Understand Football Game Odds for the Upcoming Season
Game odds are an extremely vital aspect when it comes to sports betting in Canada . Knowing how to use them and understanding them is crucial when you want to become a profitable sports bettor. Betting odds are essentially used to determine how much money you'll receive back from winning bets, but that's certainly not all. There are several ways in which you can express football game odds and they are closely connected to the profitability of a winning bet.
Odds also represent whether or not a particular bet provides good or bad value. It's worth mentioning that value is a factor that you should always consider when you decide on the different types of bets. This is one of the golden betting rules to become a profitable sports bettor. In this article, we cover everything you need to know about betting odds and urge you to read through all the information provided, especially if you are new to the world of sports betting.
The Basics of Betting Odds
As we've already mentioned above, betting odds or gambling lines are used to determine the payout you'll receive on your winning wagers. It's for this reason that they are often called the "price" of a bet. A bet can have a price that can either be football game odds against or odds on.
- Odds Against: The amount you can potentially win would be greater than the amount you bet.
- Odds On: The amount you can potentially win would be less than the amount you bet.
You will obviously still make a profit when you win from an odds on bet, as your initial wager is also returned, but you will be required to risk an amount that is higher than the amount you stand to profit. Huge favourites are usually football game odds on because they are more likely to win the match or game. When bets are less likely to win, they will often be odds against. Betting odds can also provide even money. Winning an even money wager will return the exact amount you bet in profit as well as your initial wager. Therefore, you essentially double your money. Always remember that the higher the odds are, the less likely you are to win the bet, but the higher your rewards will be.
Different Formats for Betting Odds
There are a total of three primary formats in which betting odds are expressed. These formats are used on football game odds, basketball betting odds, and more. They are basically used to display odds on every sport event you can think of and include:
- Decimal
- American (or Moneyline)
- Fractional
You will encounter each of these formats when you bet online, whether its football game odds or baseball betting odds. Some sports betting sites will allow you to choose between the three formats, while others don't give you the option of choosing. Therefore, its extremely beneficial to understand each of them and know how to read them.
Decimal
This format is most commonly used by sports betting sites as it's the simplest to understand from the three formats. Decimal odds are displayed using 2 decimal places, displaying exactly what a winning bet will return per unit. Let's look at a few examples and remember that the total return will always include your initial bet:
- $100 Wager at odds of 1.50 = $150 in Potential Return
- $50 Wager at odds of 2.00 = $100 in Potential Return
- $200 Wager at odds of 3.50 = $700 in Potential Return
To calculate the potential return when you use decimal football game odds is extremely simple: Wager x Odds = Potential Return. To calculate the potential profit, you simply need to subtract 1 from the odds: Wager x (Odds -1) = Potential Profit. It's as simple as that, which is the main reason why sports betting sites continue to use this format. Please keep in mind that 2.00 is the same as even money and anything greater than 2.00 is essentially odds against, while anything lower than 2.00 is odds on.
American/Moneyline
American odds, also referred to as Moneyline odds, are the current odds used in the United States and are very popular with football game odds and baseball betting odds. Although this format might be slightly more complicated to grasp, you'll get the hang of it in no time. American odds can either be positive (with a + sign displayed in front of the relevant number) or negative (with a - sign displayed in front of the relevant number).
Positive American odds reflect the potential profit you can make with a $100 bet. So, if the odds are +150, you should know that $100 bet will provide a potential profit of $150. You will also receive your initial wager when you win, giving you a total return value of $250. Let's look at some examples, displaying the total potential return on positive American odds:
- $100 Wager at odds of +300 = $400 in Potential Return
- $200 Wager at odds of +200 = $600 in Potential Return
- $500 Wager at odds of +125 = $1,125 in Potential Return
Negative American odds display the bet amount required to win $100 in profit. So, if the football game odds are -120, you should know that $120 bet is needed to win $100. You will also receive your initial wager when you win, giving you a total return value of $220. Let's look at some examples, displaying the total potential return on negative American odds:
- $150 Wager at odds of -150 = $250 in Potential Return
- $100 Wager at odds of -200 = $150 in Potential Return
- $200 Wager at odds of -105 = $390.48 in Potential Return
To calculate the potential return when using positive American odds, you can use the following formula: Wager x (Odds/100) = Potential Profit. To calculate the potential return on negative American odds, you can use the following formula: Wager / (Odds/100) = Potential Profit. Always remember that +100 is even money with American odds. Positive numbers in a bet equals odds against, while negative numbers in a bet equals odds on.
Fractional
Fractional betting odds are primarily used in the UK, but they are slowly being replaced by the more popular decimal format when it comes to sports betting in the United Kingdom. Let's look at a few fractional odds examples:
- 2/1
- 5/1
- 10/1
You will also find more complicated fraction odds as follows:
- 15/8
- 7/4
- 5/2
The above-mentioned examples of fractional odds are odds against, while the following are football game odds on:
- 1/2
- 10/11
- 4/6
With fractional odds, 1/1 is considered even money, but most sports betting sites will display it as "evens". To calculate the potential return on fractional odds might be overwhelming at first, but you can master it with enough practice. Every fraction will give you an indication of how much you stand to profit on a winning bet, you only need to add your original wager yourself. You can use the following formula to calculate your potential profit, 'a' being the first number from the fraction, while 'b' is the second number from the fraction: Wager x (a/b) = Potential profit.
Odds and Probability
To make a profit from sports betting, you will need to understand the difference between betting odds and probability. Even though the two are essentially linked, betting odds don't always provide a true indication of the chances of something happening. Probability in the world of sports betting is simple, plain, and subjective. Both bookmakers and sports bettors are going to have a different outlook when predicting the outcome of a game.
Probabilities usually vary between 5% and 10% and can sometimes be more or less. To be a successful sports bettor, you will need to make accurate assumptions regarding the probability of a specific outcome and then determine if the betting odds make your bet worthwhile. To make this determination, you will be required to understand implied probability.
- Implied probability, in the context of sports betting, is what the betting odds indicate the chances of an outcome would be. It will assist you in calculating the advantage a bookmaker has in a betting market. More importantly, it can greatly assist you to determine if a bet offers you value.
A fantastic rule to live by is to only place a bet when there's value in it for you. Value comes into play when the betting odds are higher than you believe they should be. With implied probability, you can confirm if this is actually true. To explain it more clearly, imagine a tennis match with two identical players. A bookmaker will give both tennis players the same chances of winning the match, setting the odds at 2.00 for each player.
With both players having the same football game odds, it can essentially be considered a coin flip as one outcome is just as likely to occur as the other. In order words, both players will have a 50% chance of claiming a victory at the end of the match. The implied probability in this scenario is 50%. Although it's easy to calculate the implied probability with this example, it can become quite confusing if you wish to calculate the implied probability in reality. Thankfully, there's a formula you can use to calculate implied probability which is: Implied Probability = 1 / Decimal Odds.
This calculation will give you a number ranging between 0 and 1, which is exactly how probability is expressed. However, you will find it easier to display probability as a percentage and you can achieve this by simply multiplying the outcome by 100. For instance, a tennis player's odds is set at 2.00. Therefore, 1 / 2.00 will give you .50. You then multiply this by 100 which will give you 50%. So, if you calculate the probability and its higher than the implied probability, you will have value in your bet.
