Betting Explained
Understanding basic bet types is vital for any punter to maximise their opportunity of making a profit. This article explains three basic bet types offered by Pinnacle; 1X2, Handicap and Totals. Continue reading to learn more about the different basic bet types.
Basic Bet Types: 1X2
The three main types of betting odds are fractional (British) odds, decimal (European) odds, and American (moneyline) odds. These are simply different ways of presenting the same thing and hold no. Moneyline betting is pretty straightforward and involves betting on who is going to win. Unlike points spread which is based on who wins and by how much, a moneyline bet does not consider points spread. Sports betting lines on FanDuel Sportsbook are presented in what is called the 'American. 1X2 betting is one of the most common forms of betting and is the simplest way for a bettor to understand the cost of a bet. We can use a hypothetical Champions League game between Borussia Dortmund and Napoli to explain how 1X2 betting works.
1X2 betting is one of the most common forms of betting and is the simplest way for a bettor to understand the cost of a bet. We can use a hypothetical Champions League game between Borussia Dortmund and Napoli to explain how 1X2 betting works.
If you staked £10 on Borussia Dortmund to win at odds of 4.250, you would win £42.50 - although that would include your initial £10 stake. Therefore your profit would be £32.50. You would win nothing if the result ended in a defeat or draw for Borussia Dortmund.
A £10 bet on a draw would have returned £37.90 (£27.90 profit and your £10 stake); while the same bet on Napoli to win would see you pocket £19.17 (£9.17 profit).
Once you are familiar with 1X2 betting, the next step is to understand how the value in 1X2 odds varies across bookmakers, thus impacting your potential winnings.
Basic Bet Types: Handicap
Betting on the handicap is valuable when one team is heavily favoured over their opponents. To counter the perceived bias in ability, bookmakers offer a handicap to level the playing field.
The handicap is factored into the final score to determine the game's outcome for the purpose of the bet (which might be different from the actual result).
The handicap is factored into the final score to determine the game's outcome for the purpose of the bet (which might be different from the actual result).
For example, the handicap for the hypothetical example above might be (+0.5, 2.020) for Borussia Dortmund and (-0.5, 1.917) for Napoli.
If the result was 1-0 to Napoli, bets on Napoli would win as the 0.5 handicap is not enough to change the outcome. This is often called covering the handicap.
If the result was a 1-1 draw, however, bets on Borussia Dortmund would win, as the 0.5 handicap added to their score is enough to tip the match in their favour.
The handicap can also differ by appearing as a split, such as +0.5 & +1 or -0.5 & -1. This takes your stake and effectively places two handicap bets - one at each option. Therefore you can win both bets, just one, or lose both.
Advanced bettors will understand the relationship between 1X2 and handicap betting and how to decide which option offers better value.
Basic Bet Types: Totals
Totals bets are another basic bet type, and a popular alternative to 1X2 and handicap betting. The focus is not on finding the winner of a particular event, but predicting the outcome of game variables (e.g. total goals/runs/points or any other easily quantifiable variable).
Bookmakers offer bettors the option of whether the total goals/points will be either OVER or UNDER their assessment of the game.
For the hypothetical Borussia Dortmund and Napoli example, the total goal mark is set at Over 2.5 (2.080) and Under 2.5 (1.909).
If you bet £10 on the game to have over 2.5 goals and the result was 2-1 (a total of three goals) you would make a return of £20.80 (£10.80 profit), while you would have won nothing had you bet on the goals total to be under 2.5.
A video on 1X2 betting
If you found this article useful, you might enjoy our short video that explains how 1X2 betting works.
If you want to watch more educational betting videos, subscribe to the Pinnacle YouTube channel!
In the world of sports betting the first thing you will need to learn is to read and understand the odds. There are three traditional ways that online sports betting sites display odds. They include American, Decimal, and Fractional.
Regardless of how the odds are displayed, they’ll always mean the same thing. Watching the UFC, the odds format they talk is American Odds or Vegas Odds. Essentially what they are is the percentage of one outcome against another.
You can use our UFC Odds Calculator to work out percentages yourself.
We have a live odds tool on our site that you’ll notice on lots of our pages. We post live odds in American and Decimal format, but we don’t list live odds in the Fractional format.
The reason we don’t list live odds using Fractions on our site is that we don’t want to confuse bettors. Fraction odds are becoming more extinct every year, and many online sportsbooks have stopped posting odds using fractional odds entirely.
The betting odds are one of the most important factors in deciding on whether to bet on a game or not. If you study a UFC fight and determine that Jon Jones has a 60% chance of beating Mauricio Rua, then you’re going to need to find out if the odds are better than that.
Points Betting Explained
Using our 60% example, we need to check to see if the odds are going to allow us to be profitable if Jones does win 60% of the time in this fight. You can use our betting calculator to check what the odds mean in percentage terms.
Nfl Betting Explained
To break even betting on an outcome that is predicted to hit at a 60% rate you need to be getting odds of -150. If you’re getting better odds, i.e., -150 to a positive number (+100), then it’s a +EV bet to make, and you should place the bet.
We’re going to explain how to read the three different types of betting odds below, so make sure you check out both the American and Decimal formats if you don’t know how to read them yet.
American Betting Odds Explained
- Jon Jones -205 vs. Mauricio Rua +165
American odds are shown using whole numbers above 100, and they can have a positive or negative value. When the odds have a negative value, the odds will be presented with a (-) in front of the number whereas when the odds have a positive value they will have a (+) sign in front of the odds.
To understand how much you can make you need to remember one rule. When the odds are positive (+), the number reflects how much you’ll make on a $100 wager whereas if the odds are negative (-), the number reflects how much you need to bet to win $100 profit.
If you bet on Jones at -205 you need to risk $205 to win $100 profit and if you bet on Rua to win you’d win $165 profit for every $100 you bet.
The fighter with the negative value is ‘usually’ considered the favorite, and if both fighters have a negative value, then the fighter with the higher number is the favorite.
E.g:
- Fighter A: -105
- Fighter B: -109
Fighter B is considered the favorite in this matchup.
It’s rare for two fighters in MMA to both have negative value odds, but it does happen when two extremely evenly matched fighters fight against each other.
Decimal Betting Odds Explained
- Jon Jones 1.49 vs. Mauricio Rua 2.65
Decimal odds are used in most countries outside of North America, so we include decimal odds on our site for punters. Decimal odds are also known as European odds.
To understand decimal odds you always need to remember that your stake and profit are included in the odds. For instance, Jon Jones is favored to win the fight at 1.49 odds. If you bet $100 on Jones at 1.49, you’d win $149 back, which includes your stake and profits.
You’d win your $100 back plus make $49 profit.
If you bet on the underdog Rua in the fight for $100 at odds of 2.65 you’d win back $265, which includes your $100 stake plus $165 in profit.
To find out how much you can win using decimal odds you multiply the odds by how much you want to bet.
Fractional Betting Odds Explained
- Jon Jones 49/100 vs. Mauricio Rua 33/20
Sports Betting Explained
We want to say that we believe fractional odds are going to become less used, and therefore we don’t recommend using them unless you’re betting on horses.
If you’re betting on MMA, you should use Decimal odds, as every bookie offers Decimal odds and they’re easy to use when trying to figure out your profit.
If you need to be able to read fraction odds, they’re simple. The 1st number in the fraction is how much you’re paid out based on the 2nd number, which is how much you need to stake.
Betting Explained Football
For instance, if you bet on Jones at 49/100 odds you need to calculate 49/100 x “Wager Amount” to come up with how much you’ll make. If you bet $100 (49/100 x $100 = $49) you’d make $49 plus receive your $100 stake back.