For you to understand sports betting, the first thing that you should learn is about odds. When you know them and know how to do the calculations, you can become an expert in betting. They are used to determine how much cash you get after winning a bet, but that’s not all.
You need to know that odds are represented in different formats, and they are closely linked to the likelihood of a bet winning. Odds are an essential part of any sports bettor and are used to establish if a wager is worth placing or not. So, interested in learning about sports odds? Read on.
Basic Information about Odds
As explained above, odds are used to determine the amount that you receive after winning a bet. That is why they are also known as ‘price’ of a wager. There are two types of prices that you can have; odds-on or odds-against.
Odds on means that the total amount that you can win is less than the amount you staked. While odds against implies that the money that you can win will be more than the amount you staked. You can still make some cash when you win an odds-on bet because you always get your money back, but you are required to risk a higher amount than what you stand to gain. When bettors are more likely to lose, they will go for odds-against.
Formats Used In Odds
Even if you are playing Baccarat online or any other game, odds are essential. They use three forms to represent odds, namely, decimal odds, fraction odds, and American odds (Moneyline). But most probably when betting online, you will come across them.
Fraction Format
When you come across two digits that are separated using a slash such as ½ they are known as fractional numbers. You can use these fractions to calculate how likely an event is to occur. It uses the following formula calculate for; A/B (A to B)
Probability (%)=B/(A+B).
Decimal
The decimal format is the most commonly used in betting sites apart from sites that have American customers only. Decimal is the most straightforward format. It uses two decimal places. The formula used to calculate possible results is;
Stake x odds= potential return.
To calculate the potential profit, you only minus one from the odds: stake x(odds-1)= potential profit. As you can see, using decimal is simple compared to fractions.
Moneyline
American casinos use this format. This format is a little hard to understand, but you will learn as time goes. American odds can either be a positive (preceded by a +) or negative (preceded by -) Favorable American odds display the profit that a winning bet of $100 will make. For example, if you came across +300, you will know that with a $100, you can win $400.
Unfavorable American odds will show you how much you require to bet so that you can make a profit of $100. For example, -120 mean that a bet of $120 can win you $100. And you will get your stake back so in total you will have a return of $220.
There are so many things to learn about odds, and these are just the basics. Remember when betting on all games, including Baccarat online, knowing how to calculate odds is vital. So, it would help if you learned how to calculate odds to increase the probability of you winning.
