Understand the Odds In UK Online Betting

Understand the Odds In UK Online Betting

Understand the Odds

SportsBook betting newbies need to understand the odds in betting in order to have a chance of beating the odds and winning. This is basically "chance" and chance in betting is referred to in terms of percentages. Take the example of flipping a coin for instance, it has two sides and you bet on either heads or tails, so you have a 50% chance of either one of these coming up if the coin is flipped. All possible outcomes therefore add up to 100%!!

Using the same example only using a dice this time, the dice has 6 sides so the numbers have a 1 in 6 chance of coming up. Expressed in terms of percentages this is 16.66%. Understanding this, means understanding the probability of an outcome when a wager is placed, it doesn’t matter what the even or what the bet, odds are about probability. The prices quoted by bookies are the way these probabilities are interpreted.

SportsBooks in the UK explain these probabilities by using the term "odds" and commonly used odds are expressed in decimal points. As Europe also uses the decimal system, they also use decimal odds. Converting percentages into odds means taking the chance (the %) and dividing it into 100, so you have the formula "100/%Chance = odds". Therefore if the probability of winning is 20%, apply the formula 100/20 = 5. The odds are now five to one that the event will be won, or lost, or whatever the bet happens to be.

This essentially means if you take £1 and place it on an event at odds of 5, and you win, you are paid a fiver. The formula for this is odds x stake = pay out.

Odds are also expressed in fractions, and fractional odds are often used in the UK. The same applies in the example of 20%, you have a 20% chance of winning and an 80% chance of losing. If this is expressed in fractional terms, it would be 4/1, so at these odds, you wager £1 and if you win, you win £4 plus your £1 wager which is returned to you, and like the decimal odds of 5, you win a fiver. Odds in the US are expressed differently and if you are keen to place a wager on a US sporting event, at a US site, then you will need to learn to understand US odds also.

This brings to mind one of the great things about the internet and living in a global community. It doesn’t matter what is going on where, if you want to bet on it you can. Just remember you need to be in the know-how of the betting jargon and terminology used and if you have the money, you could become a serious sports investor.