How To Bet Odds On Sports

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To understand what betting oddsare, we have to first understand the concept of chance.

Chance is the likelihood of an event happening. It is often expressed in percentages, also referred to as the probability.

Example: Roll a dice.

Rolling a dice yields a probability of 1 out of 6 for each outcome.

The chance of the dice landing on any of the 6 numbers is equal. In percentages this means a 16.66% chance (or probability) of any of the six numbers to coming up.

How is this calculated?

Simply by dividing 100% by the 6 possible outcomes.

There are three kinds of oddsyou will come across in the sports betting landscape.

  • Decimal Odds: represented as 1.65 or 2.95 etc.
  • Fractional Odds: represented as 5/2 or 3 to 2 ‘on’ etc.
  • Moneyline Odds: represented as -120 or +140 etc.

The following is an odds conversion chart that presents the odds and implied probability across each odds format.

Implied Probability %Decimal OddsFractional OddsAmerican Odds
99.01.01 1/100-10000
98.01.02 1/50 -5000
97.1 1.03 1/33-3333
96.2 1.04 1/25-2500
95.2 1.051/20-2000
94.3 1.06 3/50 -1667
93.51.077/100 -1429
92.6 1.08 2/25 -1250
91.71.09 9/100 -1111
90.9 1.101/10-1000
90.1 1.11 11/100-909
89.31.123/25-833
88.51.13 13/100 -769
87.7 1.14 7/50 -714
87.01.153/20-667
86.2 1.16 4/25 -625
85.5 1.17 17/100 -588
84.7 1.189/50 -556
84.0 1.1919/100 -526
83.3 1.20 1/5 -500
82.6 1.21 21/100 -476
82.0 1.2211/50 -455
81.3 1.2323/100 -435
80.6 1.246/25 -417
80.0 1.25 1/4 -400
79.4 1.26 13/50-385
78.7 1.27 27/100 -370
78.1 1.287/25 -357
77.5 1.2929/100 -345
76.9 1.303/10 -333
76.31.3131/100 -323
75.8 1.328/25 -313
74.6 1.33 33/100-303
74.1 1.34 17/50 -294
73.5 1.3535/100 -286
73.0 1.36 9/25 -278
72.5 1.37 37/100 -270
71.9 1.39 39/100 -256
71.4 1.40 2/5 -250
70.9 1.41 41/100 -244
70.4 1.4221/50 -238
69.9 1.43 43/100-233
69.4 1.44 11/25 -227
69.01.45 9/20 -222
68.5 1.46 23/50 -217
68.0 1.47 47/100 -213
67.6 1.48 12/25 -208
67.1 1.49 49/100-204
66.7 1.50 1/2 -200
65.81.52 13/25 -192
64.91.54 27/50 -185
64.11.56 14/25 -179
63.31.58 29/50 -172
62.51.60 3/5 -167
61.71.62 31/50 -161
61.01.64 16/25 -156
60.21.6633/50 -152
59.51.68 17/25 -147
58.81.70 7/10 -143
58.11.72 18/25 -139
57.51.7437/50 -135
56.81.76 19/25 -132
56.2 1.78 39/50 -128
55.61.80 4/5 -125
54.91.82 41/50 -122
54.31.84 21/25 -119
53.81.86 43/50 -116
53.21.88 22/25 -114
52.61.90 9/10 -111
52.11.92 23/25 -109
51.51.94 47/50 -106
51.01.96 24/25 -104
50.51.98 49/50 -102
50.02.00 1/1 -100
49.52.02 51/50 102
49.02.04 26/25 104
48.5 2.06 53/50 106
48.12.0827/25108
47.62.10 11/10110
46.52.15 23/20 115
45.52.20 6/5 120
44.42.25 5/4 125
43.52.30 13/10130
42.62.35 27/20135
41.72.40 14/10 140
40.82.45 29/20 145
40.0 2.50 3/2 150
38.52.60 8/5 160
37.02.70 17/10 170
35.7 2.80 9/5 180
34.5 2.90 19/10 190
33.3 3.00 2/1200
31.3 3.2011/5 220
29.4 3.40 12/5 240
27.8 3.6013/5260
26.3 3.80 14/4280
25.0 4.00 3/1 300
23.8 4.20 16/5 320
22.7 4.40 17/5340
21.7 4.60 18/5 360
20.8 4.80 19/5 380
20.0 5.00 4/1 400
19.25.20 21/5 420
18.55.4022/5 440
17.95.60 23/5 460
17.25.80 24/5 480
16.76.00 5/1500
16.1 6.20 26/5 520
15.6 6.40 27/5 540
15.2 6.60 28/5 560
14.7 6.80 29/5 580
14.3 7.006/1 600
13.3 7.50 13/2 650
12.5 8.00 7/1700
11.19.008/1 800
10.0 10.00 9/1 900
9.1 11.00 10/1 1000
8.3 12.011/1 1100
7.7 13.0 12/1 1200
7.1 14.00 13/1 1300
6.7 15.00 14/1 1400
5.020.0019/1 1900
3.330.00 29/1 2900
2.540.00 39/1 3900
2.0 50.00 49/1 4900
1.0 100.00 99/19900
0.7 150.00 149/1 14900
0.5 200.00 199/1 19900

To learn more about sports betting, visit our How to bet Guide section.

More articles Related to these Topics how to bet, odds, wagering

Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.

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Sports Betting Odds Explained

Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.

American Style Sports Betting Odds

Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:

American Odds

  • Matchup Odds
  • New England Patriots +120
  • Pittsburgh Steelers -140

The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.

The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.

The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.

Bet

A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.

Examples:

A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.

Examples:

Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.


In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).

The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.

How To Successfully Bet On Sports

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Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds

Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.

How To Play Odds In Sports Betting

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.

Best Odds On Sports Betting

Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.