Betting Odds How Do They Work

That number shows how much a bettor wins when they bet $100. Taking the exact same match up and odds above, Indy would be listed at -380 and Cincy at +355. When wagering on the Colts, the favored. They will then assign a set of sports betting odds to each team. There is typically a favorite and an underdog. Let’s say the Eagles are having a strong season and the Jets are struggling.

How NFL Odds, Lines, Point Spreads and Totals Work

When you wager on NFL football it’s important that you understand clearly and concisely how to read odds and how they work. This is basic information that you must know in order to make informed bets.

You’ll need to know how the rotation number, point spread, moneyline and over/under are used and what each means. Each of these terms may be called by another name. The rotation number if often referred to as the number or the rotation mark, moneyline becomes line, point spread is called the spread, and over/under becomes the total. When you come down to it, these are the major terms that can be lumped under the heading odds.

Bookmakers use odds to even out the bets, getting gamblers to wager on both sides of the line by leveling the playing field. Although there is overall parity in the NFL, there are teams that are haves and others that are have-nots. Indianapolis is still superior to Cincinnati but when they play each other the bookies have to get about half of the bettors to put cash on the Bengals. This covers the sportsbooks ensuring they’ll make a decent amount of cash on just about every game.

When you read NFL odds, you’ll first see the date and time of the game on the left and then immediately to the right, there will be two numbers with the name of each team next to one of each numbers. That number is called the rotation number.

Rotation numbers are standard from sportsbook to sportsbook. The number becomes a way to refer to the game and team without mentioning the teams name. It’s a sort of shorthand. Also, the rotation number allows each book to list the games in the same order—numerically. It is, in essence, a way to keep all of the games that are posted each day and throughout the week organized. That makes it easy for the bettor and the bookie.

As an example, let’s consider a matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals. In our scenario, the Bengals are the home team, which means they will be listed last and the Colts, as the visitors, will be on the odds slip first. If Indy’s rotation number is 101, then Cincy’s rotation mark would be 102. When you place a bet live at a Vegas sportsbook or over the phone, you would say the number of the team on which you want to wager and not the name.

To the right of the team’s name are the different types of odds. Usually the spread will be first. You may then see the moneyline (although some books list these on another slip) and then, finally, the over/under. Thus, all of the basic bets are in one place, allowing for easy access.

The point spread, which is the most popular type of bet, lists the favored team with a minus sign and a number and the underdog with a plus sign and the same number as the favorite. (If neither team is favored, they will be listed as EVEN or PICK.)

The team that has the minus sign, which is the favorite, has points deducted from its final score, while the dog, with the plus sign, has points added. The favorite must beat the spread, which means they have to win by more than the negative number to pay off. The underdog pays off in two instances—if they win outright or if they lose by less than the spread.

In our scenario, Indianapolis is at -10.5 and Cincinnati at +10.5. If you bet on the Colts at -10.5, which means they are favored, they must win by 11 or more for you to collect on your bet. If you wager on Cincinnati, which is the underdog, your bet pays off if they win the game outright or if they lose by less than 11.

Sometimes with NFL odds you’ll see a spread posted as a whole number. Decimals or fractions are usually utilized to ensure there won’t be a tie. If in our example the spread was reset to 10 with the Colts favored and they win by 10, then the game is considered to be a tie, which in betting terms is called a push. If there is a push all bets are off and the sportsbooks return all wagers back to the bettors.

Many people will say that the odds on a spread bet are even, paying 1:1. But this is not true. The actual odds are 0.90:1. For every dollar bet, you can win 90 cents. When checking out the spread, you’ll usually see a number listed next to each spread. That number, which is your stake, is posted as -110. This number tells you how much you have to bet to win $100. If you put $110 on either team, you stand to win $100. If you bet $11.00, you can win $10.00. Every NFL point spread works this way.

The moneyline is different. First, with the moneyline whichever team wins the game pays out. There’s no giving or taking away of points. How do the bookies even the playing field with the moneyline? They do it by making bettors wager more on the favorite to win less and allowing them to bet less to win more on the dog. The favorite is posted with a minus sign and a number. That number represents the amount of cash that has to be wagered in order to win $100. The underdog, on the other hand, is listed with a plus sign in front of a number. That number shows how much a bettor wins when they bet $100.

Taking the exact same match up and odds above, Indy would be listed at -380 and Cincy at +355. When wagering on the Colts, the favored team, a sports bettor would be required to bet $380 to make $100. If they take the Bengals, who are the underdog, a $100 bet can result in a $355 profit.

By the way, there is a relationship between the spread and the moneyline. The exact relationship can vary a bit depending on the book, but the correlation works in this manner:

When considering NFL odds, the last type of basic bet you’ll see listed is the total or over/under. The over/under is a prediction regarding the total number of points that both teams will score. As it is with the spread, the total is usually posted as a fraction or decimal and the stake is the same as it is with the point spread (-110)

With NFL odds the over/under can vary but usually it’s somewhere between 35 and 47 points. Let’s say in the Colts and Bengals game that the total is posted at 37.5. If Indy scores 27 and Cincy gets 13 points, the total would be at 40 and the over would win. But if the Colts rack up 35, and they shut out the Bengals, the total of 35 would be under.
If, as it is sometimes with the spread, the total is listed as a whole number, the result may be a push. Let’s say the total is 37 and the Colts score 24 and the Bengals 13 for a total of exactly 37 points. If this happens all bets are returned on the push.
If you are able to interpret NFL odds and know what the various terms mean, such as the rotation number, point spread, moneyline and over/under, you’ll have a basic understanding on what you are betting. Prior to wagering make sure you see our NFL odds page, which carries all the latest odds from the top online sportsbooks. Remember that the odds makers are attempting to even the out the bets on each game. The sports bettor has to analyze each game and the odds and make their bets accordingly in order to win cash.

Odds are the numbers used by online bookmakers to show how likely something is to happen. They give you a quick indication of how much you could expect to win if your bet wins. This guide will introduce you to the world of odds, the different ways they can be used and what they mean to you and your matched betting journey.

With so many numbers appearing in different formats, betting websites can be overwhelming for the beginner. But as long as you can get to grips with a few simple mathematical ideas, it’ll all become a lot easier. This guide will show you how betting odds work.

What are betting odds?

Odds are numbers that express how likely events are to happen. To illustrate this idea, here are the three possible outcomes of a football match for any team:

1. Win
2. Lose
3. Draw

All of these have different possibilities, probabilities, chances – or odds – of happening.

How betting odds work

Betting odds are usually expressed either as fractions (e.g. ‘3/1’) or as decimals (e.g. 4.0). Fractions were traditionally used to bet on horse racing and were most popular in high street betting shops in the UK, before the advent of internet gambling.

As the web has become more popular as a place to bet, European decimal odds have become more commonplace. Moneyline, or American, odds are favoured by US bookmakers and punters, and are often expressed as positive and negative values (e.g. +250, -400).

While the differences may seem confusing at first glance, they’re simply different ways of expressing the same thing.

How to read betting odds

Once you understand betting odds and the differences between them, reading them becomes easy.

If a bookmaker offers odds of 3/1 for an event to occur, you stand to win £3 for every £1 you bet. If you bet on an event at odds of 7/2, then you stand to win £7 for every £2 you wager (winnings plus your stake).

You may also see odds expressed with the lowest number first e.g. 1/2 or 2/7. These are known as ‘odds-on selections’ and are normally used when the likelihood of something happening is higher than not. Of course, this also means that your winnings will be less than your stake. At 2/7 you win £2 for every £7 you bet.

When the numbers on either side of the slash are the same (e.g. 1/1), we refer to them as ‘evens’.

If you’d like a bit more guidance, we have a full guide on how fractional odds work in betting.

In many ways, decimal odds are easier to understand. This is because all you have to do to calculate your potential winnings is multiply your stake by the odds. For example, if you make a £10 bet at odds of 4.5, you could potentially win £45 (including your stake).

By contrast, fractional odds can become confusing. For example, which odds give the best return – 16/5 or 3/1? You can work it out, but a glance at their decimal equivalents (4.2 and 4.0 respectively) quickly tells you which odds are most favourable. This is why we recommend that all beginners start betting using decimal odds.

You should bear in mind that decimal odds include your stake. So, if you bet £10 at odds of 2.5, you can expect to win £25 (£15 on top of your £10 stake). You should also know that 2.0 is the evens line, so numbers lower than this return a profit that is lower than your stake.

Betting Odds How It Works

Moneyline odds aren’t generally used in either the UK or Europe. But you might see them in American media and sites, especially those that cover boxing or mixed martial arts.

Moneyline odds use $100 as the evens line, with either positive or negative outcomes. So, if you have odds above the line, this tells you how much you profit you stand to make from a $100 bet. For example, if you put your money down at odds of +175, you can expect to make $175 profit from a winning bet.

If you the odds have a negative value, this tells you how much money you need to wager to win $100. So, if you want to bet on an event at odds of -175, you must bet $175 to win $100.

Converting decimal odds to fractions (and vice versa)

To convert decimals to fractions, subtract 1 from the decimal and find the nearest whole integer. So, if you have odds of 4.5, this becomes 3.5/1, which you can turn into 7/2 by multiplying both sides by 2. To convert fractional odds into decimals, divide the first number by the second and add one, e.g. 7/2 +1 = 4.5.

Using odds to find value

Now that you can convert odds into the perceived value, it means that you can work out whether you think the bookmakers’ implied probability of an event occurring differs from your own.

For example, if you notice that Chelsea has scored a first half goal in 75% of their home games this season but the bookmaker has the market priced at 2.0 (50% implied probability) then you’ve just found some value.

The problem with this method though, is that you need to be better than the bookmaker at calculating probability. This is a difficult task considering the huge teams of mathematicians that they employ.

What is probability?

In betting terms, probability is odds expressed as a percentage. To help you understand probability, think of a coin toss: in this case, there are only two outcomes (usually heads or tails), each with exactly the same chance of landing. You calculate the probability with the following equation:

For every coin toss, heads has one out of two chances of landing. One divided by two is 0.5. Multiply by this by 100 to get the percentage, and you have 50%.

In the case of a deck of cards, there are four aces among 52 cards. Therefore, the probability of drawing an ace is 4/52, or 7.69%.

Because of the many factors involved, it is impossible to calculate exact probability in sports betting. All your bookmaker can do is set a probability based on the likely outcome (adjusted slightly for profit); this is known as ‘implied probability’.

Implied probability is important because it helps you decide whether it is worth betting on a certain event. You can work it out by dividing one by the decimal odds. Let’s say the bookies give Stoke City odds of 2.5 (3/2) for winning a match against Huddersfield Town. Divide one by 2.5 to get the probability, which is 0.4 or 40%.

If you put £10 down on Stoke to win, you stand to gain £25 including your £10 stake. You can then work out the ‘expected value’ of the bet using another equation:

In the case of Stoke versus Huddersfield above, the equation works out like so:

In the above example, you can expect to break even (neither win, nor lose money over time). If the expected value is less than zero, then the bet is of low quality; but the higher the expected value is above zero, the more money you stand to make from the wager over time.

The issue with betting odds is that they’re always tipped in the bookmakers’ favour to allow them to make a profit. So while the odds that bookies offer do tend to reflect the likely outcome, savvy punters can find the real value in the bet.

Here’s how:

Let’s say you believe the probability of Stoke City winning against Huddersfield Town to be 45% – slightly higher than the bookmakers’ odds suggest. With your £10 stake at odds of 2.5, the equation we used previously gives you the following expected value:

Betting Odds How Do They Work

In this case, the bet represents good value. The issue with this kind of betting is that it is all a matter of opinion. The fact that bookmakers have large teams of maths experts working out odds means that beating them at their own game can be very difficult.

The key thing when it comes to finding value is to look for the best odds on your chosen selection.

It’s quite surprising how much odds can change from bookmaker to bookmaker. This is why it makes sense to shop around. Plus, that gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the bookmakers’ bonuses and earn free cash.

At OddsMonkey we have a tool to help you find the best odds. OddsMatcher finds and analyses odds and then compares bookie against betting exchange. By backing and laying the same selection, you can extract value from bookmakers’ free bets and turn them into real money!

How Do Betting Odds Work 250

That’s called matched betting, which is what we specialise in helping you with. If you’re interested in learning more, we have a free introduction to matched betting you can download that will explain it all.