Sports Betting Odds: How Betting Lines Work
With legal sports gambling legislation easing across the United States, more and more interested parties are going to want betting odds explained. This guide to sports odds will help novice bettors understand how betting odds work, how to read sports odds and provide easy-to-understand point spread, moneyline and total sports betting examples.
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How Do Betting Odds Work?
If you’re traveling for work, pleasure or to attend an international sporting event, like the Olympics, online sportsbook betting odds may look different depending on the country. The three sports odds formats you need to familiarize yourself with are: American, fractional and decimal.
American
American sports odds are pretty easy to learn. The favorite’s odds will come with a minus prefix displayed like (-115), while the underdog’s odds feature a plus prefix such as (+200). Although you aren’t required to wager $100, the American odds system is easily explained based on a $100 wager.
For example, if the odds are (-115) on a favorite, you would need to wager $115 for every $100 you sought to win.
If the odds are (+200) on an underdog, you would risk $100 to win $200, plus recoup your original wager.
Fractional
Fractional odds, also referred to as British odds, are often found in horse racing betting. They are often displayed on odds boards using a backslash or hyphen.
For example, a horse named Any Given Saturday is 7/1 or 7-1 to win the upcoming race, meaning you can win $7 for every $1 wagered. If the odds were reversed to 1/7 or 1-7, you’d need to risk $7 for every $1 you hoped to win on the heavy favorite.
Decimal
If you travel to Europe at any point and check out the local sports odds board, chances are you’ll see decimal sports odds, also known as continental odds. Potential winnings are calculated by taking the odds multiplied by the wager.
For example, a -250 moneyline favorite in the United States would equal a 1.40 decimal odds favorite in Europe. If you risked $100 and the bet won, you’d win $40 on top of the original wager of $100 for a total payout of $140.
Sports Betting Odds Explained
At the end of the day, the most common sports odds can be broken down into three categories: point spread betting, moneyline betting and total betting. Most online sportsbooks will display these three betting options like this:
| Teams | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bengals | +3.5 (-110) | +160 | O47 (-115) |
| Titans | -3.5 (-110) | -185 | U47 (-105) |
Point Spread Betting
At its core, point spread betting or just spread betting is placing a wager on how much a team or individual will win or lose by. Point spread odds are created by bookmakers to level the playing field if one team or individual is superior to their opponent.
Using the example above, the Titans are 3.5-point favorites over the Bengals. A bettor could wager on the Titans to win by four-or-more points OR bet on the Bengals to lose by 3-or-fewer points or win outright. If Tennessee beats the Bengals 24-20, they cover the 3.5-point spread; if they win 23-20, they do not cover it. If you bet on Cincinnati +3.5 and they lose 17-14, that bet wins because 14 + 3.5 = 17.5.
The (-110) indicates that a $110 wager is required to win $100 if the bet is successful.
Moneyline Betting
A moneyline wager is the simplest form of betting. You bet on the team you believe will win, period.
In the example above, the Titans have a moneyline of -185 and the Bengals +160.
If you bet on Tennessee to win, a $185 wager will win you $100 plus your original wager if the Titans win.
If you bet on Cincinnati to win, a $100 wager will win you $160 plus your original wager if the Bengals win.
Simple as that.
Over-Under Point Total Betting
An over-under bet typically refers to betting on whether the combined score of two teams will be over or under a set number of points.
In our example above, the point total in the Bengals-Titans NFL matchup is Over/Under 47 points. If you believe they will score more than 47 points combined, you would bet on the over, which, at (-115) odds, means you need to wager $115 to win $100. If you think they will score fewer than 47 points combined, you bet on the under. If the two teams score exactly 47 points combined, the bet is a push and your original wager is returned.
