Betting Odds – Here’s How to Read Them and Win

If you’re planning to register for a sportsbook account and play, one of the first things you need to do is to understand how betting odds work. Once you have a solid understanding of how odds work and how these are displayed in sportsbooks, it’s easier for you to read the betting markets. Furthermore, a grasp of these concepts will allow you to identify ‘value bets’ and collect lucrative payouts along the way. Check out the following explanation of the betting odds meaning before you sign up and bet using real money.

What are Sports Betting Odds

Betting odds are helpful information that can work for the bookmakers and punters. These are used by sportsbook operators to present the likelihood of an event happening, like the chance that your favorite cricket team will win. Odds are used by bookies to attract players to back a certain team or place their money on a specific bet.

These are often displayed in different formats. The most common way to display the betting odds is through the use of decimals, like 3.0. You will also find online Indian sportsbooks that display the odds as fractions (2/1) or with a plus or minus in front of a number (+200), often called the American odds or Moneyline. When you check out the betting markets offered by bookies, you’ll find multiple different outcomes for each event.

Let’s use football betting as an example to explain how the odds work.

In a sportsbook that covers this sport, you are given the chance to bet on a home win, a draw, or an away win. The operator will offer you a value based on the chances of happening. But, odds are not just used in sports. Bookies also use odds to express the probability of an event in music or politics is happening. In short, betting odds tell you the probability of an event happening, and these are normally displayed as fraction or decimal.

How to Read the Odds

Aside from the probability of an event happening, the cricket or football betting odds can tell you the potential winnings about your stake. A popular way to display the odds is through fractions, say 2/1. If this is the format used by the bookmaker, then the number on the left side represents your potential profit if you wager the number on the right side.

If you bet INR 1,000 on Team A to win at 2/1 and you are successful, the bookmaker will pay you INR 3,000 were INR 2,000 as your profit. The same computation will apply if the sportsbook lists a 1o/1 cricket betting odds. If you back a team with published odds of 10/1, you will collect a profit of INR 100 for every bet worth INR 10.

For some punters, the decimal format is easier to read and understand. In this guide on betting odds explained, the decimal format will tell your potential payout inclusive of the stake. To find your total returns, you only need to multiply the published odds by the stake. Let’s assume that a sportsbook publishes an odds of 3.00 for Team A to win the game. If you bet INR 1,000, then the payout that you will receive is INR 3,000 (wager x odds).

Use the Odds to Find the Probability of an Event

Aside from the payouts, the odds can also tell you the implied probability that an outcome will happen. It can tell you the percentage that a team will win or the match will end up in a draw. To compute the probability using fractional odds, you simply divide the number on the right-hand side by the sum of both numbers. Using the odds of 9/1 for Team A to win as an example, we can say that this team has a 10 percent chance of winning.

Computing for the implied probability using the decimal format is more straightforward. To find the percentage, just divide the number one by the decimal odds. For example, betting odds of 2.0o for Team B to win means that it has a 50 percent chance of winning.

In short, understanding and learning how to read the odds can go a long way in improving your chances of cricket or even horse racing betting. Before you place your bet in horse race betting online, read, and always compare the published odds.

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