Odds-On and Odds Against Explained

When you are ready to bet you will decide your stake, or the amount of money that you want to place on your chosen bet. The level of stake you place might be decided by the odds that are given with the bet you want to make. The odds reflect the price at which you place your stake. If you win the bet, you will receive a payout that will be your return on your placed stake

Betting and the odds that are given against a sporting result or event occurring, reflects the probability of that circumstance happening. The odds that are presented against your stake are effectively the chances that you have of winning.

The great thing about sport is that it is unpredictable and it can throw up some great surprises. You can often predict an upcoming match or race result using all types of available statistical analysis. However, it is not always going to be right. If you place a bet that is deemed as ‘long odds’ then it is expected you will have less chances of winning. When the odds are ‘short’ you will be more confident of your chances of winning.

This is what can make betting fun. When you place your stake, you do not yet know the outcome. You never know what will happen in sport and no matter how much the favourite is expected to win, there is always the chance that the outsider will create an upset. Betting with short odds will not always generate a win and sometimes you may get lucky and win a bet with long odds.

When we are presenting odds to the punters there are three ways to do this. Fractional odds may have variations of numbers such as 3/1 or 1/2, for example. Decimal odds will show your return plus initial stake, for example, 3.50 or 2.00 based on a 1 unit bet, and American odds use a positive or negative number to display a predicted outcome such as +300 or -200.

Explaining Odds-On and Odds Against

The two phrases odds-on and odds against are a complete opposite of one another. When the odds are reflecting something that has a high chance of winning, then it is sometimes known as ‘odds-on’. In horse racing you have probably heard the expert comment that a particular horse is ‘odds-on favourite’. It means the horse is the most likely to win and a high proportion of punters will have placed a stake on it.

When considering odds-on using fractional odds, the first number will be smaller than the second number. For example, a fractional odd of 1/2 reflects the result of the outcome to be twice as likely to occur, compared to it not happening. Let us assume you place a bet of$50 with fractional odds at 1/2. If you have guessed correct and your wager ends up winning, then you will win$75. Your initial$50 bet will be returned together with$25 profit. Effectively, when you are betting odds-on and win the bet, your win will be lower than the wager you have originally placed.

You can make some bigger profits when the odds are against you. However, bet with caution as the chances of winning the bet are likely to be lower than betting with an odds-on favourite. This is reflected by the higher level of return you will receive because the result of the bet is less likely to happen. If you place a$1 stake at 5/1 in fractional odds, or 6.0 in decimal odds, then your return will be$6 meaning a$5 profit plus the original stake.

Big odds against wins can sometimes be very lucrative although do remember to gamble sensibly and within your financial limits. One example of a large odds against win was made by a Leicester City football fan. In 2015 before the season started, the supporter placed£100 on Leicester City to win the Premier League. Sure enough, Leicester City won the Premier League and with odds of 5000/1, the fan won an amazing£200,000.