The Sports Betting Guide: How to Calculate Betting Odds

More than half of the country watches sports on a regular basis. the US is made of sports fans, and both professional football and college football lead the pack among American fans.

And being a sports fan has gotten a lot more fun in recent years with the legalization of sports betting. Betting makes sports much more exhilarating since everyday fans can now put a little skin in the game.

The people that know how to read betting odds and make calculated decisions can even make some serious money.

Are you wondering how to calculate betting odds? It’s not as difficult as you think. Without knowing how to read betting odds, you are essentially wagering in the dark. And that’s a great way to lose money.

Read on the learn all about betting odds and how you can use them to your advantage. 

Can You Place a Bet? 

Before calculating odds and placing a bet for the first time, you need to calculate if sports betting is even legal in your state.

As of January 2022, sports betting is available in about half of the United States. The ban on sports betting was overturned at the federal level back in 2018. Since that time, individual states could legalize sports betting if they so chose.

States that were quick to jump on the opportunity include New Jersey, Delaware, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Over the next few years, numerous other states jumped on board.

Many states that have yet to legalize sports betting are in the process of doing so by proposing new legislation. It may take a few more years for the remaining states to fully legalize sports betting. But the states of Utah and Hawaii are unlikely to ever legalize it. 

How to Calculate Betting Odds

Sports betting takes place all over the world, on every sporting event you can imagine. Most Americans place bets on the NFL and NBA, while the majority of the world is focused on soccer, rugby, and horse racing. 

In different places, you’re likely to come across different styles of betting odds. That is, they are written differently, and you need to know how to read and calculate the odds from the numbers you are shown.

Here are some betting odds calculators to help you read odds in any country. 

Fractional Odds

If you are a soccer, rugby, or horse racing fan, then you’ve likely seen fractional odds. these are widely used in the UK, and by many of the largest sports betting platforms across the planet. 

The English Premier is one of the most-watched sporting leagues in the world, so you’re going to need to know how to read these, and it’s a little tricky. 

Fractional odds are listed with either a hyphen or a dash. They can look like 3/1 or 3-1. And you would say “three to one” rather than “three by one.”

The first number in the fraction is how much you win relative to the second number (how much you bet). So 3/1 odds means that you would win $3 for every $1 wagered.

If Arsenal (1/2) were playing Tottenham (3/1) in the North London Derby, we would notice that Arsenal are the favorites to win. The smaller the number, the greater the chance of winning.

In this example, a wager on Arsenal would mean winning $1 for every $2 wagered.

A wager on Tottenham would mean winning $3 for every $1. Even though Tottenham has the likes of Harry Kane and Huge Loris, they just can’t seem to measure up this season. 

Decimal Odds

Decimal odds are the easiest odds to calculate. They simply show you how much money you can expect to win. All you have to do is multiply the number shown by the amount you wager. 

For example, if you see odds of 2.50, you would know that you could win $2.50 for every wonder bet, or $250 for every $100 bet.

These are the odds used widely throughout the rest of Europe, as well as in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

So if you are watching soccer in Italy, you might see Juventus with odds of 0.70 and Atalanta odds of 2.00.

Whoever has the smaller number is the favorite to win. In this case, Juventus look like they are taking this game. A $10 bet would yield $7 winnings. 

If you bet on Atalanta, a $10 bet would yield $20 in winnings. 

Most new bettors prefer this style since it’s a simple multiplication equation. Take how much you are willing to bet, and multiply it by the odds.

Have $500 to wager? Assuming you know basic math, you would immediately know that a Juventus wager would yield $350 while an Atalanta bet would yield $1,000. 

From there, you just need to determine how much risk you’re willing to accept. 

American Odds

Finally, we have American odds. If you’re reading this, it’s probably what you’re most concerned with. 

It can be confusing at first since it lists both positive and negative odds for each match. And many people assume that a positive number means that team is more likely to win, but it’s actually reversed.

When it comes to American odds, each team has a number. The favored team has a negative number, such as -300, while the team expected to lose has a positive number, like +250.

For the favorite team, the number tells you how much money you need to wager in order to earn $100. So in the case above, -300 means you need to wager $300 in order to win an additional $100.

On the other side, the underdog odds display how much money you’ll win if you bet $100. In our case above, if you wagered $100, you would win an additional $250 if that team managed to win. 

Let’s say the Las Vegas Raiders (+400) are playing the Los Angeles Chargers (-200). With these numbers, we can immediately tell that the chargers are favored to win since they have negative odds.

If you bet $200, you could win $100 if they win. But if the Raiders win, and you bet $100, you would win $400. 

Making Educated Bets 

Now that you know how to calculate betting odds, you can start making educated bets. It’s actually quite simple to calculate your odds and winnings if you know basic math. 

Still, that doesn’t mean you’ll be an experienced better. When you start out, make sure to risk very small amounts of money, to ensure you don’t wipe out your funds on the first game.

Looking for other tips like this? Visit our blog now to keep reading.