Understanding Betting Odds – A Must For Beginner Bettors

Not everyone has the talent for mathematics to appreciate in broad terms what betting odds truly mean.

That’s why at least a basic understanding of betting odds should be one of the first lessons a bettor just starting out or one who is eager to push gambling success to more profitable heights must seek to know.

Sometimes you wonder why you lose more than win not realizing that some of  your gambling misfortunes could well be trimmed if you know how odds really work.

Obviously, money is the tool of trade when it comes to sports betting.

The sporting event is the product you want your money to pay for, and the odds are simply the price at which your money buys that product (event). So without odds you can as well keep your money as there would be no trading and without basic understanding of how this odds work you will not be a successful bettor.

So you see, in the world of sports betting , odds are of extreme importance to both the seller (bookmaker) and the buyer (bettor). The party with the superior knowledge likely takes the advantage.

So then, what are betting odds and how do one interprete them?

Betting odds are simply the price of a bet – nothing more, nothing less.

“Odds are there to tell you how much your payout would be in the event of  a winning bet and are not necessarily the actual probability of an event happening or not happening”.

Simple right?

Wait until you get introduced to the two main types of betting odds:

• Decimal Odds
• Fractional odds

There is no difference in terms of payout or value to choose one over the other. They are the same things displayed differently. As mentioned earlier, in gambling the odds are the ratio of payoff to stake and do not exactly reflect the true probabilities of an event.

Decimal odds you are most likely used to – with this sort of odds format your stake is included in your returns automatically.

For instance an odd of 1.5 implies you would win N150 with a N100 stake (stake x odd = winnings). That’s one advantage of decimal odds -just by seeing the odds you can tell your expected returns.

The real headache lies in fractional odds. As the name implies, they are displayed in fractions and there are two ways you can use to understand how they work:

1. In terms of the ratio of how much you will profit/how much you have to stake.
2. In terms of the implied long term frequency of an event happening.

Say you have a fractional betting odd of 5/1 – one meaning is that if you stake N1 (denominator) at 5/1 you’d win N5(numerator) and have your staked returned back.

So if you stake N4 at 7/4 then you’ll win N7 and get your N4 stake back.

 

If you look at the odds above carefully, the numerator is bigger than the denominator – this kind of thing is referred to as improper fractions in maths, but in gambling they are known as “odds against selections” . When the likelihood of an event not happening is greater than the likelihood of it happening, then the odds are ‘against’ that event happening. For taking on such risk, the amount the gambler wins is greater than the amount staked.

 

Another way to look at those same odds is in terms of the implied long term frequency of occurrence – taking the 7/4 odds for instance, what it says is if this event is repeated 11 times (numerator 7 + denominator 4), the team will win 4 times and not win 7 times.

 

Not to mention you can see odds that are upside down with the denominator bigger than the numerator (proper fraction) – such as 4/6, 2/3 and so on. This sort of fractional odds are called ‘odds on selections’ and it tells you the bookie is tipping this team as the strong favorite to win.

 

So an odd 2/3 implies that for every N3 stake you bet, you will win N2 and have your stake returned.

 

Oops! who says fractional odds aren’t headaches? Decimal odds are no doubt far easier for the heart and brain to understand hence their popularity.

 

So if i ask you 4/5 and 3/8 which is smaller? even the gifted would find it uneasy to give an answer at a go, but turn same question around and ask 1.80 and 1.37 which is smaller? the answer is obvious and as clear as day.

 

Evidently, decimal odds makes it super easy to calculate potential returns -you see an odd and you know at once that if you stake this amount you make that amount but fractional odds goes the extra mile of forcing you to think in terms of probability – so this guys are saying if this team plays this same game 10 times they’d win just 3 and not win 7?

how true?

is the bookie over/underestimating something?

You see, probabilistic reasoning kicks in.

 

In a game where outcomes are randomly distributed, thinking in terms of probability could sometimes help you make an educated mathematical guess when you have nothing much to go with.

 

That’s why the purpose of this article is to help you know your onions when it comes to odds. It’s not a perfect science, but once you start getting a proper understanding, things starts getting better and you are more likely to hit bigger winnings.

 

To start making better betting decisions and claiming bigger winnings, the first thing you need to do is work out yourself what you think the chances of a team winning is and compare your own prices with that of the bookmaker – don’t worry this simple task of compiling your own betting odds is not as scary as you may have thought. Moreover, you can always start developing your skills with simple methods until you become adept to venture into more challenging waters.

 

If this method appeals to you or you’re finally ready to start taking your betting serious and making staggering profits from your football betting business, then mastering and applying the investment methods in the Mega Betting Course is an absolute must.