What do British, American and decimal betting odds mean?
7/4, -150 or 1.5, UK, USA or decimal: In sports betting, betting odds determine how much you win. Read what the numbers mean and how it all works.
Betting odds play a crucial role in sports betting. As a multiplier, they are responsible for how high the profit in the event of a winning bet. They are determined by bookmakers, which you can read here https://bettinglion.africa/best-betting-sites-in-uganda/. The odds show the probability of a certain event. The higher the odds, the less likely the event. If the event does not occur, the bet loses, and with it the money placed. You can also find tips on how to avoid making the biggest mistakes with your bets, bonus deals on betting and much more in this useful site.
Examples of Betting Calculations
Here are three examples of different bets with different betting odds. Betting 10 euros each.
- Example 1:
Betting 10 euros.
The odds of betting on a particular event is 2.0.
The event takes place as predicted: €10 bet x betting odds of 2.0 = payout of €20.
Of the €20, €10 is the net profit, the remaining €10 corresponds to the amount bet.
- Example 2:
Betting 10 euros.
Betting odds on a very unlikely event, such as a 5-0 Romanian victory, are 500.0.
Romania does win 5:0: 10 euros x 500,0 = 5010 euros payout.
Of the amount to be distributed, the share is 10 euros; the profit in this case is 5,000 euros.
- Example 3:
Betting 10 euros.
The odds for a highly probable event, such as Germany scoring at least one goal in qualification, is 1.1.
Germany scores one or more goals: 10 x 1.1 = 10.10 € payout.
Out of the payout, the betting amount is 10 euros, the profit in this case is 10 cents.
Note to the example calculations in this article: For clarity we omit the issue of tax, which is automatically calculated by many bookmakers and deducted from the possible profit. However, in principle, players should consider this topic in their calculations.
Here is how the odds work
Behind every betting odds published by sports betting providers is a complex calculation. Factors such as the current form of the team or player, results at the respective event in previous years, the record against the current opponent and, just as importantly, the behavior of other online bettors when placing bets are taken into account. This results in betting odds that, from the provider's point of view, must meet two criteria:
It must be attractive enough to generate as many bets as possible.
It must be realistic enough so that it does not result in losses for the sports betting providers.
As already mentioned, betting odds reflect the probability of a particular event. A betting odds of 2.0 can be translated as: Theoretically, an event occurs every other time. Similarly, a 5.0 betting odds means that the event occurs every fifth time. If the odds of Team A beating Team B are 5.0, the bookmaker assumes that Team A will win one of the five clashes (which, of course, do not exist, it is a simulation to create odds). Team B wins the other four.
A simple way to calculate the predicted probability as a percentage of the betting odds is to divide one by the odds. In our examples:
- 1:2 = 0.5 = 50 percent probability
- 1:5 = 0.2 = 20% probability