Football betting lovers always strive to try and apply winning betting strategies in order to maximize their profit. All strategies vary by type, budget and betting markets but there is one thing that is common for all of them – the odds. Generally speaking, you will find odds not only for football betting markets but for all sports betting including NBA, NHL, Golf, UFC/MMA and even Formula 1.

Each sports betting event will have a certain outcome – in the end, there will be a winner and a second-placed team (may vary depending on the sport). However, since all sports are a game of skill, participants have a different chance of winnings. In a simple way, the betting odds represent the chance of a certain outcome to happen. In the next few paragraphs, together we will learn what betting odds mean and how they work, how to read and how to understand football odds.

Bet365 Football Betting Odds

How betting odds work. Betting odds are usually expressed either as fractions (e.g. ‘3/1’) or as decimals (e.g. Fractions were traditionally used to bet on horse racing and were most popular in high street betting shops in the UK, before the advent of internet gambling. Understanding how betting odds work is crucial for success in gambling, whether you want to win at slots or place bets on sporting events. By knowing the odds of potential bets you can calculate your expected winnings and build an entire strategy for a successful session. Let’s see where betting odds come into action and how to read them.

Bet365 is one of the best betting sites not only in the UK but all around the world. The bookie gives you the opportunity to bet on more than hundreds of thousands sports events each year while providing generous odds. At Bet365 you will find hundreds of betting markets to choose from, including Bet Builder that allows you to form your personal bet at extremely high and competitive betting odds.

Since bet365 is a leader in the gaming industry, you can not only place bets on today’s events but also long-term outright betting odds. Have a look at our dedicated odds comparison tool below, featuring outright bets from the biggest football competitions around the world. We update our odds daily and show you only the latest football betting odds. Tap on the event you are interested in and you will be redirected to a dedicated page on our website featuring Title Winner Odds, Top 4 Finish Odds, Promotion Odds, Goalscorer Odds and more.

How do Odds Work in Football and Sports Betting?

In order to understand football betting odds, first, we will have to explain what is a chance. Traditionally, a chance is the possibility of one outcome in a certain event. Usually, we measure the chance in percentages, with the sum of all possible outcomes resulting in 100%. The best football bettors usually have outstanding odds to chance calculation and have no trouble reading betting odds. It is important to remember that in sports betting, the odds don’t add up to 100%. Let me explain that in detail below.

For example, if we flip a coin in the air, there are only two possible outcomes. The coin will land either on heads or on tails. There will be an equal 50% chance of both outcomes to happen. In football betting, the alternative for that type of an event is the Over 2.5 Goals market. Imagine a football game is played between evenly matched opponents. Again, the event has just two outcomes – either there will be three or more goals scored or the game will end with less than three scored goals.

In a perfect world, the probability of both outcomes (Over or Under 2.5 Goals) equals 50%. However, instead of exact odds at 1/1 (2.00), bookies will give you odds of around 9/10 (1.90) because in betting odds don’t equal chance. The margin is used by the bookie to ensure that bettors will not have the opportunity of match betting and also to try and reduce eventually its losses from an unexpected outcome. If you understand how to make odds work in your favour and recalculate the real chance of a certain event to odds, you will find value in your bets and in theory will increase your long-term profit from betting.

Betting Odds Types

There are three different betting odds types accepted by bookies worldwide – Fractional Odds (also known as UK Odds, since they are mostly used in Great Britain), Decimal Odds (popular around Europe) and Moneyline Odds (used in the USA and Canada).

Decimal Odds Explained

Let’s start with the most popular type of odds, the decimal, which we also prefer on our website because of its simplicity. The Decimal odds are prefered by many because they are easy to understand and calculate possible winnings. You will find the decimal odds option as default in most bookmaker around the world, however the most reputable and well-known betting sites like Bet365 allow you to choose your prefered odds type via an option in your profile settings.

Imagine that the bookie offers us odds at 1.25 for our prefered outcome (let’s use Liverpool to win against Brighton). That odds represent 80% chance of that particular outcome to happen, also known as implied probability. The math is not that difficult. All you have to do is divide the odds to 100% – (100% / 1.25 = 80%). If you think that the chance of Liverpool beating Brighton equals 80% or more than placing that bet will provide value at odds 1.25 or more. In order to calculate winnings, you simply have to multiply your stake to the odds. For example, if we place $10 bet at odds 1.25, we will win $12.50, or in other words, our net win will be $2.50.

Fractional Odds Explained

Fractional odds are primarily used by bettors in the United Kingdom and usually set as default betting odds settings in most UK-oriented bookies. If we use the same example as above (1.25 decimal odds), fractional odds will represent 1/4. It is important to remember that fractions quote the potential profit should our bet succeed, relative to the stake, as opposed to the decimal odds.

For example, if our £10 is bet at odds of 1/4 the potential profit is calculated £2.5 ((£10/4) x 1) and the total returned is £12.50 (£2.50 plus the £10 stake). For odds 11/2 the calculation is £55 ((£10/2) x 11) and the total returned is £65 (£55 plus the £10 stake).

Moneyline Odds Explained

Moneyline odds are primarily used in the USA and therefore prefered by North America – oriented bookies. You will rarely see Moneyline odds (also known as American odds) as default in your favourite European bookies. At first glance, money line odds look difficult and tough to read, but in reality, they are not that really different from decimal and fractional odds. The only distinction between them is that American odds are represented by a positive sign (+) and a negative sign (-).

The odds for underdogs are accompanied by the positive sign, while the negative sign is for the favourite. In a simple way, Moneyline odds tell how much you have to stake in order to win 100% of your stake. Let’s use once again our initial example with Liverpool and Brighton. Since Liverpool is a favourite to win it will be represented by a negative sign. Decimal odds at 1.25, equaling to 1/4 in fractional odds, will be visible as -400 Moneyline odds. In order to win $100, we will have to stake $400. If you want to win $10, you will have to place a $40 bet. For each $1 won, you will have to stake $4. As I said, the math is very simple.

If you decide to bet on the underdog, you will have to reverse the calculation. Since the negative Moneyline odds represent how much to bet to win a 100% of our stake, the formula is a bit different (X+100)/X, with X representing the odds. In our example above, Brighton will have +550 Moneyline odds, which means for each $100 staked we will collect $550 if they actually do it. A $10 stake equals $55 profit, a $1 stake will win $5.5, and so on.

Conclusion

As you probably already realised, reading and understanding betting odds is not very complicated. The tricky part is to learn how to make the Implied Probability work in your favour. In order to be successful in football betting, you have to constantly find value bets with odds that are near to the expected possibility of each outcome.

This is not an easy task and requires a lot of hard work for research and years of experience. Our tipster aim to find value bets daily, which you can find at our page dedicated to Today’s Best Football Betting Tips. Placing bets in reputable UK Betting Sites that offer high odds is also necessary in order to maximize your profit.

How Do Gambling Odds Worksheet

Sports odds work by offering gamblers the chance to profit if they can correctly guess the outcome of a sports event or predict something that happens in sports. The odds represent the financial contract between the gambler and the bookmaker. The three main ways that sports odds are displayed are known as American odds, fractional odds and decimal odds. These three types of odds look different but represent the same thing: the payout for a winning bet in relation to the amount of money that was bet. Point spreads and over-under bets are other types of sports odds.

Casinos and sportsbooks profit when they have to pay out less than they receive in bets. They also collect a commission — sometimes called the 'juice' — on certain bet to increase their chances of making a profit. Sports odds typically are set so that the bookmaker can expect equal betting on each side of the bet, which would ensure that the bookmaker would not lose money, no matter what happens in the sports event. If the bookmaker collected juice on each bet, the bookmaker would be guaranteed to profit if the betting on each side was equal.

American Odds

One common way for bookmakers in the United States to display sports odds is to show either a plus sign (+) or minus sign (-) followed by a number. Odds with a minus sign represents how much money must be bet on a favorite — the team or competitor that is expected to win — in order to win $100 US Dollars (USD), and odds with a plus sign show how much money would be won if $100 USD was bet on an underdog — a team or competitor that is not expected to win. For example, the odds for betting on a favorite might be displayed as -120, which means that a gambler must bet $120 USD to win $100 USD. The odds for betting on an underdog might be displayed as +115, which means that for a winning bet of $100 USD, the gambler would make $115 USD. In a sports event that has one favorite and one underdog, such as a football game, the number listed in the odds for the favorite is higher than the number in the underdog's odds, which increases the bookmaker's chances of making a profit.

Gamblers should be aware that when American odds are used, the total payout for a winning bet is $100 USD more than the number displayed. For example, if a man bet $120 USD on a favorite with -120 odds and won the bet, he would receive a total of $220 USD back from the bookmaker — his original $120 USD bet plus the $100 USD that he won. Likewise, if he won a $100 USD bet on an underdog with +115 odds, he would receive a total of $215 USD back — his $100 USD bet plus the $115 USD he won.

It is not always necessary to bet exactly the amount shown. A gambler might choose to bet much more than $100 USD or want to win more than $100 USD. For example, a woman could bet $3,000 USD on an underdog with +130 odds, and if she won the bet, she would get back a total of $6,900 USD — her original $3,000 USD bet plus $3,900 USD, which is $130 USD for each $100 USD of her bet.

Fractional Odds

In the United Kingdom and in horse racing everywhere, odds typically are displayed in fractions, such as 8/5, 3/1 or 10/1. When spoken, these odds are read like ratios, such as 'eight to five,' 'three to one' or 'ten to one.' The first number is the amount of money that can be won on a bet in the amount of the second number. For example, if a gambler won a bet at 3/1 odds, he or she would win $3 USD for every $1 USD that was bet. Like American odds, the payout number does not include the amount of the original bet, which also is returned to the gambler. So a man who won a $250 USD bet at 3/1 odds would receive $1,000 USD back from the bookmaker — his original $250 USD bet plus his $750 USD winnings.

Decimal Odds

Unlike American odds and fractional odds, decimal odds show the gambler exactly what the payout will be based on the amount of the bet — the return of the original bet amount is built into the number. As the name implies, decimal odds are expressed in decimals, such as 1.50, 2.50 or 4.25. In these three examples, a winning bet of $200 USD would result in a total payout of $300 USD, $500 USD or $850 USD, which are simply the amount multiplied by the decimal shown in the odds. Decimal odds must be higher than 1.00, or even a winning bet would result in the gambler losing money. This method of displaying sports odds is popular in Canada, continental Europe and Australia.

Point Spreads

For a sports event in which a score is kept, gamblers can bet on who will win as well as the margin of victory. Betting on who will win is referred to as a straight-up bet or betting on the moneyline, and betting on the margin of victory is referred to as a point-spread bet. Point spreads are expressed in numbers preceded by minus signs for favorites and plus signs for underdogs, such as -7.5 for a favorite in an American football game and +7.5 for the underdog in the same game.

A bet on a favorite is won when the favorite wins the game by more than the point spread, and a bet on the underdog is won when the underdog wins the game or loses by less than the point spread. For example, if a gambler bet on a team at a point spread of +8 and the team lost by only six points, the gambler would win the bet. On the other hand, if a gambler bet on a team at a point spread of -6 and the team won by only one point, the gambler would lose the bet. Bookmakers typically set the point spread based on both the expected result of the game and what odds will bring in equal betting on both sides.

Point spreads are sometimes listed with odds for the bet, such as -7(-110), -7(11/10) or -7(2.10). All of these odds represent the same bet — a team favored by seven points, with winnings of $11 USD for every $10 USD that is bet. If no odds are displayed with the point spread, it typically is implied that the odds are -110, 11/10 or 2.10.

Over-Under

Another common way to bet on sports event in which a score is kept is the over-under bet, also called betting on the total. In this type of bet, the gambler is betting on the total points scored in the game, regardless of how many points each team scores or which team wins. For example, if the over-under for a basketball game is 180, a gambler could bet the 'over' and win if more than 180 total points are scored or could bet the 'under' and win if fewer than 180 total points are scored. Just like point spreads, over-under bets typically are implied at -110, 11/10 or 2.10 odds unless otherwise specified.

How Does Odds Work

Other Types of Bets

How Do Gambling Odds Work In

There are seemingly endless other ways for gamblers to bet on sports. Just a few examples are future bets, in which the bet depends on a result that will take place much later, such as a betting before the season on which team will win the championship; parlays, in which gamblers bet on multiple things and must win all of the bets to receive the payout, usually at very high odds; and proposition bets, in which gamblers bet on very specific results, such as the points scored by a single player or the number of times a certain thing happens in a game. There also are over-under bets that involve things other than the total points scored, such as the combined number of free throws for both teams in a basketball game or the combined number of passing yards for both teams in an American football game.