When you’re betting on sports, you want to get the best odds. Most leading online sportsbooks cover the same sports, events, tournaments, leagues, players, and teams, but they all have slightly different odds.

There are constantly new betting sites emerging on the market, offering competitive odds to attract bettors. However, if you don’t know how betting odds work, how they’re calculated, and the different types of betting odds, you might as well be throwing away your money, even if you’re backing the favorite.

What Are Betting Odds?

Betting oddsare the bookmaker’s estimation of the probability of an outcome, and is adjusted to ensure the bookmaker makes a profit no matter the result. This adjustment is called the “margin”.

The odds are based on the probability of a specific outcome and can also help a bettor determine the potential winnings of a successful bet.

Odds can be expressed as fractions or decimals and are essentially the ratio between what is staked by the bookmaker and the bettor. So, if the odds are 6/1, the bookies stake six times what the bettor wagered. Should the bettor win the bet, their predicted outcome came true, and they will win six times their bet from the sportsbook.

For example, in this case, if a bettor staked $1 on a specific outcome that materialized, then they would receive back $7 — $6 and the $1 from the original stake.

How Betting Odds Are Calculated

As mentioned, the betting odds are calculated by the bookmakers themselves, meaning you’ll find different odds at different sportsbooks. This highlights the importance of shopping around between different betting platforms to find the best odds.

Odds are offered on a wide range of possible outcomes across many sports, like final match results (win, draw, or loss), total goals, or player statistics, to name a few. The higher the odds, the less likely the outcome will happen according to the bookmaker. A likely outcome will have a lower payout because of its certainty, and vice versa for an unlikely outcome.

Types of Betting Odds

There are three main types of betting odds that bettors should understand: decimal, fractional, and American odds. The odds will be explained using the New York Knicks versus the Miami Heat. For this example:

• Knicks to win: 60% implied probability

• Heat to win: 40% implied probability.

To keep the example simple, there will be no bookmaker margin.

Decimal odds

Decimal odds are also called European odds. These odds show the total payout (including the stake) per $1 bet. They can be used to calcualte the implied probability of an outcome.

In this case, the formula to calculate the odds is: decimal odds = 1/implied probability.

That means the odds are New York Knicks (1.67) and Miami Heat (2.50). What that means is if you bet $100 on the Knicks to win, you get back $167 (your profit will be $67). If you bet on the Heat to win, you’ll get back $250 (your profit will be $150).

Fractional odds

Fractional odds represent the odds as a fraction. The numerator shows profit, and the denominator shows the stake amount.

The formula for fractional odds is: Fractional value = (decimal -1). This number is converted to a fraction.

For example, the odds are New York Knicks (2/3) and Miami Heat (3/2). That means that if you bet $3 on the Knicks, you win $2 as well as your $3 stake. If you bet $2 to win on the Heat, you win $3 and get your $2 stake back.

American odds

American odds (also called moneyline odds) use a + and - symbol as part of the odds. These odds may initially seem complicated, but it is actually a straightforward system.

The formulas to calculate odds are as follows:

• For the favorites: -100 / (decimal-1)

• For the underdogs: (decimal-1) x 100

Let’s stick to our example of the Knicks (-150) and the Heat (+150). For the Knicks, you must bet $150 to win $100. For the American odds of +150 for the Heat, you will win $150 if you bet $100.