The odds – the way you bet on sport – are a major factor in your success at sports betting. The right kind of odds can make or break your bankroll, while the wrong ones will leave you with a small loss instead of a profit. Calculating the odds correctly is key to being a successful sports punter. You can use this article to find out how to calculate the correct odds for various sporting events and what odds work best for your advantage.
Betting On Baseball
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the United States, and odds on baseball games are always in favor of the home team. For instance, consider a game between the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics. Despite the A’s having a better record, the Yankees have a very favorable betting odds of winning the game. Simply put, the Yankees are a much more popular team than the A’s, and this popularity gives them an edge in odds when playing against any other team. For this particular match, you would need to wager $100 to make a $1 profit, and you would lose $1 for every dollar you bet on the Athletics.
Odds on National Anthems
Odds on national anthems are often very high because most people have a better sense of loyalty towards a country they call their own. Consider the USA versus Mexico match that is part of the 2018 World Cup – the United States have very high odds of winning the game because they are such a popular team and people have more faith in them than in the underdogs, Mexico. The same goes for many other competitions between nations, like Brazil versus Germany in the 2014 World Cup or Ireland versus Italy in the 2018 Euro Cup. If you want to take advantage of this, you can bet on teams with an Irish or Italian background, as they are usually associated with famous victories and great odds of winning. You will also find that most bookmakers offer better odds on these teams than on the others, so you can expect higher winning rates as a result.
Understanding Margins
Most people who bet on sports do it as a hobby, and they are usually aware that some sports have higher margins than others. For instance, a $100 bet on the World Cup between Brazil and Germany might only return $110 or $120, while a match between the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics might only return $60 on average. This is where understanding margins comes in handy. When calculating the odds of a match, you should take into account the margins of the game, as well as the cost of the bet. A bad idea would be to bet on a high-margin sport where the cost of the bet is very high as well, resulting in a massive loss instead of a profit. For recreational sports betters, this is usually not a problem, but for serious gamblers, understanding these concepts is very important if they want to have long-term success.
Tricky Situations
As a rule of thumb, you should always avoid placing large bets on long shots or upsets because these are the types of bets that usually lose. Consider a recent Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool. These two teams are considered some of the best in the world, and anyone would have money on them to win the match, but the over/under was set at 2.5 goals, which is very low considering how skilled these two teams are and how evenly matched they usually are. Manchester City won the match 4–1, showing the low odds on the over and how these types of bets can go wrong.
Avoiding Disappointment
When placing a bet, especially on a game involving your favorite team, you should do your research first to see how the team is playing and whether they are likely to win or lose. If you are not completely aware of how the team is performing, it is very easy for you to be upset by the result and ask for your money back, especially if they do not live up to your expectations. In the example above, you would have had money on Brazil to win the game since they are one of the top teams in the world, but you would have been very disappointed if they lost the match, as they usually do, to Mexico.
Knowing How to Calculate
To save you the time and effort, most sportsbooks now offer software that can be used to help you automatically calculate the odds for various sports and events as you place your bets. This software will display the current odds as they change, as well as give you an indication of whether the odds are in your favor or against you, so you can quickly decide which ones to put your wagers on without needing to keep track of all the different outcomes manually. Some of the more popular services that can do this are OddsMaker, OddsOn, and AccuScore, and they are usually available for download from the providers’ websites.
More Than Meets The Eye
Once you have mastered calculating the odds correctly, you need to consider whether you want to bet on one game or multiple games. When you bet on one game, your bankroll will be divided into the amount you bet on that particular match. If you want to gamble on multiple games, you will need to put more money into play, as this is usually done with a credit card or debit card. To start with, try betting on just one game to see how it works and how much you can make or lose. Once you know how that game turns out, you can add more complexity by trying to predict the outcomes of multiple matches. This article is not about gambling, but it never hurts to know more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak. For instance, if you think the German soccer team will beat France in the 2018 World Cup, you can place a bet on Germany to win the match, or you can bet on both teams to draw. As you can see, more than one scenario is possible, and you need to make sure you consider all of them if you want to have the full picture and avoid unnecessary loss.
Which Teams Are The Most Popular?
One of the best tools to use when figuring out which teams have the highest odds of winning is the team rankings, or the power rankings, which can be found at the top of most sportsbooks’ pages. These rankings take into account every game that has been played between the listed teams, and at the end, they will usually rank the top three or four teams, giving you a good indication of which teams are the most likely to win. While the power rankings might not tell you everything you want to know about the likelihood of your team winning, it is certainly the best starting point. In the above example, Germany and Brazil have the highest power rankings, so you would have money on them to win the match, while Mexico is ranked 13th, meaning you would have little to no chance of winning.
Final Takeaway
To start with, winning more at gambling is all about understanding the odds. You need to know how much you stand to win or lose on any given wager, and this is where most people go wrong. Many gamblers think that simply because they have had some success at gambling that they automatically know how to calculate the odds and how to place winning bets, but this is far from true. It really takes some practice and some determination to figure out which teams have the best odds of winning, and once you know that, you will see huge improvements in your bankroll. Remember that the key to successful gambling is slow, steady development, and trying things out one match at a time. If you want to increase your winnings, try and find the best odds available for the next match and put your money on that game, and only that game. Do not bet on teams that you do not understand, and make sure that you research the odds before placing any bets. It is also important to avoid going overboard and putting all your bankroll on a single event, as this will usually lead to serious losses instead of gains. Trying to win every game or pick every winner is a sure path to financial disaster, and it takes a lot of self-control not to do this.