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Betting Guide

Betting is a fun way to make an exciting sports event even more exciting and it can also be an entertaining way to make money. If you are new to online sports betting, you may find the many competing online bookmakers and the specialist language of odds off-putting.

How a simple bet works?

The most common type of bet concerns the outcome of a single game or contest. Put simply, you guess the result and find another person who is prepared to take the opposite view.

Each party puts down some money - known as their stake. You agree to lose your stake if you guess incorrectly. But you will get your stake back AND win the other stake if you get it right!.

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What odds are?

When you bet with a friend, you both usually put down the same amount of money. With a bookmaker you don’t always bet with equal stakes. For each possible outcome of an event, a bookmaker will offer a ratio of his stake to yours. These are the odds.

The odds are set at the time you place your bet (with a few exceptions - see Starting Price, the Tote, and Spread Betting, below).

For example, if you back a horse at 3 - 1, you will give the bookmaker one unit - say, a pound. If the horse wins, you will get your one pound back - and the three pounds winnings.

When the amount of money you can win (in our example, three pounds) is greater than the amount you stake (your original pound), this is known as Odds Against.

When the amount of money you can win is less than your stake it is known as Odds On. Of course, you do still win, since you get your stake back. For example, if you back a horse at 1-2 (usually described as 2-1 on), putting the same $1 down, and you win, you will get your original $1 back plus 50 cent. (To gain a whole $1 you would have had to stake $2).

At 1-1 (Evens) you get your stake back and the exact amount again, e.g. a $1 bet at Evens will get you your $1 back and another $1 in winnings, making $2 all together.

To recap, the higher the odds, the more you win if you are successful.

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What odds represent?

In theory, the odds represent the probability of the outcome, i.e. how often it would occur, if the event were repeated again and again. For example, if you keep rolling a pair of dice for long enough, two sixes will come up together 1 time in 36. Odds based on the statistical probability are known as the true odds. In this case, the true odds are 35-1, because you will lose 35 times for each time you win.

Because sporting events are never rerun under exactly the same conditions, the true odds are always a matter of opinion.

Not only that, when you bet with a bookmaker the odds don’t just represent the likelihood of the result. They also reflect the bookmakers need to make profit and different amounts of money taken on the possible outcomes.

The art of betting is in trying to find odds that are out of line with the true probability. We’ll return to this theme later.

Odds offer the possibility of winning more money (by backing an unlikely outcome), or taking less risk (by backing a likely one).

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How odds are expressed?

Odds can be described in a number of ways. Traditional odds (as above) are shown as a ratio e.g. 4 -1, 8/13 (13-8 on) etc. Odds can also be expressed as a percentage or as a decimal number e.g. 5.0 or 1.62. In decimal format the number represents your total return (including your stake). If you want to compare the odds offered by two bookmakers you have to convert them to the same format.

Occasionally, you might see the words SP appear in an table for a horserace, instead of numbers representing odds. SP stands for Starting Price and is an exception to the general rule of fixed odds. Starting Price is calculated after the start of the race and is an average price for that horse determined by racecourse officials using the prices shown by on-course bookmakers. This means the bookmaker cannot yet tell you what the exact odds are going to be. When you back a horse using a starting price, the price can change based on market conditions, and you are agreeing to whatever the odds will be at the start of the race. Some internet bookmakers only show exact odds for bigger races and for smaller races show SP up until an hour or so before the beginning of the race.

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Why odds can differ?

The bookmakers who feature on our site all operate independently of each other. For the punter the important thing to understand is that odds are set independently by each individual bookmaker and therefore can vary dramatically.

It is a common belief that the odds offered by the bookmakers on a particular outcome reflect the true probability of that outcome occurring. This is a misapprehension.

For the bookmaker, the process of deciding how high or low to set the odds actually has two parts:

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Which factors affect the odds?

Whether it is you or the bookmaker, there are certain factors to consider and weigh up many different factors while attempting to determine the probability of a particular outcome.

In horseracing these might include:

All the above are useful indicators as to the outcome of any sporting event. How much weight you attach to each of the particular factors is the subject of much argument.

Nowadays a lot of this information is available somewhere on the Internet. Considering these factors will help you to form an opinion as to the probability of particular outcomes - what the experts call the True Odds -. Use our Links pages to find useful sources of information.

Bear in mind that while the bookmakers must set odds (and therefore form opinions on) a whole range of sporting events, you can concentrate on one event. If, in your opinion, the bookmakers are offering odds that you believe to be longer than the true odds, you have found what experts refer to as a Value Bet. Making Value bets is the only way to beat the bookmakers in the long term.

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How the market changes the odds?

Once the market has opened, and the bookmaker starts to take Bets, the bookmakers need to take into account market conditions - i.e. the money staked so far on the event. A bookmaker is a professional - he must make a profit. If a lot of people bet on a particular team, or horse, then the bookie stands to lose a lot of money if it wins. In this situation, bookmakers will make the odds on that team or horse worse (lower) to discourage people from backing it. They may also improve (raise) the odds on the other teams or horses to motivate punters to put money on those participants.

Consequently the odds they offer may very well cease to represent a considered view of the outcome of any particular event - they are just as likely to become a reflection of what other people are betting on. For example, football fans often back their team, regardless of their real chances, out of loyalty. As a result the odds may reflect the popularity of the team as much as, or more than, its likelihood of winning.

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How good are the odds on offer?

For the bookie, the important thing is to pay out less in winnings than he retains in stakes. Typically, he will try to ensure that he makes a profit on each event on which he makes a book. This is done by setting an Overround. It sounds complicated but it isn’t really. To calculate an Overround, convert the odds of all participants in the event to percentages, then add them together. Remember that in order to convert to the probability you need to add in the stake, for example 2/1 represents a probability of 1 in 3.

An example of an Overround might be: VIEW TABLE.

While mathematically the total probabilities of all participants in an event must be 100% (one participant -and only one- can win) the bookmaker’s Overround will add up to more than 100%. It’s the amount over 100% that represents the bookmaker’s profit. Just like in shopping, the higher the profit, the less good value that will represent.

You probably won’t be bothered to sit and work out overrounds. Many sites out there that will do this for you.

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Odds formats

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Differences between sports

EUROPEAN SOCCER

  1. SINGLE BETS
    • Single match bet

      If you place a bet on a single match you can bet on a home win (Tip 1), a draw (Tip 0) or an away win (Tip 2). Your selection must be correct for your bet to win.

      By selecting a single bet on soccer there will also be various match options that you can choose on the listed games to predict the correct score after 90 minutes play, who will be the first goal scorer, what will be the result at half time, the time of the first goal scored etc.

  2. MULTIPLE BETS
    • Combo bet

      A combo bet is a combination of 2 or more single bets on soccer. You can bet on 2 or more games, but you must get all of your selections correct for your combo to win. The odds and payout increase with the number of games bet in your combo.

      Combo winnings are calculated by multiplying the odds of each of your selections by each other, and then by multiplying that amount by the amount bet in the combo column.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

  1. SINGLE BETS
    • Straight Up
    • This is a straight bet on the outcome of the match. Simply select which team you think will win. All your team has to do is to win the game regardless of the pointspread.

    • Spread Betting
    • Each team has been awarded a starting line. Your team will either be leading by + points/runs/goals or trailing by - points/runs/goals at the start. The team with the highest number of points/runs/goals at the end will be the winner.

      For example if Green Bay is playing Dallas in an NFL match up and Green Bay is favored to beat Dallas by 4.5 points, you can bet on either Green Bay minus 4.5 points, or Dallas plus 4.5 points. Therefore if you bet on Green Bay minus 4.5 points - for betting purposes they must win the game by 5 points or more for your bet to win.

      Alternatively if you bet on Dallas plus 4.5 points - for betting purposes they must either win the game or lose by less than four points for your bet to win.

    • Total Over / Under
    • You can bet on whether you think the combined total points/runs/goals scored by both teams in the game will be over or under the total given.

  2. MULTIPLE BETS
    • Parlays
    • A parlay bet is a combination of 2 or more single bets on 1 or more games. For example, you can bet on 2 or more football games, but must get all of your selections correct for your parlay to win. The odds and payout increase with the number of games bet in your parlay.

      Parlay winnings are calculated by multiplying the odds of each of your selections by each other, and then by multiplying that amount by the amount wagered in the parlay column.

    • Teasers
    • A teaser bet is a combination of 2 or more single bets on 1 or more games where you can adjust the point spread in your favour for a greater chance of winning.

      For example, you can bet on 2 or more football games, but must get all of your selections correct for your teaser to win. The odds and payout increase with the number of games bet in your teaser.

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