If you are planning to bet on sports, it is critical for you to learn how sports betting odds work. While betting odds look like simple numbers, it can tell you several things about the upcoming match such as which is the favorite/underdog team, how likely the game will end, or how much money can you win when you make a certain bet.
Understanding betting odds is as critical as learning the game rules itself. For example, in Vietnam, đánh bài online or online sportsbooks offer different types of sports betting odds online. Placing a wager without knowledge on the main types of betting odds is just absurd. Chances are, you’re placing a bet just to lose cash.
There are three main types of betting odds you can find online namely the decimal odds, Fractional odds, and American Odds. Since the three simply present the same thing, many sportsbooks online allow their players to control or change the types of odds they see on the screen. Still, it’s players’ advantage to know what do each one tells about the game.
Calculating Decimal Odds
The Decimal odd format is widely used in Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and much more. This type of odds allows the players to spot which is the favorite team and which one is the underdog. As the name suggests, the odds are displayed in decimal.
When you bet on a sports event with decimal odds, you need to multiply the decimal odds by your bet. For example, let say you bet $100 on Team A with 1.50 odds of winning. When Team A actually wins the match, you will receive $150.
Here’s the tricky part, the decimal odds present your total potential return when your bet wins and not your profit. This means that the amount of your bet is already part of it. To calculate your profit you just need to subtract your bet from the total payout you receive. So, in the example above, your profit is only $50.
You can also use decimal odds to identify the probable outcome of the tournament. To do this, divide 100 by the given odds. Again using the example above, the 1.50 odds on Team A means that the Team has a 65% chance of winning.
Calculating Fractional Odds
Fractional Odds is also popular with British players. This type of odds is also widely used by many huge international sportsbooks. This odd format is in faction however many sportsbooks online use a hyphen (-) instead of dash (/). So the 3/1 is just the same as the 3-1 odds. The two both falls under the category of Fractional Odds. Both the expression shows that for every 4 occurrences (3+1) negative results can happen 3 times while a positive result can occur 1 time.
To calculate your payout structure, you need to multiply your initial bets by the fractional odds. Unlike the Decimal odds, the answer you’ll get is already your profit. Let say you bet $ 100 bet on team A with 3/1 odds of winning the match. Here, you will get $300 as a profit [100 x (3/1)]. Aside from the $300 profit, you will also get back your $100 initial bet. So in total, you will receive $400 in return.
Calculating American odds
American odds use plus (+) to indicate the underdog team and minus (-) for the favorite team. For the payout structure, the plus sign shows how much amount you can win by placing a $100 bet. For instance, Team A has a +400 odds of winning. Let say you bet on Team A and won. Here you will receive $400 as profit and your initial bet of $100. In total, you will get $500 in return.
The minus sign, on the other hand, shows how much the amount you need to place to win a $100 unit. Let’s give another example, the sportsbook gives Team B a -600 odds to win. Here you need to bet $600 to have a profit of $100. The total payout you receive will be $700 (initial bet $600 + profit won $100).
