One of the most important things you may want to take the time to learn before you spend real money placing sports bets at highly recommended South African online bookmakers, such as the official 10bet Sports betting site, is the odds formatting.
When you sign up to this site, for example, the odds format for the betting markets tends to appear in decimal odds. Others include the American/moneyline odds and fractional odds formats. Here are a few examples of how the different odds formats appear when placing bets.
What are the different odds formats, and what does it all mean?
Each time you want to bet on a certain outcome, you must pay attention to the odds. The odds tell you the likelihood of that outcome/result actually occurring. It’s the implied probability rate (IRR).
The three main sports betting odds formats you are likely to come across today are the fractional odds format (popular in the United Kingdom), the American/moneyline odds format (popular in North America), and the decimal odds format (popular in most other countries, like South Africa, New Zealand, India, and many other places).
At some sports betting sites, you have the option to view the odds in your preferred format at the click or tap of a button. When you can switch how the odds format appears, always set it to the one you feel most comfortable with.
When online sports betting in South Africa at trusted iGaming sites like 10bet, for example, the default betting odds format is decimals, which most people are comfortable with using in this part of the world.
Let’s take a few quick examples of how the different odds formats appear, along with the implied probability rate (the chance of that outcome/result actually occurring).
- A bet with a 99.99% IPR (implied probability rate) would appear as 1.01 in the decimal odds format, 1/100 in the fractional odds format, and -10,000 in the American/moneyline format. Although no bets are ever guaranteed, you can pretty much count on this bet winning
- A bet with a 50% IPR would appear as 2.00 in the decimal odds format, 1/1 (or EVENS, as they say) in the fractional odds format, and +100 in the American/moneyline odds format
- A bet with only a 2.00% IPR would appear as 51.00 in the decimal odds format, 50/1 in the fractional odds format, and +5,000 in the American/moneyline odds format
As mentioned, the decimal odds format is used at 10bet, and it should be relatively easy for most of you to understand. Learning how decimal odds work and figuring out what the odds are trying to tell you can help you place informed bets that are more likely to return you a profit.
A look at how a sports bet might appear at 10bet
Let’s take a look at a few examples of how a bet might look, using the English Premier League of soccer/football as an example. Using the same odds and IPR examples mentioned above, let’s take a quick look at a few hypothetical betting markets and how much money you could potentially win.
Let’s just say that you put a bet on League 2 Sutton United (who are currently bottom of their league) to beat EPL side Manchester City (who just won the English premier League, the FA Cup, and the UEFA Champions League, and are currently top of their league) in the FA Cup.
You may find that Sutton United are priced at 1.01 (same as 1/100 or -10,000) to beat Manchester City. If you put a R1,000 bet on with these odds and then Sutton United did the unthinkable and beat Manchester City, your total returns would be R1,010.00. This includes your initial R1,000.00 returned, plus an R10.00 profit.
If you put a R1,000.00 bet on with odds of 2.00 (1/1 or +100) and win, your total returns would be R2,000.00, which includes your initial R1,000.00 returned, plus a R1,000.00 profit, so effectively you have doubled your money with these kinds of odds.
Finally, if you put a R1,000.00 bet on with odds of 51.00 (50/1, or +5,000), your total returns would be a whopping R51,000.00, including your R1,000.00 stake returned, plus a hefty R50,000.00 profit.
Final note
Always remember to pay attention to the odds carefully before placing a bet. Never gamble more money than you can afford by setting a reasonable budget before you start. You can easily stay within your budget if you gamble responsibly and try not to chase your losses.
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