Understanding Betting Odds in New Zealand
Any sports bettor or would-be sports bettor that has spent a little bit of time exploring sportsbooks or reading up on how to bet will have come across the term of betting odds. These are vitally important to understand as they tell a bettor how likely an event is to happen as well as how much bettors stand to win if that event does or does not happen, depending on which is bet on. However, betting odds can be incredibly confusing, especially to novice sports bettors.
Understanding betting odds requires an understanding of a few other basic online betting terms as well, all of which will be explained here.
Another term that bettors, or all gamblers for that matter, will encounter is that of probability. Probability and betting odds go hand-in-hand, as the probability or the odds of something happening will provide bettors with the actual betting odds.
For example, taking the roll of a dice, as this is a pretty straight-forward example. There are six possible outcomes whenever someone rolls a dice, meaning that the odds or the probability of rolling a six, for example, is 16.67%. This is the probability of the event, and can thus be taken as the betting odd of that happening.
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In sports betting odds, the probability will either be displayed as a percentage or as a fraction. If a probability is displayed as a percentage, then this can be taken as a straight fact and should be easy to understand. If the probability is displayed as a fraction, this needs a little more work.
Fractional Odds
If sports betting odds are displayed as a fraction, for example, 9/1, then this is known as a fractional odd. From this given fraction, bettors will be able to calculate what their probability of winning is.
For example, a fractional odd of 9/1 can be calculated as:
- 1 / (9+1) = 0.10
This means that there is a probability of 10% that the respective event is likely to happen.
Betting Odds and Winnings
Understanding the likelihood of something happening is important for bettors initially, but they will also need to know what these betting odds means for their winnings. If working with fractional odds, this is relatively simple. Replace the number before the dash with an A and the number behind the dash with a B, and bettors can form an algebraic equation where every value of B bet will result in a win of A, in addition to the initial bet placed. So, for example:
- Taking the 9/1 fractional odd from before, one can say that for every $1 bet, the bettor will receive $9.
If working with a decimal bet, the equation would change to:
- (Odds x Stake) – Stake = Winnings
So, for example, taking the decimal bet of 9.0 and a bet of $10:
- (9.0 x $10) – $10 = $80
There is no consensus on which odd is better, though decimal odds are becoming more and more common, particular in displaying sports betting odds, simply as these seem to be easier to understand.
Regardless of how betting odds are displayed, it should be simple for bettors to calculate their probability and winning potential simply by doing a few rough calculations with the betting odds.