American Odds Explained American odds are popular with US sportsbooks. The odds work by showing players how much they would have to risk to win when betting on a team. Betting Odds Explained. Having never been explained betting odds can be intimidating. They come in different formats, and sometimes seem to work counter-intuitively. You can trust our team of experts. We have put together all the key information about how odds work and how to read their different formats.
- Betting odds tell you how likely an event is to happen
- They also tell you how much money you will win
- However, at first, they may seem confusing and complex
- Our comprehensive guide takes you step-by-step to explain them
If you’re new to betting, one of the first things you should do is learn how betting odds work. It’s critically important because it allows you to understand how likely an event is to happen, and what your potential winnings will be. At first, it may appear confusing, however, read our guide and let us explain it to you.
Betting Odds Explained
In gambling, odds represent the ratio between the amounts staked by parties to a wager or bet. Thus, odds of 3 to 1 mean the first party (the bookmaker) stakes three times the amount staked by the second party (the bettor).
What is Probability?
The most basic level, betting provides you with the ability to predict the outcome of a certain event, and if your prediction is correct, you will win money. For any given event, there are a certain number of outcomes. Take rolling a dice for instance. If someone rolls a dice, there are six possible outcomes. Therefore, if you bet that the person rolls a ‘one’, there is a 16.67% chance that will happen. What betting odds merely do is present how likely the event is to happen. Bookies most frequently in the UK do this as a fraction, i.e. 4/7, whilst the vast majority also offer the ability to view them as decimals. Again, let us talk you through them. All will become clear.
Using Betting Odds to Calculate Probability
Whenever you see two numbers separated by a trailing slash, i.e. 10/1, this is known as fractional odds. From this, you can calculate how likely a given event is to happen with a calculation. For ease of explanation, let’s replace the numbers with letters i.e. 4/1 becomes A/B. Here is the calculation: Probability (%) = B / (A+B).
- 9/1 can be calculated as 1 / (9 + 1) = 0.10– There is a 10% chance that the event will happen.
- 4/1 can be calculated as 1 / (4 + 1) = 0.20 – There is a 20% chance that the event will happen.
- 1/1 can be calculated as 1 / (1 + 1) = 0.50 – There is a 50% chance that the event will happen.
- 1/4 can be calculated as 4 / (4 + 1) = 0.80 – There is a 80% chance that the event will happen.
Hooray! We’re making progress. Given a fraction, we can now tell how likely (the probability) what we’re going to bet on will happen. Now let’s figure out how much money can be won using betting odds.
Using Betting Odds to Calculate Winnings
Betting odds allow you to calculate how much money you will win if you make a bet. Let’s use the same examples as before, with the same replacement of numbers for letters, i.e. 4/1 becomes A/B. Quite simply, for every value of B that you bet, you will win A, plus the return of your stake.
- 9/1 for every £1 you bet, you will win £9.
- 4/1 for every £1 you bet, you will win £4.
- 1/1 for every £1 you bet, you will win £1.
- 1/4 for every £4 you bet, you will win £1.
What About Decimals?
Decimals are far more common on exchanges, such as Betfair, but all leading betting sites do give you the option to view betting odds in this format. They are an alternative to seeing betting odds in the fraction format, and in our opinion, are easier to work out. Here is the calculation: winnings = (odds * stake) – stake. Let’s illustrate it with some examples
- 9.0 can be calculated as (9.0 * £10 stake) – £10 stake = £80 winnings.
- 4.0 can be calculated as (4.0 * £10 stake) – £10 stake = £30 winnings.
- 2.5 can be calculated as (2.5 * £10 stake) – £10 stake = £15 winnings.
- 1.25 can be calculated as (1.25 * £10 stake) – £10 stake =£2.50 winnings.
You can use our bet calculator to help you calculate winnings.
USE BET CALCULATOR
Decimal Odds Versus Fractional Odds
In truth, one isn’t better than the other but there is certainly a trend emerging towards decimal odds. Historically fractional odds were used in the UK, especially on racetracks and on the high street. There are two key differences. Generally, decimal odds are easier to understand. Based on this, there has a movement to attract more people to horse racing by making it more accessible to the average punter. Ten years ago, if you were going to Cheltenham, all the odds would be displayed as fractional odds. Now, they’re largely all in decimals. Don’t hesitate to check out our exclusive Premier League Betting Offers !
The second difference between the formats is that fractional odds only represent winnings, and do not include the returned stake compared to decimals which do include the stake. The transition from fractional odds to decimals largely kicked off with the growing popularity of the betting exchanges such Betfair. For odds to change slightly, it’s really difficult to marginally increase or decrease the probability without creating large fractions which are hard to compute for the punter.
Use Our Tool to Convert Betting Odds Into Your Favourite Format
Our odds converter toolwill allow you see odds in whatever format you like . Not only that, but it’ll tell you how likely the selection is to win!
In Summary
Betting odds represent the probability of an event to happen and therefore enable you to work out how much money you will win if your bet wins. As an example, with odds of 4/1, for every £1 you bet, you will win £4. There is a 20% chance of this happening, calculated by 1 / (4 + 1) = 0.20.
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Next steps
That’s it! Hopefully, that clears up betting odds. You should now have the knowledge to read betting odds, understand how likely it is to happen, and how much you stand to win.
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Article and odds updated on November 6th, 2020 at 10:32am EST
There is a huge event sneaking into view in the United States of America, as the 2020 Election grows ever closer. Americans will go to the polls on the 3rd November, with the winning candidate being inaugurated on the 20th January 2021. It will be a huge decision in the USA as they must decide the man that they want to be the President for the next four years.
Online Markets for US Presidential Online Betting Odds
Vegas Odds 2020 election race is nearing its last month but has but far from a clear winner yet.
It doesn’t seem that long ago since Donald Trump shocked the world by defying the odds to beat Hilary Clinton to move into the White House. But, an awful lot has changed since then, and this could turn out to be one of the tightest and more aggressive Elections in American history.
Read on for the Las Vegas presidential odds below:
Current Vegas Presidential Odds
Those gamblers looking to find Vegas Odds for the upcoming or previous elections will be left disappointed.
It is illegal for sports with licenses in the US to offer odds.
That is why none of the leading sportsbooks in Las Vegas have been able to offer odds on US Elections.
An Alternative to Las ‘Vegas Odds’
That is why the majority of online bookmakers, otherwise known as ‘offshore sportsbooks‘ are the way forward for those looking to bet on the 2020 Election.
In any normal scenario outside of the US election, it would have been expected that the Vegas odds Trump commands will be neck in neck with Biden, and this case shows with the online markets below. Again though, there will be no lines available for those looking for Vegas odds President race numbers. The Vegas election odds (online markets) will be updated here live as they become available.
Why Vegas Odds on the US Election Are Illegal
There are a number of reasons why betting on Presidential elections is illegal in the States. One of the main reasons links back to the Black Sox Scandal in 1919. The law is there to ensure the integrity of democracy. Meanwhile, there was also a fear that betting on elections could also have a negative impact on the number of voters that turned out.
Ufc Betting Odds Explained
The odds are constantly changing as Election night draws closer, and there has been a massive change in favour of Joe Biden. Biden is now the clear -190 favourite in the political betting market with BetOnline.ag, while Bovada also offers the same price for the Democratic candidate from Delaware. Donald Trump, like in the 2016 election, is the outsider to be re-elected, as he is priced at +162 with BetOnline.ag.
There are also other selections in the BetOnline.ag market, as they offer Kamala Harris at +5000. However, that selection would be considered hugely unlikely as Harris is the running mate for Biden in the upcoming election. Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, is valued at +10000 with Bovada to be elected as the President.
However, the odds online are slightly different depending on the bookmaker, with Betway still having Biden as the favourite but at a slightly different price. Betway offers -167 for Biden to win the election, but the odds suggest it could be closer as Trump is priced at +115. Bet US initially expected it to be much closer than Bovada and BetOnline.ag, as they have both had Trump and Biden valued at -115 at open, with it now being -200 and -182 for Biden and Trump at +150 and +162 respectively.
Changes In US Presidential Odds Since January
The odds have constantly been changing throughout 2020, with Biden being as high as +2000 at the end of February. However, the Democratic Party Presidential primaries changed the odds. Biden’s price with Bovada plummeted to +160 after he emerged at the candidate for the party. Biden was the last candidate standing after a number of other candidates pulled out. Biden went down to -115 after Bernie Sanders pulled out of the election, which was the lowest price that Biden had been at.
The lowest price that gamblers could get for Trump came at the end of February as he was priced at -180 with Bovada. However, Trump’s odds have been changing week by week, and he went to evens at the beginning of June. At that point, Biden overtook Trump as the favourite in the Election betting. Trump went to as high as +140 at the beginning of July, but his price is getting shorter again as we get closer to the 4th November Election.
With the constant overtaking and media parade, who knows what Vegas odds on Presidential election movements we’ll see throughout the final days leading up to Election night?
Where Will The Election Be Won?
The US Election doesn’t always mean getting the most amount of votes; instead it comes down to the States that you manage to win. The winning candidate will need to get at least 279 electoral college votes to win, with 538 in total up for grabs. Most States vote the same way for every election, but there are some that can go either way; these are called battleground States. There are 14 different battleground States, which turned out to be the decisive factor for Trump back in 2016.
However, recent figures have shown that Biden holds the advantage in the majority this time around. Polls show that Biden has the advantage in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Caroline, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Trump has a better rating on the polls in just three of the States; Georgia, Iowa and Texas. The recent figures also show that there is only a slim difference between the candidates in three of the States that currently favour Biden: Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.
Were The Odds Right In 2016?
The 2020 election will be unlike anything that we have seen before, and the main reason for that is because it is unpredictable. The polls have been wrong on numerous occasions over the past couple of years, which has meant that the odds have counted for very little. The year that Trump won the election, there were two examples that the polls aren’t always accurate, one of which being the Trump election and the other being the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union.
Back in 2016, Trump was given just a 50% chance of winning the election on the 3rd November, which was just five days before American went to the polls. The unpredictability of the 2016 election meant that huge wagers were placed on both Trump and Clinton, with one gambler from London putting over $200,000 on the eventual winner. One bookmaker revealed that the number of bets put on the election in 2016 exceeded the wagers that were put on other significant events such as the EU referendum, the European Championships and the Epsom Derby.
Whatever happens to in the final debates, one thing is for sure: we remain at the razor edge of our seat to know what Las Vegas odds presidential election candidates Biden and Trump will surprise us with.
Let’s see what Vegas odds president 2020 sportsbooks favor as their lines continue moving toward a dramatic finale.