How betting odds work: what they are and how to use them
Fractions were traditionally used to bet on horse racing and were most popular in high street betting shops in the UK, before the advent of internet gambling. Betting odds are usually expressed either as fractions (e.g. ‘3/1’) or as decimals (e.g. 4.0). All of these have different possibilities, probabilities, chances – or odds – of happening. They give you a quick indication of how much you could expect to win if your bet wins. Min £10 qualifying bets stake not returned.
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However, not all fractional odds are traditionally read using the lowest common denominator (i.e. simplifying the fraction when possible). In either case, having won, the bettor always receives the original stake back too; so if the odds are 4/1 the bettor receives a total of £500 (£400 plus the original £100). Favoured by bookmakers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and also common in horse racing, fractional odds quote the net profit that will be paid out to the bettor, should they win, relative to the stake. That value may be regarded as the relative probability the event will happen, expressed as a fraction (if it is less than 1), or a multiple (if it is equal to or greater than one) of the likelihood that the event will not happen.
Because of the many factors involved, it is impossible to calculate exact probability in sports betting. In betting terms, probability is odds expressed as a percentage. Moneyline odds use $100 as the evens line, with either positive or negative outcomes. If you’d like a bit more guidance, we have a full guide on how fractional odds work in betting. You may also see odds expressed with the lowest number first e.g. 1/2 or 2/7. Once you understand betting odds and the differences between them, reading them becomes easy.
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Sports information services are often used by professional and semi-professional sports bettors to help achieve this goal. It was about 3.7% less for wins by the visitors, and 5.7% less for draws. A study on soccer betting found that the probability for the home team to win was generally about 3.4% less than the value calculated from the odds (for example, 46.6% for even odds). The total of these three percentages is 100%, thus representing a fair ‘book’. In a 3-horse race, for example, the true probabilities of each of the horses winning based on their relative abilities may be 50%, 40% and 10%. In formulating the odds to display the bookmaker will have included a profit margin which effectively means that the payout to a successful bettor is less than that represented by the true chance of the event occurring.
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