Do you know the difference between the three most popular types of sports betting odds? You will after reading this article.
Get Your Betting On
Betting on sports can be a real thrill. I like it even though I don’t do it very often. If you’re already a sports fanatic, throwing down a couple of bets will make the game(s) even more exciting. It’s also a way for non sports fans to be able to get involved in a game. It’s definitely a way of getting the adrenaline pumping.
The More You Know the Better
The difference between sports betting and playing slots is the fact that the more knowledge you have about the sports, teams and/or players, the bigger your chances of winning. If you play slots, whatever knowledge you may have, has no effect on your result.
Normally placing bets is pretty easy but the way the odds are presented may vary, depending on where you play and unless you understand them, they may seem quite confusing.
Today, I will take you through the three most popular types of odds: Decimal, Fractional and American.
Take your pick
Remember, You Have the Ability to Choose
Thanks to sports betting being so popular around the world, online casinos have realized that players have different preferences. This is why today, most of them will give you an option which you can adjust as you go.
The screenshot above is taken from Stake.com and you can see how easy it is to choose the way you want the odds to be advertised.
Barcelona vs Inter in the Champions League
Fractional Odds
Traditionally you would find Fractional Odds mostly in the UK and Ireland. I’m not really used to them either but even though you can pick another option, it’s good to know how they work.
To make it easier, I will try and use football as examples all throughout the article.
Fractional odds
Let’s look at Stake.com and the upcoming Champions League game between Barcelona and Inter Milan.
- FC Barcelona win 11/25
- Draw 4/1
- FC Inter Milan win 29/5
What Does It All Mean?
Ok, so now you have been given the odds and the key for Fractional Odds is that the second number is the amount you will have to bet in order to win the first amount.
Barcelona Wins
So, if you want to bet on a Barcelona victory, you have to bet €25 to win €11. Another way of looking at it would be that you bet €250 and you would get back a total of €360 (250+110).
Inter Milan Wins
If instead you want to bet that Inter Milan wins, with the 29/5 odds, you would only have to bet €5 and could win €29.
Draw
Should you place €1 on a draw and it is a draw, you would get €4 back.
As you can see, it’s a little complicated compared but once you know it, it all becomes a lot easier.
Cloudbet Champions League
Decimal Odds
Using Decimal Odds might be the most popular way of doing things and is definitely the way I prefer to see them as well.
Decimal odds
Let’s continue with the same Champions League game and this time, my screenshot is from Cloudbet.
- FC Barcelona win 1.44
- Draw 4.91
- FC Inter Milan win 7.45
Is This Easier to Understand?
For me, this is a lot easier to understand but how is it for you? The way it works is that you have these decimals and basically you multiply your bet with the odds itself and therefore no matter how big the difference between teams is, it will never be less than 1.
Think of it as the “1” is your bet.
Barcelona Wins
If you bet €10 or Barcelona at 1.44 odds, you will get €14.40 (10×1.44) in return. You can see, Barcelona is clearly the favorite.
Inter Milan Wins
As Inter Milan is the underdog with 7.45 odds, it will give you €74.50 in return on the same €10 bet.
I think that it’s a lot easier to see who’s the favorite as well as what bet will give the most in return.
Champions League at Sportsbet.io
American Odds
It’s no surprise that American odds are different, considering they still use the Imperial system instead of the Metric. When it comes to betting, you better get used to pluses and minuses as they are not quite as straight-forward the others.
How Does it Work?
The American odds are all based around $100. With that said, exactly how they relate to that $100 will vary depending on whether the bet is favored or not.
For example, favored bets will always show you a negative number. This is to tell you how much you need to bet to win $100. If the number is positive, it will show you how much you would win with a $100 bet.
American odds
Third time’s the charm, as we continue looking at the same game. This time the screenshot comes from Sportsbet.io, using American odds.
- FC Barcelona win -238
- Draw +410
- FC Inter Milan win +620
Barcelona Wins
Using the American odds, to bet on Barcelona with -238 means you would have to bet $238 to win $100.
Inter Milan Wins
Winning on a draw or Inter Milan bet, a $100 bet would get you $410 or $620 respectively.
Obviously you don’t need to bet that much and that proportion will scale up or down.
You Are Good to Go
I hope this cleared some things up for you and as I mentioned, the great thing is that you can pick your favorite. In other words you don’t need to use the same odds as everyone else, which I think is pretty great.
There are a couple of other ways that are used as well, for example Hong Kong, Malaysian and Indonesian, but I think the 3 I’ve explained here will be enough.
Feel free to look the others up though as who knows, you might find a new favorite.
Happy betting!
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