How Are Odds Determined? Odds are engineered to attract equal action on both sides of a betting line. In a perfect world, a sportsbook receives equal betting volume on both sides of a wager then, win or lose, they'll make 5-10% on the juice (or ‘vig'). A parlay bet is a single wager that requires two or more outcomes to all win. The parlay calculator allows you to input your stake & odds in American formats to quickly calculate the payout for. To calculate your winnings with decimal odds you just multiply your stake by the odds. 9/2 in decimal odds is 5.50, so in the example above £10 x 5.50 gives £55. To convert from fraction/ratio odds to decimal just divide the first number by the second and add 1.
When you're thinking about where to place your sporting wagers, it's usually best to research a few sites to find at which site you can obtain the best sign up bonuses, are user friendly and can abtain the most favourable odds, as not every wagering portal will give you the same odds. To compreheand betting odds, all you need to know is that basicall, the better odds you can obtain, the more money you will win if your bet is successful. However, not all sites will give their odds in the same format, and when it comes to calculating sports betting odds, you are going to need to familiarise yourself with all three systems.
If you are american it may take you longer to find the right site, as many sites will not work with americans and american IPs. here is a list of highly rated sport gameing sites that work with americans
Fraction/Ratio
This is the traditional way of representing odds. They are in the form of a ratio, or fraction, such as 6/1, 9/2 or 5/4. You can work out how 'fancied' a competitor or team is by dividing the first number in the ratio by the second – the smaller the result, the more fancied the competitor or team. If the number on the right hand side of the dividing line is larger than the number on the left, then the competitor or team is said to be 'odds-on', which means that are much more fancied to be the winner in their event, than the loser. If you back a winner, to work out your winnings, just multiply your stake by the first number in the ration, divide it by the season, then add on your original stake. For example if you back at horse at at £10 at 9/2 and it wins, you get back (10 x 9 = 90 ÷ 2 = 45 + 10 =) £55.
Decimal
Decimals are becoming increasing popular with sports-betting sites, particularly with younger punters, as they are easier to calculate. The important number when dealing with calculating sports betting odds using decimals is 2.00. This is the equivalent to the fraction/ratio odds value of 'evens' – which means a bookmaker thinks there's an exact 50:50 chance of the competitor being the winner. Decimal odds less than 2.00 are 'odds on'. To calculate your winnings with decimal odds you just multiply your stake by the odds. 9/2 in decimal odds is 5.50, so in the example above £10 x 5.50 gives £55. To convert from fraction/ratio odds to decimal just divide the first number by the second and add 1.
American Odds
The final thing you have to work out when calculating sports betting odds is American odds. These are giving in the form +100 (evens, or 2.0) or -150 (2/3, or 1.67). If the sign in front of the number is a negative sign, it means that the competitor is odds on. American odds show how much will be won if you placed $100 on a wager (if positive) or how much you need to wager to win $100 (if negative). To work out your winnings, for positive odds multiply your wager by the odds then divide it by 100 and add your stake, so $10 at +450 = (10 x 450 = 4500 ÷ 100 = 45 + 10 =) $55. For negative odds, multiply your stake by 100 then divide by the price and add your stake, so $10 at -250 = (10 x 100 = 1000 ÷ 250 = 4 + 10 =) $14.
Need Help?
If you're getting stuck in calculating sports betting odds, then the good news is there are plenty of software tools out there to get you up and running. One of the leader runners is called the Z-Code System, which is a complete sports-betting software package that analyses dozens of attributes concerning nearly all of the major sporting contests, and in doing so does most of the homework for you. If you're struggling with calculating sports betting odds, and who want all the best sports betting information at your fingertips, you out to consider taking the Z-Code system out for a spin.
The Expected Value of a bet shows us how much we can expect to win (on average) per bet, and as such is the most valuable calculation a bettor can make when comparing bookmakers odds. How can you calculate Expected Value in sports betting in order to predict your winnings? Read on to find out.
Expected Value
The amount a player can expect to win or lose if they were to place a bet on the same odds many times over, calculated through a simple equation multiplying your probability of winning with the amount you could win per bet, and subtracting the probability of losing multiplied by the amount lost per bet.
A simple example of Expected Value (EV) put into practice - if you were to bet $10 on heads in a coin toss, and you were to receive $11 every time you got it right, the EV would be 0.5.
This means that if you were to make the same bet on heads over and over again, you can expect to win an average of $0.50 for each bet of $10.
How to Calculate Expected Value
The formula for calculating Expected Value is relatively easy – simply multiply your probability of winning with the amount you could win per bet, and subtract the probability of losing multiplied by the amount lost per bet:
(Probability of Winning) x (Amount Won per Bet) – (Probability of Losing) x (Amount Lost per Bet)
To calculate the expected value for sports betting, you can fill in the above formula with decimals odds with a few calculations:
How Are Odds Calculated In Sports Betting
- Find the decimal odds for each outcome (win, lose, draw)
- Calculate the potential winnings for each outcome by multiplying your stake by the decimal, and then subtract the stake.
- Divide 1 by the odds of an outcome to calculate the probability of that outcome
- Substitute this information into the above formula.
For example, when Manchester United (1.263) play Wigan (13.500), with a draw at 6.500, a bet of $10 on Wigan to win would provide potential winnings of $125, with the probability of that happening at 0.074 or 7.4%.
The probability of this outcome not occurring is the sum of Man Utd and a draw, or 0.792 + 0.154 = 0.946. The amount lost per bet is the initial wager – $10. Therefore the complete formula looks like: What are the best bets in craps.
The EV is negative for this bet, suggesting that you will lose an average of $0.20 for every $10 staked.
How Does Expected Value for Sports Betting Help?
Remember, a negative EV doesn't mean you're going to lose money. Unlike a coin toss, sports betting odds are subjective, and therefore if you outsmart the bookmaker, you're likely to make money.
If you calculate your own probability for a match that differs from the implied probability of the odds, you could see where to find a positive EV, and therefore the best chance to win.
For example, the odds imply that Wigan only have a 7.4% chance of winning. If you calculate (maybe using a system like Poisson distribution) that Wigan has a 10% chance of winning, the EV for betting on a Wigan win jumps to $3.262.
It's also a perfect measure for comparing odds in arbitrage betting, which is discussed in our article What is arbitrage betting.
Calculating the EV of bets gives bettors more information about the value of their bookmaker. While low-margin bookmakers like Pinnacle have EVs of around -$0.20, it's not uncommon for typical bookmakers to have an EV of -$1.00 – for every $10 stake you would be likely to lose a $1 .
How bookmakers make money video explainer
Found this article useful? Why not check out our video that details how to find value.
Decimal
Decimals are becoming increasing popular with sports-betting sites, particularly with younger punters, as they are easier to calculate. The important number when dealing with calculating sports betting odds using decimals is 2.00. This is the equivalent to the fraction/ratio odds value of 'evens' – which means a bookmaker thinks there's an exact 50:50 chance of the competitor being the winner. Decimal odds less than 2.00 are 'odds on'. To calculate your winnings with decimal odds you just multiply your stake by the odds. 9/2 in decimal odds is 5.50, so in the example above £10 x 5.50 gives £55. To convert from fraction/ratio odds to decimal just divide the first number by the second and add 1.
American Odds
The final thing you have to work out when calculating sports betting odds is American odds. These are giving in the form +100 (evens, or 2.0) or -150 (2/3, or 1.67). If the sign in front of the number is a negative sign, it means that the competitor is odds on. American odds show how much will be won if you placed $100 on a wager (if positive) or how much you need to wager to win $100 (if negative). To work out your winnings, for positive odds multiply your wager by the odds then divide it by 100 and add your stake, so $10 at +450 = (10 x 450 = 4500 ÷ 100 = 45 + 10 =) $55. For negative odds, multiply your stake by 100 then divide by the price and add your stake, so $10 at -250 = (10 x 100 = 1000 ÷ 250 = 4 + 10 =) $14.
Need Help?
If you're getting stuck in calculating sports betting odds, then the good news is there are plenty of software tools out there to get you up and running. One of the leader runners is called the Z-Code System, which is a complete sports-betting software package that analyses dozens of attributes concerning nearly all of the major sporting contests, and in doing so does most of the homework for you. If you're struggling with calculating sports betting odds, and who want all the best sports betting information at your fingertips, you out to consider taking the Z-Code system out for a spin.
The Expected Value of a bet shows us how much we can expect to win (on average) per bet, and as such is the most valuable calculation a bettor can make when comparing bookmakers odds. How can you calculate Expected Value in sports betting in order to predict your winnings? Read on to find out.
Expected Value
The amount a player can expect to win or lose if they were to place a bet on the same odds many times over, calculated through a simple equation multiplying your probability of winning with the amount you could win per bet, and subtracting the probability of losing multiplied by the amount lost per bet.
A simple example of Expected Value (EV) put into practice - if you were to bet $10 on heads in a coin toss, and you were to receive $11 every time you got it right, the EV would be 0.5.
This means that if you were to make the same bet on heads over and over again, you can expect to win an average of $0.50 for each bet of $10.
How to Calculate Expected Value
The formula for calculating Expected Value is relatively easy – simply multiply your probability of winning with the amount you could win per bet, and subtract the probability of losing multiplied by the amount lost per bet:
(Probability of Winning) x (Amount Won per Bet) – (Probability of Losing) x (Amount Lost per Bet)
To calculate the expected value for sports betting, you can fill in the above formula with decimals odds with a few calculations:
How Are Odds Calculated In Sports Betting
- Find the decimal odds for each outcome (win, lose, draw)
- Calculate the potential winnings for each outcome by multiplying your stake by the decimal, and then subtract the stake.
- Divide 1 by the odds of an outcome to calculate the probability of that outcome
- Substitute this information into the above formula.
For example, when Manchester United (1.263) play Wigan (13.500), with a draw at 6.500, a bet of $10 on Wigan to win would provide potential winnings of $125, with the probability of that happening at 0.074 or 7.4%.
The probability of this outcome not occurring is the sum of Man Utd and a draw, or 0.792 + 0.154 = 0.946. The amount lost per bet is the initial wager – $10. Therefore the complete formula looks like: What are the best bets in craps.
The EV is negative for this bet, suggesting that you will lose an average of $0.20 for every $10 staked.
How Does Expected Value for Sports Betting Help?
Remember, a negative EV doesn't mean you're going to lose money. Unlike a coin toss, sports betting odds are subjective, and therefore if you outsmart the bookmaker, you're likely to make money.
If you calculate your own probability for a match that differs from the implied probability of the odds, you could see where to find a positive EV, and therefore the best chance to win.
For example, the odds imply that Wigan only have a 7.4% chance of winning. If you calculate (maybe using a system like Poisson distribution) that Wigan has a 10% chance of winning, the EV for betting on a Wigan win jumps to $3.262.
It's also a perfect measure for comparing odds in arbitrage betting, which is discussed in our article What is arbitrage betting.
Calculating the EV of bets gives bettors more information about the value of their bookmaker. While low-margin bookmakers like Pinnacle have EVs of around -$0.20, it's not uncommon for typical bookmakers to have an EV of -$1.00 – for every $10 stake you would be likely to lose a $1 .
How bookmakers make money video explainer
Found this article useful? Why not check out our video that details how to find value.
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