With decimal odds, the entire amount is calculated at one go. For example, you bet $/£100 on a sports event which has decimal odds of 1.60. In order to calculate how much you can win in total all you need to do is multiply your stake with the decimal odds. Online Sports Betting at SportsBetting.ag. SportsBetting.ag is your ‘top spot’ for the best in sports betting excitement. No matter what your favorite game might be you’ll find it on the board along with a huge variety of sports and betting.

1. Sports Odds Explained
2. How Vegas Odds Work

Sports betting has become a phenomenon across the world. People all around the world will put wagers on a sporting event to create more excitement around a game for themselves. Let’s face it, you wouldn’t watch a 1-10 team play a 2-9 team without placing a wager. But once the wager is in, you’re absolutely tuning in and watching every second.
Betting lines are used for sportsbooks to put a price on a certain wager. If you’re looking at a team with -150 odds to win, they’re a favorite. If it pays out, you will receive less than you put in. However, if you bet on the opposite side and take a chance with a +150 underdog, you would make more profit if the team won. Read more about Moneyline betting here.
Who creates the betting lines that are used by sportsbooks?

Most sportsbooks have in-house oddsmakers that are in charge of creating betting lines in the weeks before games, especially when it comes to Opening Day or the NFL. In baseball, the oddsmakers are required to make the lines daily as games never seem to stop in the summer with the MLB.
Years ago, the oddsmakers didn't have that much information to look at when trying to make betting lines. Now there are analytics everywhere to come up with all of the lines much more accurately.
Back then, oddsmakers would really only have box scores to look at. Now oddsmakers can look up anything and everything which gives them an advantage over the average bettor. Of course, records and things like the weather are important, but deeper stats mean so much more to oddsmakers. They’re able to develop systems to figure out exactly how much a team will score and such. You know the saying, “Vegas is always right.” Unless you follow Doc’s Sports picks. Then it’s different.
How Lines Move
When a game starts out at -3 for a team and the line changes to -2 before the game begins, that means that there’s action on the game or an injury to a key player. There are 'sharp' bettors that place a large bet on one team that forces oddsmakers to raise an eyebrow and switch the lines. An oddsmaker is always watching action to see if a change is necessary on the lines.
Popular Ways to Bet
Point spread
A point spread is a handicap where you essentially give or receive points on top of the actual outcome of the game. The spread basically looks at how a sportsbook or oddsmaker thinks about what the outcome might be. For example, in an NFL game, if the Kansas City Chiefs are -3 on the spread, the oddsmakers believe that the Chiefs will win their game by three points. If your data and analysis say otherwise, you would be on the opposite slide and gain three points from their opponent. So, if you bet on the Chiefs with the spread, you would have needed them to win by more than 3 points to cash your ticket. If the score was 27-21, Chiefs, you would win your bet. But if it was 23-21, Chiefs, you would lose because the other side gained three points and won 24-23 theoretically. Betting on spreads allows you to pick a team to win with better odds. If you were to just pick the Chiefs to win that game, you would have to lay a lot of money on the Chiefs. Picking them against the spread gives you a chance to make money near an even line.

Moneyline bets:
Moneyline bets take some stress away. With a moneyline bet, you only need your team to win the game and don’t need to worry about how much they do it by. We’ve all been there where we’ve taken a team to win by 7.5 and then a team wins by just seven. Those are the worst bad breaks and losing bets possible and not fun to endure. After the game, you’ll then wish you had been on the moneyline instead. Those absolutely sting.
The problem with money lines is that you will have to lay a lot more money on the team to win. On heavy favorites, you’re looking at putting down $300 just to win $100 on teams that are -300 American odds. If the San Francisco 49ers were -300 against the Minnesota Vikings, all you would need is for the 49ers to win the game. However, if they are upset, you’d lose $300 trying to win just $100. Heavy money lines are very scary if your team doesn’t perform like they should be or how they were projected to.
Point total bets
With totals, or over/under betting, you don’t need to worry about who wins the game. You’re worried about how many points are scored in the game. For example, if you bet over 52 points on the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Eagles, you’d want the combined score between the two teams to be more than 52 points. Therefore, if the score was 35-28, you would have 63 points and score over 52 points. If the score was 17-14, you would have a total of 31 points and the total would go under. Therefore, you would lose the wager and the bet.
You don’t only have to bet on the total for the game, but you can also bet on the team total for a certain team. If you’re not sure about one side but you love the other side, you can isolate a team and bet their team total.

Proposition bets:
Many people make their money on proposition bets. Prop bets are available for most sporting events, and you can bet anything from a team’s total to how many yards a player will rush for to how many touchdowns a player will score. Prop bets are like playing fantasy sports but with odds.
Prop bets are extremely popular during the Super Bowl, where people go as far as betting on how long the National Anthem will be. There are some ridiculous props like what color Gatorade will be poured on the winning head coach. Unless you have insight on those bets, it’s hard to have concrete analysis for that. You’re basically just trying to hit the lottery.

Doc’s Sports is offering $60 worth of member’s picks absolutely free – no obligation, no sales people – you don’t even have to enter credit card information. You can use this $60 credit any way you please for any handicapper and any sport on Doc’s Sports list of expert sports handicappers. Get $60 worth of premium members’ picks free.

• Betting odds are used to assess the likelihood of an event happening.
• Less likely events tend to have higher odds and offer a larger reward, while more likely events have a lower risk attached and therefore a lower reward.
• Your winnings depend on how much you wager on a given set of odds.
• Betting odds are seen in a range of formats – they are most commonly seen as fractions but are also sometimes presented as decimals.

A quick introduction to betting odds

Decimal and fraction odds might seem confusing, especially if you’re not familiar with online sports betting and all the betting terms and types. This handy guide is ideal for anyone new to betting, or if you’re struggling to read the odds.

It contains a range of useful tips and tricks that will help you better understand just how betting odds work, so you can choose odds and place your bets with more confidence.

Here, we will highlight:

• The key points of betting odds and what you should look out for.
• How to read betting odds and make them work in your favour.
• Tips and tricks to help you understand betting odds more easily.

What are betting odds?

Betting odds are used to present the likelihood of an outcome, as well as help you understand how much you could win from a bet. They are often written out as a fraction (e.g. 2/1) or a decimal (e.g. 3.0).

Betting odds can be applied to anything that has a set outcome and is often seen in sport, football betting, entertainment, and politics. The odds measure the probability of a certain outcome, such as the result of a sports game or reality TV show, or whether a certain party gets the majority vote in an election.

How do betting odds work?

Betting odds are used to determine probability and calculate the winnings from a bet and are often seen in their decimal or fractional form. Odds are commonly recognised as being even, long, or short.

Even odds

Sports Odds Explained

When something is just as likely to happen as not, it is given even odds. These are presented as 1/1 in fractional odds or 2.0 in decimal odds. In this instance, your winnings would be the same as your stake.

For example: In the case of 1/1 odds, you win £1 for every £1 you bet.

Therefore, if you bet £10 you’d win £10, and return £20 in total (your £10 stake plus your £10 winnings).

Long odds

If something is statistically less likely to happen, it is given long odds. This means you have the potential to win more than you would on even odds, but the risk of losing is higher.

For example: In the case of 10/1 long odds (or 11.0 in decimal form), you could win £10 for every £1 you bet, and therefore your winnings exceed your stake.

A winning £10 bet at 10/1 odds would result in £100 winnings plus your £10 stake, therefore returning £110 in total.

Short odds

If something has a higher probability of happening, it is given short odds. While short odds are more likely to happen, the winnings will be smaller, and therefore you’ll need to stake higher amounts for a bigger return.

For example: In the case of 1/10 short odds (1.10 in decimal form), you could win £1 for every £10 you bet.

Therefore, a winning £10 bet would result in £1 in winnings, amounting to a return of £11 (your £1 winnings plus your £10 stake).

How to read betting odds

Betting odds are most commonly presented as a fraction or a decimal in the UK. Moneyline odds, which are common in the US, are also becoming more popular.

Reading odds can be confusing if you’re not familiar with what the different sets of numbers reflect. Here, we explain how to read decimal, fraction, and moneyline odds.

Understanding decimal odds

The simple rule of thumb with decimal betting odds is the bigger the number, the larger the return will be. For example, decimal odds of 3.75 will result in larger winnings than decimal odds of 1.75.

To work out your winnings from decimal odds, simply multiply the odds by your stake. The resulting number reflects both your winnings and your stake.

For example: If you bet £10 on odds of 3.75, you would return £37.50 – this means you’ll have won £27.50 (£37.50 – your £10 stake).

Understanding fractional odds

Fractional odds are a more traditional way of displaying odds in the UK. Appearing in fraction form (e.g. 2/1), you must first work out your winnings and then add on your stake to determine your total return.

The best way to calculate your returns from fractional odds is to follow a formula:

((stake/second number) x first number) + stake = total returns

This might look complicated, but we promise it will make sense when you plug your numbers in.

For example: If you bet £10 on a 5/2 bet, your calculation would look like:

((£10/2) x 5) + £10) = £35

For longer odds with a larger return, look out for odds where the first half of the fraction is larger than the second half.

For example Odds of 5/1 will return greater winnings than odds of 1/5. If you were to stake £10 on odds of 5/1, then your return would be £60. However, if you were to stake £10 on odds of 1/5, your return would only be £12.

Understanding moneyline odds

Moneyline odds are often used in the US when betting on American sports, but they are becoming more common in Britain. They are presented as a plus (+) or minus (-) figure.

The moneyline shows you how much you have to bet to win £100.

For example: If you are presented with odds of +200, then your return (if you stake £100) will be £300 (your £200 winnings plus your £100 stake).

If you are presented odds of -200 (because this event is more likely) you will have to stake £200 to return £300 (your £200 stake plus £100 winnings).

To calculate the potential payout from a moneyline bet, simply follow this formula

stake x (odds/100) + stake = total returns

For example: If you are presented with odds of +200 and you bet £5, your formula would look like:

£5 x (200/100) + £5 = £15 total returns

Converting decimal odds to fractions

Converting decimal betting odds to fractions takes a bit of basic maths knowledge.

First, take your decimal odds and subtract 1 from the number.

For example: If you have decimal odds of 3.75, subtract 1 and you are left with 2.75. These are odds of 2.75/1.

Odds need to be made up of whole numbers, so we need to take 2.75 and turn it into a whole number. The easiest way in this instance is to multiply 2.75 by 100 and move the decimal along two places. This gives us 275/100.

From there, we can work our way to finding the smallest equivalent fraction.

In this case, we can divide our fraction by 25, leaving us with fractional odds of 11/4 – previously 3.75 when presented as a decimal.

Now that you understand betting odds and how they work, you can begin to use them to your advantage. Browse all the latest sports betting odds or sign up to Grosvenor Casinos today to get started.

How to calculate betting odds return

Using our bet calculator, you can now work out how much a potential bet could return.

The calculator gives you the option to select the bet type, the win odds, your stake, and whether the bet placed will be each way or not.

As well as finding out how much your bet will potentially return, the calculator also gives you the total profit.

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How Vegas Odds Work

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