Online Betting Odds

The Odds are what are described as the payout for the player on successful completion of a bet. They come in three different formats for sportsbooks.

The odds are offered to players in all three formats and you can choose which format you prefer. The country that you are in may use a different format, but the majority of sportsbooks let their players select the format.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland the odds are fractional. The odds are given as a fraction and this indicates the payout that you receive if you stake the initial bet.

An example of this is if you bet £10 on Chelsea to beat Liverpool in the Premier League and they offer odds of 1/2. This means that for your £10 x 1/2 = 5. You will have won £5 plus your money back to give you a total of £15.

Another way of displaying the odds is in decimals. This is particularly popular in Australia, Canada and Europe. The most important thing to remember in decimal odds is that the stake is included in the odds so you don’t receive your stake back on top like with fractional odds.

To help you understand, imagine that you bet £10 on Andy Murray winning the French Open at odds of 2. If Andy Murray were to win the title then you will receive £20. In total you have only won £10 hence 2 x 10 = 10. This can be misleading and players who don’t know decimal odds commonly make the mistake of thinking that there will be a higher payout.

The third format which is used in the U.S is Moneyline Odds. The vast majority of online sportsbooks will offer this type of odds. The bets are set by prefixes such as + and –. If the odds are better than even they have a + and if they are less than even they have a – prefix, for example +100 or -50. The way this is done is if you bet £10 or a horse that had odds of +400 and it wins. You will have 400 x 10/100 = 40 you will then receive your £10 + 40 to give you a total of £50.