard American odds in a line are -400 or +800. The coefficient -400 means that in order to get a win of $100, you need to bet 400, such bets are placed on the favorites in the match. On the underdogs in our example, a $100 bet could bring in 800.

If you want to convert a positive American coefficient to decimal, you need to divide its value by 100 and add one. In our case: 800 / 100 + 1 = 9.

If you want to convert a negative American odd to decimal, you need to divide 100 by its value (without the minus sign) and add one. In our case: 100 / 400 + 1 = 1.25.

So we figured out the main formats of betting odds, if all these calculations seem complicated to you on the net, you can easily find a sports betting odds calculator that will help you convert odds from one type to another.

But that's not all. It's impossible to know how to calculate odds on bets and how bet odds are calculated without understanding such a thing as "bookmaker's margin". For your understanding, the coefficients do not show us the true probability of a particular outcome of an event. Margin is a mandatory percentage that the bookmaker will take for himself. By placing a bet on one or another coefficient, you have already paid the bookmaker the margin that is included in it. Bookmakers never advertise the size of the margin, so for an effective game you will have to learn how to calculate it yourself.

For clarity, let's take one of the most favorite sports among bettors - tennis and consider the men's final of Roland Garos 2019 where Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem met. The bookmaker accepted bets on Rafa's victory at a coefficient of 1.25, on Tim - 4.62.

We will carry out calculations using the following formulas:

(1/cof per Nadal) × 100% = 80%

(1 / team bucket) × 100% = 21.64%

100% + margin = 80% + 21.64% = 121.64%

Therefore, the bookmaker's margin on the overall outcome market for this match was 2.64%.

The calculation of the margin for events where three outcomes are possible, for example, football, is carried out in a similar way. One bookmaker can pledge different margins for different markets - you need to remember this. Let's say on the main outcome you will see a margin of 2%, and rummaging through the lines and in the market of yellow card totals you can easily find a margin of 8%.

The value of the margin can fluctuate significantly and depend on the popularity of the event or the type of tournament. Low margins on the final Grand Slam matches does not mean that the same lucrative offers will be on golf or snooker. Each market must be checked separately and the best bookmaker should be chosen for your playing style. To know how to understand the odds on bets, also use the margin calculation formula, this will allow you not to get into situations that will obviously be negative for you.

We hope that we helped you understand the main issue of this article and replenished your knowledge base in the betting craft. Good luck and good odds.