Understanding betting odds
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Betfair Trading Make money without the need for a bookmaker. Search Search. Dashboard Profile Log out. Learn matched betting the free, easy way. They are not an exact science. Read sporting odds as the likelihood that one team, athlete, or horse, will win.
The most common use of odds is found when placing a bet on a sporting event. Betting agencies use historical data and team statistics to predict who is more likely to win.
Whoever has the highest odds is considered the "favorite. Remember that lower odds return a higher profit. Betting on the underdog is riskier than betting on a favorite, but a higher risk means a higher potential reward.
The "longer the odds," or the less likely, the more money you could win. Learn the vocabulary of odds when betting. Many racetracks and betting establishments will have a booklet or pamphlet helping you learn terminology, but you should understand the lingo before you read odds.
Some of the basic words include: [2] X Research source Action : A bet or wager of any kind or amount. Bookie : Someone who accepts bets and sets odds. Chalk : The favorite. Hedging : Placing bets on the team with the high odds, and the low odds, to minimize loss. Line : On any event, the current odds or point spreads on the game.
Wager : The money you pay, or risk, on an outcome or event. Part 2. Know that odds at the track tell you amount of profit you will make per dollar spent. To determine profit, multiply the amount you bet by the fraction.
Understand that fractions greater than one mean a team is an underdog. This makes sense, because you would expect a bet on the underdog to have a higher payout. If you have a hard time with fractions, then see if there is a larger number on top then on bottom.
When you bet for the underdog, it is called betting "against the odds. Part 3. Know that moneyline bets only concern what team will win the game. Odds are presented as a positive or negative number next to the team's name.
A negative number means the team is favored to win, while a positive number indicates that they are the underdog. This means the Cowboys are the favorites, but pay out less money if a bet on them wins. Try out an online to check your math when you first get started.
Soon enough it will be second nature, but for now ask a friend or search for a calculator that fits your betting needs. You also get the money you bet back. To calculate how much profit you make per dollar spent, divide the amount you are going to spend by Multiply this number by the moneyline to see your potential profit.
When betting on the favorite, you take less risk, and thus earn less. Like positive odds, you earn back your bet when winning. Part 4. Notice that point spreads adjust the score for the favorite team. This is easiest to see with an example: If the New York Knicks are playing the Boston Celtics, and Boston is favored to win by a 4-point spread, then a bet on Boston only pays out if Boston wins by more than 4 points.
A bet on New York pays out if New York wins or if they lose by less than 4 points. In the example, if Boston wins , then it is a push and no one collects a profit. If you see "half-odds" a 4. When the spread is small, moneyline bets are often better since the spread does not indicate a clear underdog.
Ask your bookie about the "vig," which determines your potential profit. Also known as the "juice," the vigorish is the commission charged for placing a bet.
Typically the vig is , and you read this number like a moneyline bet see above. Sometimes there are different vigs for each team. Part 5. If the score is exactly what the bookies set, then the bet is a push and everyone gets their money back.
Make sure to check this with your bookie first, however. You Might Also Like. How to. The "" means that a football team is favored to win by 13 points. For you to win the bet, the team must win by more than 13 points. We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. Support wikiHow Yes No. Not Helpful 16 Helpful Not Helpful 21 Helpful In probability theory , odds provide a measure of the likelihood of a particular outcome.
When specific events are equally likely, odds are calculated as the ratio of the number of events that produce that outcome to the number that do not.
Odds are commonly used in gambling and statistics. Odds have a simple relationship with probability. When probability is expressed as a number between 0 and 1, the relationships between probability p and odds t are:. When probability is expressed as a percentage, it must be divided by before using these formulas.
When the odds have value t , one often says " t to 1" or writes " t :1 ". Another way to express odds is using "for" instead of "to": " f for 1" or " r for q " where. Odds can be demonstrated by examining rolling a six-sided die.
The odds of rolling a 6 is "1 to 5" or "". This is because there is 1 event rolling a 6 that produces the specified outcome, and 5 events that do not rolling a 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.
The odds of rolling either a 5 or 6 is This is because there are 2 events rolling a 5 or 6 that produce the specified outcome, and 4 events that do not rolling a 1, 2, 3 or 4.
The odds of not rolling a 5 or 6 is the inverse This is because there are 4 events that produce the specified outcome of "not rolling a 5 or 6" rolling a 1, 2, 3 or 4 and two that do not rolling a 5 or 6.
The probability of an event is different, but related, and can be calculated from the odds, and vice versa. When gambling , odds are often given as the ratio of the possible net profit to the possible net loss. Typically you pay the possible loss "stake" or "wager" up front and, if you win, you are paid the net win plus you also get your stake returned.
If you make 6 wagers of 1, and win once and lose 5 times, you will be paid 6 and finish square. These examples may be displayed in different forms, explained later:. The language of odds, such as the use of phrases like "ten to one" for intuitively estimated risks, is found in the sixteenth century, well before the development of probability theory.
The sixteenth-century polymath Cardano demonstrated the efficacy of defining odds as the ratio of favourable to unfavourable outcomes. Implied by this definition is the fact that the probability of an event is given by the ratio of favourable outcomes to the total number of possible outcomes.
In statistics, odds are an expression of relative probabilities, generally quoted as the odds in favor. The odds in favor of an event or a proposition is the ratio of the probability that the event will happen to the probability that the event will not happen.
Mathematically, this is a Bernoulli trial , as it has exactly two outcomes. In case of a finite sample space of equally likely outcomes , this is the ratio of the number of outcomes where the event occurs to the number of outcomes where the event does not occur; these can be represented as W and L for Wins and Losses or S and F for Success and Failure.
For example, the odds that a randomly chosen day of the week is during a weekend are two to five , as days of the week form a sample space of seven outcomes, and the event occurs for two of the outcomes Saturday and Sunday , and not for the other five.
For example, the odds against a random day of the week being during a weekend are Odds and probability can be expressed in prose via the prepositions to and in: "odds of so many to so many on or against [some event]" refers to odds —the ratio of numbers of equally likely outcomes in favor and against or vice versa ; "chances of so many [outcomes], in so many [outcomes]" refers to probability —the number of equally likely outcomes in favour relative to the number for and against combined.
For example, "odds of a weekend are 2 to 5", while "chances of a weekend are 2 in 7". In casual use, the words odds and chances or chance are often used interchangeably to vaguely indicate some measure of odds or probability, though the intended meaning can be deduced by noting whether the preposition between the two numbers is to or in.
Odds can be expressed as a ratio of two numbers, in which case it is not unique—scaling both terms by the same factor does not change the proportions: odds and odds are the same even odds. Odds can also be expressed as a number, by dividing the terms in the ratio—in this case it is unique different fractions can represent the same rational number.
Odds as a ratio, odds as a number, and probability also a number are related by simple formulas, and similarly odds in favor and odds against, and probability of success and probability of failure have simple relations. Analogously, given odds as a ratio, the probability of success or failure can be computed by dividing, and the probability of success and probability of failure sum to unity one , as they are the only possible outcomes.
In case of a finite number of equally likely outcomes, this can be interpreted as the number of outcomes where the event occurs divided by the total number of events:.
This is a minor difference if the probability is small close to zero, or "long odds" , but is a major difference if the probability is large close to one.
These transforms have certain special geometric properties: the conversions between odds for and odds against resp. probability of success with probability of failure and between odds and probability are all Möbius transformations fractional linear transformations.
They are thus specified by three points sharply 3-transitive. Swapping odds for and odds against swaps 0 and infinity, fixing 1, while swapping probability of success with probability of failure swaps 0 and 1, fixing.
Converting odds to probability fixes 0, sends infinity to 1, and sends 1 to. In probability theory and statistics, odds and similar ratios may be more natural or more convenient than probabilities. In some cases the log-odds are used, which is the logit of the probability.
Most simply, odds are frequently multiplied or divided, and log converts multiplication to addition and division to subtractions. This is particularly important in the logistic model , in which the log-odds of the target variable are a linear combination of the observed variables.
Similar ratios are used elsewhere in statistics; of central importance is the likelihood ratio in likelihoodist statistics , which is used in Bayesian statistics as the Bayes factor.
The three main types of betting odds are fractional (British) odds, decimal (European) odds, and money line (American) odds. · These types are alternate ways of Odds with a negative (-) symbol indicate the betting favorite. The number that follows the negative symbol (the odds) reveals how much to bet The math underlying odds and gambling can help determine whether a wager is worth pursuing. The first thing to understand is that there are three distinct