📄Odds
Explanation, examples, and options
What are odds?
Odds essentially represent two things simultaneously: the likelihood of a particular outcome, and the payout for a winning bet on a particular outcome. Generally speaking, the more likely an outcome is, the lower the payout it will have. The less likely the outcome, the higher the payout. In other words, higher risk generally means higher potential reward. For instance, if a team that is first place in their league is playing a team that is in last place, it would be expected for the odds to heavily favor the first place team. Since the likelihood of the first place team winning would be high, the payout for a winning bet on the first place team would be lower than the payout for a bet on the last place team. Betting on the last place team carries more risk, so the payout for a winning bet on the last place team would be larger than the payout for a bet of the same size on the first place team.
Different odds formats
Whether reading sports predictions, checking odds across different services, or even just looking at different Bookiebot bet slips shared in Telegram or on Twitter, you may notice that bets' odds can be formatted in more than one way. The two most common formats are European and American (sometimes referred to as 'Burger' odds). European: European odds use a decimal format, and they are always a positive number, such as 1.5 With European odds, you simply multiply the odds by your stake/collateral (ie the amount of money you are betting) to know how much your payout will be if you win.
In other words, if you bet $100, the odds were 1.5, and you won the bet, your payout would be $150 (your $100 collateral + $50 profit). If you bet $100, the odds were 3.0, and you won the bet, your payout would be $300 (your $100 collateral + $200 profit). American: American odds are whole numbers, and may be positive (+) or negative (-), such as -200
American odds use a baseline of $100. The odds on the favorite are always negative (-), and the odds on the underdog are positive (+). When betting on a favorite (ie the team that is more likely to win), American odds represent how much you would have to bet in order to win $100. When betting on an underdog (ie the team that is less likely to win), American odds represent how much you would win if you bet $100.
In other words, if you bet $100, the odds were -200, and you won the bet, your payout would be $150 (your $100 collateral + $50 profit). The -200 odds mean that you would have to bet $200 in order to win $100; since we bet $100 in this example, our winnings were $50, or half of $100. If you bet $100, the odds were +200, and you won the bet, your payout would be $300 (your $100 collateral + $200 profit). As seen in the above example, 1.5 European odds are the same as -200 American odds, and 3.0 European odds are the same as +200 American odds.
Setting your preferred odds display in the bot
It is simply a matter of personal preference whether you use European odds format or American odds format. Some people find one format easier to understand, while other people find the other format to be simpler. Each format expresses the same thing in a different way, so the potential payout for any given bet is the same regardless of which format is used. Bookiebot lets you choose in which format you prefer the odds to be displayed in your bot.
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