UNDERSTANDING ODDS
At their most basic level, betting odds will tell you how much money you can win and also how likely an event is to happen. The more likely an event is to happen, the lower the odds will be and the less money you will win. If you bet on a dice roll, the chances of rolling a 6 will be 1 in 6 or in decimal odds 6.0. To work out the probability of rolling a 6 we just need divide 100% by the decimal odds of our selection. E.g 100 divided by 6 = 16.66%.
FRACTIONAL AND US (MONEYLINE) ODDS
There are a number of formats that are used for displaying odds. Fractional odds are most common in the UK and are often found in horse-racing. These give you the net total that will be paid out in the event of a win, relative to the odds. So if a bookmaker were to pay out equally for any number on a dice roll the odds would be 6/1, giving you a 6 unit return for every 1 unit staked if your bet wins.
US or Moneyline Odds are almost exclusively used in the USA. They use $100 as the baseline for all bets and show you how much you need to wager to win $100. Favourites are marked with a minus symbol. If a favourite has a price of -350, this means you have to bet $350 to make $100. Underdogs are marked with a plus symbol. A price of +350 means that you need to wager $100 to win $250.
By far the most common format for odds these days, especially online and in South Africa are decimal odds. Their popularity has increased mainly due to their ease of use and the fact that you can quickly work out your potential winnings. Having said that, even with decimal odds, bookmakers in South Africa don`t all use the same format although they are very similar.
Standard (or ”European”) Decimal odds are the amount you need to multiply your stake by to calculate the potential winnings. So if you place a bet of R1000 at odds of 2.0, your return if your bet wins will be R2000. It is important to note that this figure included your stake so your return is R2000, but your winnings are R1000. The other format in use here are commonly known as ”Hong Kong” odds. The only difference is that this format does not include your stake and therefore multiplying your stake by these odds will just show your winnings. To convert Hong Kong decimal odds to European odds you simply add 1. Make sure you check which format your bookmaker uses before placing a bet. You can find this information on our individual bookmaker review pages.