Recently sports betting has become a favourite occupation for many online players. Apart from the real-time thrill, the players can also enjoy the hefty prizes when they win the game. So, it is all about fun and delight when you play it tactfully, even you can sign up for a free reward at Ice Casino no deposit cash bonus.
However, to play like a pro, one must know how to play the games with all the cunning tricks. To do so, one must have extensive knowledge about how these games operate. Other than that, you must have practiced using your strategies. Therefore, today we will discuss all betting for the beginners and how they can count the odds.
Betting Odds
When we specifically talk about online gambling, the two noteworthy concepts include odds and probability. On these two essential things, the whole gambling is based. So when we talk about odds, these refer to the expected payouts that the wagerer might win and the potential odds for an outcome. While the probability is the mere expectation that an expected result will occur.
Probability and odds are two concepts that co-exist, and they are taken for the same thing, but in reality, they are not. Probability means that there is a likelihood happening for a winning outcome.
We calculate the probability by dividing the number of expected results by the total outcomes. While the odds are calculated in the ratio between the number of wanted and unwanted results.
In betting, there are three ways to express the odds, namely:
- Fractional
- Decimal
- Moneyline (American)
These odd lines mean the same thing, no matter which one you use. Moreover, it is easy to convert one betting format to the other.
In sports betting, odds are the significant determiners for a bettor to decide whether a particular bet is worth placing or not. With all the odds comes an implied probability compared with the real probability. It also helps to determine whether the wager possesses a positive value or not.
Let’s take an example:
We have a single flip coin to gamble for an outcome with a 50% probability because it has only two sides. So, let’s bet for the tails, and the calculations will be like this:
There is only one desired outcome for the coin, and we would like to land tails for it. So, according to the formula, divide the desired outcomes by the total outcomes that could be possible on the bet. To get the probability, multiply the outcome by a hundred to get the result. It will be like:
1/2 = 0.5 X 100 = 50%
Once we have calculated the probability of the bet next, we aim to look at the odds offered for it. Let’s say the odds for the tails are set at +260, while for the heads, it is -300. The following aim is to determine the implied probability for both offered lines and know which bet contains the highest value.
Now let’s take at the heads and solve the implied probability. We do so by converting the online value to the decimal odds.
(100/-300) + 1 = 1.33
Now convert this decimal value to the percentage as:
1/1.33 = 0.7518
0.7518 X 100 = 75.18%
It can clearly be seen that our calculated implied percentage is higher than the actual percentage. So, the bet on heads will be a terrible decision.
This means the implied odds are a much higher percentage than the actual 50% probability that we already calculated. A bet on heads here would be a terrible decision with a negative value.
Lets move to the calculations for the tails:
(260/100) + 1 = 3.6
1/3.6 = 0.2778
0.2778 X 100 = 27.78 %
In this case, the tail landing has a realistic probability compared to the offered odds, so it is a high-value bet.
Ways of Expressing the Odds
There are three main ways to express the betting odds, and these are discussed below:
Decimal
In Europe, decimal odds are widely used to configure the betting lines, and it is also the most straightforward system to tell the odds. So, in this system, the decimal value is the amount that is returned for each dollar staked. In this system, both the winnings and the stacked amounts are included in both the values.
For example, 4.5 is odd, with the stake being $10. Here are net return is $35 for the total wager amount. Here the calculations are distributed as $25 is the total profit from the bet where $10 is stacked.
Fractional
These bet types are more commonly used where there are big pools of participants or at the racetracks. Obviously, this format has odds in the fractions; for example, 3/1 is ‘three-to-one,’ meaning that for every $1 stake, you will earn $3.
The fractional odds are not as straightforward as the decimals. Let’s take 9/2 odds, and we bet $20 to calculate its return for a horse race. So it will be:
20 X (9/2) = 4.5
20 X (4.5) = $90
The fractional decimals calculate the winnings only, and to calculate the net amount for a winning, add the bet amount to the total. So, overall it is like this:
[Amount staked X (numerator/ denominator)] + Amount staked
Moneyline
It is also known as an American system for calculating the values, and it involves the three-digit values for the negatives and positives. These values show that the bets are favoured or underdogs. The positive value suggests that the game is underdog, and the value that comes after ‘+’ is the value that is won for every $100 bet.
On the other hand, the negative value shows the favoured values. It is -350, which means you will win $100 for every $350.
