If you are serious about making a little money from watching your favorite sports, you could consider making a bet. Conversely, if you really want to be in with a chance of winning you should take some time in understanding sports betting odds.

Firstly, there are many of different terms that should be considered in almost any knowledge of sports betting odds. The ‘stake’ is the amount that you will be betting; ‘short odds’ mean that the likelihood of the event occurring is high; ‘odds against’ means that the return for winning is more than twice the amount of the initial bet placed. Remembering these terms will take you one step closer to understanding sports betting odds.

When displaying the odds of professional sports, decimal odds or fractional odds are often used. If you want to understand sports betting odds then you shall need to understand these systems. Fractional odds tend to be more popular within the UK, see this website and are represented in a way that states the total available to the better. As an example, odds of 4/1 (four-to-one) mean that, whenever they win, the greater is likely to make $400 on a $100 stake.

A far more common system for displaying sports betting odds will be the decimal system. These odds are worked out by dividing 100 by the chance that an event has of winning. One example is an event with a 20% chance would work out at 100 divided by 20, which is 5. Within the US odds are given differently again, as a positive or negative number where a number next to a positive states just how much you will win for a 100 stake, or a negative means the amount you’ll need to bet to win 100. Understanding these methods shall take you some way in understanding sports betting odds, leaving you with a more suitable chance of picking the correct sides.