The concept operates on the straightforward notion that you simply multiply a stake by the decimal shown and the outcome will be your total winnings. For example, if you place a £1 bet on a horse with odds of 4.00, you will get a return of £4.

• To get the percentage chance we divide each team’s individual score by the 30 matches. To get Fulham’s percentage you divide 14 by 30 = 46.66%. To get the Draw percentage you divide 10 by 30 =.
• The soccer betting odds ’ margin is actually the price that a bookmaker is charging and the Margin Calculator below gives an idea of how this works and makes it easier for bettors to calculate the margin on a bet. Normally, we will take a match with three possibilities of ending as we need an example of 1X2.
• This Bet Calculator allows bettors to calculate the potential Payout for any single bet and has a simple ‘Add Odds’ function to calculate the Payout for a multiple bet. It might be one of the most basic calculations in betting but using the Bet Calculator above will help bettors enhance their understanding of what betting odds represent.
• A parlay bet is a single wager that requires two or more outcomes to all win. The parlay calculator allows you to input your stake & odds in American formats to quickly calculate the payout for.

Whether you are new to the world of betting or somewhat of an old hand when it comes to having a flutter every now and again, you will undoubtedly be aware of the sheer range of options at bookmakers like Betfair and Paddy Power when it comes to having a bet.

While putting money on a horse winning a race may sound like a relatively straightforward matter, there is a wide range of bets available. For example, are you planning to keep it simple with a single bet on one race? Or, alternatively, are you looking to take a chance on a larger gamble with an accumulator?

Thankfully, that is where online odds calculators come into their own. These handy tools can make a huge difference to your betting activity, providing you with a full overview of the options available and ultimately helping you to place the bet – or combination of bets – that works best for you.

In this article, we are going to take a closer look at the concept of odds calculators, how they tend to work, and the key benefits that they can offer in terms of boosting your betting balance.

What is an odds calculator?

On the most basic level, odds calculators are designed to help you understand the implications of your bets and ultimately determine what returns you will receive if you are successful.

Such tools tend to operate in a standard format, with them first asking you to input the type of bet that you have made or are planning to make. This could be anything from a single to a Yankee to Super Heinz or an accumulator. Once you’ve provided this information, you will then be asked to enter the odds on your bet and also the stake that you’ve placed on it. The calculator may also ask you to either enter the odds in the decimal or fraction format, but we will touch upon the key issues related to that further on in this article.

You will then repeat that process however many times is necessary – for example, if you have placed multiple bets – and then may also be able to add information related to Dead Heats or any situation when Rule 4 may have come into play. The latter offers compensation in the event that a horse withdraws from a race after a bet is placed.

Clear benefits

After providing full information regarding your range of bets, the odds calculator will then take care of the hard work by doing the maths and generating an overview of the bets you have made or are planning to make, as well as the potential returns which will be available if you are successful.

Choose your each-way terms with the odds calculator – these vary based on the number of runners and the type of race

As you may have already realised, such tools offer clear benefits to horse racing fans whether they are planning for future races or even checking what their final winnings will be after placing several bets. The ability to input information on a combination of bets is a particular benefit, as it ensures you do not get a headache while attempting to consider the potential outcomes of the bets you have made.

Fractions vs decimals

For a great number of horse racing fans, the use of fractions is the traditional way of viewing the odds for the runners and riders, but the use of decimals is something which has grown significantly across recent years, too. The concept operates on the straightforward notion that you simply multiply a stake by the decimal shown and the outcome will be your total winnings. For example, if you place a £1 bet on a horse with odds of 4.00, you will get a return of £4.

While the use of decimals may seem very simple in that respect, it is worth bearing in mind that the concept offers up one fundamental difference in comparison to the use of fractional odds. When it comes to decimal odds, your stake is always factored into the return that you calculate but this is not the case when following the fraction method. In terms of the latter, if you put £1 on odds of 4/1 you will receive £4 in profit but also get your £1 stake back too – so £5 in total. As such, the fraction allows you to work out your winnings, but you will also need to factor in that your stake will also be returned to you as well.

A better understanding

It goes without saying that a huge number of people across the globe love betting on horse racing with bookmakers like Betfair and Paddy Power, whether they are attending race meetings in person, following the action on TV, or online via streaming services. You can get free Timeform tips for every British and Irish horse race and free Infogol tips on Europe's biggest football leagues. However, it is also true that some can find it a complicated world to navigate around and they often want a bit of a helping hand to get started.

Whatever your level of experience, taking some time to gain a better understanding of how the different formats for odds work can be an important step towards making informed decisions on your betting. Furthermore, the use of odds calculators can help you fully understand how specific combinations of bets could put you on the path towards winning big and also ensure you are fully aware of the winnings that you are due.

Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.

Sports Betting Odds Explained

Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.

How To Calculate Soccer Betting Odds College Football

American Style Sports Betting Odds

Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:

American Odds

• Matchup Odds
• New England Patriots +120
• Pittsburgh Steelers -140

The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.

The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.

The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.

A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.

Examples:

A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.

Examples:

Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.

In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).

How Do Betting Companies Calculate Odds

The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.

Ready To Start Betting?MyBookie and BetUS are my two favorite sportsbooks and make betting very easy. You will also get a Free Money Bonus at each sportsbook if you follow either link above.

How To Calculate Soccer Betting Odds Explained

Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds

Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.

Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.