How Do Sports Betting Odds Work?

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Betting odds signify an event’s probability to happen and therefore enables you to work out how much money you will win. If you’re new to gambling, one of the first things you should do is learn how the betting odds work.

It’s important because it lets you understand how likely an event is to happen. Also, on what your potential winnings will be. At first, it might appear confusing, read our guide to have everything explained to you.

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How Are Sports Betting Odds Calculated?

To calculate your winnings on fractional odds, you multiply your wager by the top number. Then divide the result with the bottom number. 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.

How do spreads work in sports betting?

A contraction for “point spread” or an additional term for “line.” The “spread” is the betting line or odds used to regulate the parameters for betting on either the favorite or underdog in a sporting event. Staking on a spread is intended as a technique to incentivize gambling on both sides of the competition.

What is Probability?

At the most basic level, gambling provides you with the ability to guess the outcome of a particular event. Should your prediction be correct, you will then win money. For any event, there are several outcomes. Take rolling dice for example. If someone rolls a dice, there are six likely outcomes. Therefore, if you wager that the person rolls a ‘one’, there is a 16.67% chance that will happen.

What betting odds do is present how likely the event is to take place. Bookies frequently do this as a fraction, i.e. 4/7, while the huge majority offer the ability to view them as numbers.

Using Betting Odds to Calculate Probability

When you see two numbers separated by a trailing slash, i.e. 10/1, this is also known as fractional odds. From this, you can then calculate how likely an event is to take place with a calculation.