Sports Betting Basics – Decimal, Fractional and Las Vegas Odds Explained
By: Fabiola Grosshan
Submitted: 2010-10-18 06:31:21 | Word Count: 550
Since betting odds stand out as a crucial part of the world of gambling, getting a thorough understanding of them is essential for building a successful long-term betting strategy. Demystifying the concept of sports betting odds enables the bettor to discern between valuable and no-good gambling opportunities, and should therefore become a top priority for every ambitious and enthusiastic sports gambler.
The typical three sports betting types are fractional, decimal and American, with their names pointing out how the odds are expressed. While it is simpler to focus your betting on the odds format that you are most comfortable with, it pays to get a grasp over the other types of odds as well, just in case you need to compare different bets on the spot and don’t have a conversion tool at your disposal.
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Offered by a large majority of bookmakers from all over the world, decimal odds stand out as the most popular type of odds currently in use. Fortunately, the decimal odds system is also the easiest to understand and interpret, as it provides a clear indication of how much money can be earned from a bet of 1 unit. However, you should account for the fact that 1 unit stake can either denote 1, 10, or 100, hence the importance to check its exact value as part as the service offer of your regular sportsbook. As a side note, for an increased level of accuracy, most decimal odds can go out to two decimal places.
The runner up on the popularity scale is the fractional odds type. Commonly used by sportsbooks based in the UK, fractional odds follow pretty much the same rationale as decimal odds, but denote a slightly different meaning. As compared to their mentioned counterpart, fractional odds point out how much profit will be returned from a minimum 1-unit stake instead of the total amount of money that will be generated from that same 1-unit stake.
The list with sports betting odds is rounded by American or Las Vegas odds, which are also commonly referred to as money lines. Las Vegas odds are most dissimilar from the other two, being typically based on a 100 stake and indicating either a positive or negative outcome, depending on the situation. When written positively, Las Vegas odds reveal the profit potential against a 100 stake. When written negatively, they express how much of a stake is necessary in order to earn 100 with that particular bet. The money line system is mainly utilized in sports where the point spread (and difference in scores) becomes irrelevant, such as tennis, boxing, baseball or hockey, to name only a few.
Of all the mentioned three, decimal odds definitely score the most points in terms of applicability and ease of use, which explains their great popularity in the sports gambling industry. Although getting a grasp of betting odds across all the main different systems isn’t particularly complicated, focusing on decimal odds is undoubtedly the easiest way out of it and leaves less room for error when weighing sports bets against one another to identify the best value.
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For more resources about Odds or about Las Vegas Odds or even about Scores, please review these links.
