You have probably heard about unit betting. The concept is quite simple: bet units of the same value rather than decimal values. For example, if you wager $1 on a horse, you will win or lose based on the number of units bet, not on the dollar value. This can make a huge difference in your overall betting experience. For instance, if you wager $5 on a horse that wins, you will have an overall winning percentage of 80%. But if you wager the same amount on a horse that loses, you will have an overall losing percentage of 20%.
Let’s take a closer look at how and why unit betting makes betting more understandable and helps make betting more fun.
What Is a Unit?
While we typically think of money in terms of whole dollars and cents, in the world of sports betting, money is measured in terms of units. One unit is equal to $1, so if you bet $1 on a football game, you will automatically lose this amount if the game ends in a tie. This is a simple example of a unit bet, but there are many more variations possible. For example, you can bet $1 on a team to win by a specific score or cover the spread. You can also bet on the total number of touchdowns scored in a game.
The bottom line is this: if you’re not familiar with the concept of betting in terms of units, then learning how to use a betting calculator might not be the best choice. Not only will you have to deal with dollars and cents, but you will have to learn a new way of thinking as well.
How Do You Calculate The Over/Under?
Another way in which unit betting makes betting more intuitive is in terms of how the over/under is calculated. Instead of using decimal points to show the amount you will win or lose based on the outcome of a game, you will see a whole number that represents your winning or losing percentage. For example, if you bet $5 on a dog to win the race and he comes in last, you will win $2.50 because the total number of units bet was five and two times $1 is $2.50. This can be a little bit confusing if you’re not used to seeing odds expressed in this way, but it’s fairly easy to figure out once you get the hang of it.
If you think about it, odds are always expressed in terms of units. For example, the favorite in a horse race is a horse that is 2-to-1 against, which means that if you wager $2 on it, you will win $2. The 2 in the odds makes it twice as likely as the other horse(s) that you will win. In this case, the 2 is the unit. In general, the more units you wager on a given event, the better. The higher the units, the more attractive the bet, especially if you’re using an online betting calculator, as this will let you enter the units for you.
What Is A Parlay?
A parlay is when you combine two or more bets into one. For example, you can bet on a team to win the Super Bowl and on the first three goals scored in the game. These are known as parlay bets. While combining multiple bets into a single wager is popular amongst sports bettors, you should always keep in mind that you are committing more than one bet. For this reason, you should only do this if you’re prepared for the possibility of losing one or more of the individual bets you make. For instance, if Super Bowl LI were being played today, you would be able to make the following three-team parlay bet: New England Patriots +2.5, Houston Texans -2.5, and Atlanta Falcons +2.5. In this case, you are betting on three teams to each score two or more goals. If one of the teams you bet on does not score any goals, then you will not win your parlay bet. The same goes for any individual bets you make in conjunction with a parlay.
Winning And Losing Percentage
Finally, we have the important questions of winning and losing percentage. You will definitely hear about these two terms in the context of sports betting, as they are very important. Winning percentage measures your performance on the whole, whereas losing percentage measures your performance relative to other bettors. The lower your losing percentage, the better. To put it another way, the more you wager, the better your odds of winning. This is simply a mathematical truth. For example, if you bet $1000 on a horse that wins three out of five races, you will have a winning percentage of 60%. But if you bet the same amount on a horse that loses four out of five races, you will have a losing percentage of 40%. In general, if you wager small amounts, you will have low winning percentages and high losing percentages. As you move up in stakes, your winning and losing percentages will vary.
This brings us back to our initial question: how to understand 1 unit betting? Think of it this way: money is not important, only units are important. The more you wager, the better. Also, consider using a betting calculator, as this will make things much easier and ensure you get the results you expect.