How To Determine Odds In Betting
- How To Count Odds In Betting
- How To Determine Odds In Betting Explanation
- How To Determine Winning Odds In Soccer Betting
Bookmakers are constantly claiming to have the highest odds available, but, with so many claiming to have the best odds, how do we know who’s telling the truth?
To start, bookies offer odds that are lower than the actual probability of an event occurring. This is known as the betting margin. Essentially the added price a betting site “charges” you to place the bet, ensuring a profit regardless of the outcome.
As an example, imagine betting margins as a coin toss. In this example, both heads and tails represent a 50% chance each.
This is known as a 100% market which gives no advantage to either the punter or the bookie. But, this is not the case. In reality, each betting site will add on a certain margin to ensure they always have the advantage over punters.
Learning how to calculate betting margins is a crucial skill for every punter. Once you master this simple calculation, you can easily find the best odds in every market.
Working out betting margins using the decimal odds format is by far the easiest way. If you struggle with decimal odds check out our odds guide.
To calculate the odds of rolling two dice with a sum of four (for instance, a 1 and a 3), begin by calculating the total number of outcomes. Each individual dice has six outcomes. Take the number of outcomes for each die to the power of the number of dice: 6 (number of sides on each die)2 (number of dice) = 36 possible outcomes. Determining your payout with decimal odds is straightforward: simply multiply your wager by the odds associated with the team you are betting on. To calculate winnings, subtract the original wager from the payout. Let’s take a look.
How To Count Odds In Betting
To calculate winnings on fractional odds, multiply your bet by the top number (numerator), then divide the result by the bottom (denominator). So a $10 bet at 5/2 odds is (10. 5) / 2, which equals $25. A $10 bet at 2/5 odds is (10. 2) / 5, which is $4. What is Implied Probability? Decimal Odds Decimals quote the potential return should the bet succeed, relative to the stake. If $10 is bet at odds of 4, the total returned is $40 ($10 x 4) and the potential profit is $30 ($10 x 4 minus the $10 stake).
How To Determine Odds In Betting Explanation
How to Calculate the Betting Margins
There is a simple equation we use to calculate the betting margins. You can use this calculation across all the sports and markets as they tend to differ greatly.
It’s important to remember, the higher the margin, the lower the value for a punter. Margins are easily the best way to compare odds and find their true value.
Also, live betting margins tend to be much higher than in pre-match markets.
To calculate the margin for a two-way market, like basketball or tennis use this example:
(1/decimal odds) *100 + (1/decimal odds) *100 = Betting margin
Unibet tennis: Casper Ruud 2.48 vs David Ferrer 1.54
(1/2.48) *100 + (1/1.54) *100 = 40.3 + 64.9 = 105.2 = 5.2% margin
William Hill tennis: Casper Ruud 2.50 vs David Ferrer 1.50
(1/2.50) *100 + (1/1.50) *100 = 40 + 66.6 = 106.6 = 6.6% margin.
With this simple calculation, you can see that Unibet offer a 1.4% better margin than William Hill for this tennis event.
This is important for value over the long run. Find the best odds with the lowest margin to increase your potential profit.
To calculate margins for a 1×2 market like football use this example:
(1/home odds) *100 + (1/draw odds) *100 + (1/away odd) *100 = Betting margin
Unibet football: Wolfsburg 1.75 (home) X 3.70 (draw) Norwich City 3.95 (away)
(1/1.75) *100 + (1/3.70) *100 + (1/3.95) *100 = 57.1 + 27 + 25.3 = 109.4 = 9.4% Margin
William Hill football: Wolfsburg 1.70 (home) X 4.0 (draw) Norwich City 4.0 (away)
(1/1.70) *100 + (1/4.0) *100 + (1/4.0) *100 = 58.8 + 25 + 25 = 108.8 = 8.8% Margin
Now you can see William Hill is slightly better with a 1.6% margin less than Unibet.
These are only meant as examples to give you an idea of how much bookies actually “charge” you to place a bet.
In our football margins test, there was a massive difference in margins between the best and worst.
BetVictor consistently offer the best odds and lowest margins for betting on football in our tests.
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How To Determine Winning Odds In Soccer Betting
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Betting Margins Conclusion
Now you know how to calculate betting margins for two way and three-way markets, you can now easily identify the best odds and lowest betting margins across bookmakers.
Although betting margins are ever-changing, you can still use them to get an idea of the best bookies to use if you want the most value for your money.
Check out the Betfair betting exchange if you are searching for a fairer market. They will charge a 2-5% commission on winnings only, whereas, bookmakers add their margins regardless of whether you win or lose.
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Related Guides
When you're thinking about where to place your sporting wagers, it's usually best to research a few sites to find at which site you can obtain the best sign up bonuses, are user friendly and can abtain the most favourable odds, as not every wagering portal will give you the same odds. To compreheand betting odds, all you need to know is that basicall, the better odds you can obtain, the more money you will win if your bet is successful. However, not all sites will give their odds in the same format, and when it comes to calculating sports betting odds, you are going to need to familiarise yourself with all three systems.
If you are american it may take you longer to find the right site, as many sites will not work with americans and american IPs. here is a list of highly rated sport gameing sites that work with americans
Fraction/Ratio
This is the traditional way of representing odds. They are in the form of a ratio, or fraction, such as 6/1, 9/2 or 5/4. You can work out how 'fancied' a competitor or team is by dividing the first number in the ratio by the second – the smaller the result, the more fancied the competitor or team. If the number on the right hand side of the dividing line is larger than the number on the left, then the competitor or team is said to be 'odds-on', which means that are much more fancied to be the winner in their event, than the loser. If you back a winner, to work out your winnings, just multiply your stake by the first number in the ration, divide it by the season, then add on your original stake. For example if you back at horse at at £10 at 9/2 and it wins, you get back (10 x 9 = 90 ÷ 2 = 45 + 10 =) £55.
Decimal
Decimals are becoming increasing popular with sports-betting sites, particularly with younger punters, as they are easier to calculate. The important number when dealing with calculating sports betting odds using decimals is 2.00. This is the equivalent to the fraction/ratio odds value of 'evens' – which means a bookmaker thinks there's an exact 50:50 chance of the competitor being the winner. Decimal odds less than 2.00 are 'odds on'. To calculate your winnings with decimal odds you just multiply your stake by the odds. 9/2 in decimal odds is 5.50, so in the example above £10 x 5.50 gives £55. To convert from fraction/ratio odds to decimal just divide the first number by the second and add 1.
American Odds
The final thing you have to work out when calculating sports betting odds is American odds. These are giving in the form +100 (evens, or 2.0) or -150 (2/3, or 1.67). If the sign in front of the number is a negative sign, it means that the competitor is odds on. American odds show how much will be won if you placed $100 on a wager (if positive) or how much you need to wager to win $100 (if negative). To work out your winnings, for positive odds multiply your wager by the odds then divide it by 100 and add your stake, so $10 at +450 = (10 x 450 = 4500 ÷ 100 = 45 + 10 =) $55. For negative odds, multiply your stake by 100 then divide by the price and add your stake, so $10 at -250 = (10 x 100 = 1000 ÷ 250 = 4 + 10 =) $14.
Need Help?
If you're getting stuck in calculating sports betting odds, then the good news is there are plenty of software tools out there to get you up and running. One of the leader runners is called the Z-Code System, which is a complete sports-betting software package that analyses dozens of attributes concerning nearly all of the major sporting contests, and in doing so does most of the homework for you. If you're struggling with calculating sports betting odds, and who want all the best sports betting information at your fingertips, you out to consider taking the Z-Code system out for a spin.