Sports Then and Now

Sports betting has grown to become one of many avenues sports enthusiasts use to make money from watching their favorite sports. While it may seem like a straight forward activity, most people dive into sports betting without understanding how it works.

To be able to understand sports betting altogether, you need first to know how betting odds work. Odds are an essential wager of any sport. Odds are used to determine whether a particular game is worth investing in or not. The game odds determine the payout of bet placed, and how much you put as your bet.

Read on to find out what odds are and what role they play in sports betting.

Understanding odds

In sports betting, odds are used for two reasons. First, odds are used to calculate the winnings wager. Each time a bet is placed, you are offered odds for your bet. These odds have an impact on how much you stand to win should the game go in your favor.

The other importance of odds is their ability to reflect the likelihood of specific outcomes in the sports industry. Odds decrease with the increase in the possibility of a particular outcome. It makes sense since people are more inclined to bet on likely outcomes than on unlikely outcomes.

Odds formats

The founding principles of odds are quite easy to understand. People tend to get a bit confused when trying to understand the three odd formats.

Generally, there are three odds formats. They are decimal odds, American/Moneyline odds and fractional odds. You are likely to encounter all three odd formats at different points of your betting life.