Online Betting Articles

Fixed odds betting

Online betting and any bets placing in general are based upon the concept of fixed odds. Fixed odds are the odds offered to you by a bookmaker or a bet exchange. The odds you bet upon are usually calculated by the bookmaker so that he will always gain some profit. This is done by making sure that the sum of all outcomes will result in more than 100 percent in a balanced book. If the book is imbalanced he might need to pay more than the total of the bets he received. Thanks to the online betting revolution the odds are now much closer to the "true odds" as the profit margin for the bookmakers is much larger.

There are three typical types of odds offered that represent the most widely used betting systems.

British odds - Usually favored by bookmakers in the UK, British odds represent the total that should be paid put to the bet placer relatively to what he originally staked. The odds are represented in fractions, meaning that 4/1 will get the bet placer 400 dollar on a 100 dollar bet and 1/4 will give him 25 dollars on a 100 dollars bet.

Decimal odds - Usually favored in Europe and Canada, decimal odds quote the amount that should be paid to the bet placer by multiplying the bet placed including the original bet. A 1.25 quote will give you 25 dollars on a 100 dollar bet and 4 will give you 400 dollars on the same bet.

Moneyline odds - Favored by American bookmakers, this odds simply quote how much can be won for a certain wager or how much should be waged to win a certain sum. Positive bets as +400 mean that you will win 400 dollars on a 100 bet. Negative odds as -400 mean you will win 100 dollars on a 400 bet.

Chris Anderson, Editorial staff. 26-09-05