Reading Betting Odds
Betting odds simply indicate the likelihood of an event and the return you’d get if you did make a wager on the result. Betting odds may be displayed in three different formats at US sportsbooks and online and mobile sports betting platforms: American odds, fractional odds and decimal odds. Betting odds are numeric representations of the likelihood of a certain outcome. Plus, they represent the return, or profit, that the bettor will receive with a winning bet. This outcome probability can also be called implied probability. Being able to understand the implied probability is very important when sports betting.
Fractional odds can be read as the first number being the potential profit while the second number is the amount you will need to risk for that profit. For example, fractional odds of 23/20 would represent a bettor needing to risk $20 in order to profit $23. Fractional odds are most common in horse racing and futures markets. The VegasInsider.com Sports Betting 101 Odds feature is your ultimate resource to understanding 'How to Read Odds.' Once you understand the odds, then you'll be more prepared to make a bet and more.
Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.
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Sports Betting Odds Explained
Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.
American Style Sports Betting Odds
Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:
American Odds
- Matchup Odds
- New England Patriots +120
- Pittsburgh Steelers -140
The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.
The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.
The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.
A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.
Examples:
A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.
Examples:
Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.
In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).
The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.
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Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds
Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:
If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.
If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.
Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.
Reading odds may be the first part to figure out before you begin sports betting, as they specify the implied probability of an outcome and how much money can be won.
Odds can refer to moneyline, spread and total bets, and they can be displayed as American, British (fractional) or European (decimal). While odds look different, they mean the same thing.
American Odds
Most sportsbooks in the United States use American Odds. The main signifiers of American odds are that they either have a plus (+) or minus (-) in front of them and are in terms of 100.
Understanding plus (+) and minus (-) odds is the most important thing before learning about American odds.
Plus and Minus Odds
The plus (+) and minus (-) in sports betting can refer to either the point spread or betting odds. In terms of the spread, the ' - ' always refers to the favorite and the ' + ' always refers to the underdog. For example, you can bet the Dallas Cowboys as a -7 point favorite to beat the Green Bay Packers or the Packers as a +7 point underdog. If you bet the Cowboys -7 and they win by more than seven points, you win your bet. Similarly, if you bet the Packers +7 and they lose by less than seven points or win outright, you win your bet.
It's a similar case for the betting odds, though favorites don't always have a ' - ,' especially in sports like baseball, hockey or soccer where final results are often decided by one run or one goal. It's especially the case in soccer since matches can end in draws, whereas a winner is declared in almost every other sport because of overtime rules. However, in most cases, the favorite will have a ' - ' in front of its moneyline odds while the underdog will always have a ' + .'
For an example of moneyline betting odds, you can bet the Eagles as a -150 favorite to win or the Giants as a +180 underdog to win. If you bet $100 on the Eagles to win at -150, you would net a payout of $166.70. If you bet on the Giants to win at +180, the payout would be $280 because they are an underdog.
For something like soccer, Arsenal could be a +150 favorite against Everton as a +190 underdog, while the draw would be set at +220. In this case, the payout would be decent for every situation mainly because the teams are even and there are three possible results compared to just two for something like football (unless they go scoreless in overtime). In this case where both teams have a ' + ' in front of their odds, the team with the lower number is the favorite. The lower number also means a lower payout, which is always the case for betting the favorite on the moneyline. A $100 bet on Arsenal +150 would net $250, while a $100 bet on Everton +190 would net $290. Going further, a $100 bet on the draw at +220 would payout $320.
Moneyline Bets
A moneyline bet is on the straight-up winner of a game.
Reading Betting Odds
Moneyline bets are as straightforward as it gets in sports betting. You're betting on which side will win an event and if that side wins, you win.
How To Read Money Line Odds
Spread Bets
A spread bet is on the forecasted point differential between two teams. A minus (-) indicates the favorite and a plus (+) is the underdog.
In each bet, a push is also possible if the Lakers win by exactly seven points. That would mean each side gets their money back.
As for the odds, the most common number for spread bets is -110, but that number varies depending on the location, sportsbook and how popular each side is. The typical number is -110, which means you have to bet $110 to win $100. However, there are states where odds are worse in order to get the state more money such as -115 or -120. This is also called the vig, which is the amount the sportsbook charges per bet.
If two teams are equal, PK will be given alongside a team name which means the matchup is considered a 'pick 'em.' In this case, point spread doesn't matter as this boils down to a moneyline bet and a tie would get your money back.
Over/under (total) Bets
An over/under bet applies to the score or points in a given contest.
The below over/under table is for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants game.
Similar to a spread bet, if the Cowboys and Giants combine for exactly 49 points, it's a push and each side get their money back. Also similar to spread bets is that the odds can vary.
Decimal Odds (British)
Decimal odds are most popular in Australia, Canada, Europe and New Zealand. These odds may be the easiest of the three to understand just by looking at the numbers.
The team with the higher of the two numbers is the underdog and the team with the lower of the numbers is the favorite. The return can be calculated by multiplying the bet with the the decimal odds.
Fractional Odds (European)
Fractional odds are most popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and are often the choice for horse racing. Also, a lot of sportsbooks in the United States will use fractional odds for futures odds.
Example odds to win the Super Bowl:
Reading Betting Odds Football
Similar to decimal odds, the return can be determined by multiplying the odds and the bet. Above, 100 times 2.5 (5/2) equals 250. In horse racing, odds will dip to something like 3/5 or 5/7 which usually means that horse is a big favorite. A 3/5 favorite is equal to -167 in American odds and 1.6 in decimal odds.