How Do Odds And Spreads Work

Kansas City Chiefs (-250), Las Vegas Golden Knights (-110), Toronto Raptors (+125) – the chances are that you’ve come across these sorts of options in your sports betting journey. If you don’t know what these numbers mean, you’re not the only one.

A large number of betting newbies have no idea what the figures are representing. If you want to learn, you’re at the right place. We’re now going to show you how Vegas odds work. We will also explain the process of making the odds. We’re even going to show you how to use this knowledge to your advantage.

What Are Vegas Odds?

With the spread, a team either has to win by a certain number of points to payoff or it can lose by a certain number of points and still pay the bettor. Spreads work in the following manner—the favorite team is listed with a negative number and the underdog has a positive number. The way that sportsbooks manufacture their odds and betting lines has changed drastically over the years. The sports betting industry was once dominated by old-school Vegas oddsmakers, but much has changed since the advent of online sportsbooks, as well as. How Do Point Spreads Work? - Lootmeister answers the often asked question and gives tips on how to beat the bookies. Sports Betting Odds Explained - Most are completely confused when looking at betting lines for the first time. Loot explains what all the plus and minus signs signify and more! American odds work a little differently to the others. The odds for a favorite team to win the game are usually listed with a '-' sign, which indicates the amount a better would need to bet to win $100. For the underdogs, the odds are accompanied by a '+' sign. This shows how much a better would win if they staked $100. Let's see this in action.

Vegas odds a.k.a. American-style odds are the ones you will see in the land-based sportsbooks across Nevada. Caesars, Wynn, Golden Nugget – all these bookies are using the Vegas odds format.

The trouble is that they may seem strange to the inexperienced eye. However, everything becomes clear once you learn more about them. So, how do Vegas odds work?

These odds come in the form of three-digit numbers, which can either be positive or negative. If the number is negative, it means that the team is the favorite. If it’s a positive number, it’s the opposite. If the number on each potential outcome is -110 (or sometimes -105), it means that each team has an equal chance of winning.

The big question is how can you use these odds to figure out how much money you’re going to cash in if your bet wins? That’s the question we’re going to answer next.

How You Calculate Vegas Odds?

You calculate your potential win based on whether the odds come as a positive or a negative number. If the odds are positive, e.g., +150, it practically means that this is how much you can profit if you bet $100.

Let’s say you want to bet Justin Gaethje at Vegas odds of +150. If you put, $100, you’re going to make a net profit of $150 if he wins. But, what if you’d like to bet a different amount?

In that case, you need to use the following formula:

Vegas Odds/100 x Your Stake

So, let’s say you wish to put $70 on Gaethje, your potential net profit is calculated by dividing his odds by 100, then multiplying the number with 70.

Use your calculator and you will see that 150/100 x 70 equals 105. That is how much you will make if Gaethje wins. Note that $105 is your net profit, while you’ll also get your $70 stake back. So, your total win would be $175 on a $70 bet.

An important thing to remember is that the aforementioned formula only works if odds are displayed as positive numbers. If the number is negative (e.g., -150), you need to go with a different formula. In that case, this is what you got to use:

Your Stake/Vegas Odds x 100

This is because, with Vegas odds, the negative number represents the amount of money you need to bet in order to win $100. So, if the odds are -150, you will have to bet $150 to get a net profit of $100.

Is There a Simpler Alternative?

Vegas odds are traditionally used in land-based sportsbooks across Nevada. It’s been like that for decades, and when online sports betting became legal in other US states, most operators decided to embrace this format.

The same was the case with offshore sportsbooks that cater to American customers, with one important difference – BetOnline.ag, MyBookie.ag, SportsBetting.ag, and many other bookies let the players decide on the odds format.

So, if you find Vegas odds too complicated, you can always use decimal odds in offshore sportsbooks. How they work is that your stake is multiplied by the odds. The result you get is your gross profit (your net profit + your stake). For example, if the odds on Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 1.65 and you wish to bet $90, your potential win is $148.5.

Who Sets the Odds in Vegas?

How Do Vegas Odds Work

When speaking about Vegas odds, there’s another question that pops out – who decides them? Some sportsbooks employ teams of oddsmakers to come up with the odds, while some hire independent companies to do the work for them.

In both cases, the goal is to set the odds in such a way that they attract equal action on both outcomes. This way, the sportsbook is going to make profits regardless of the outcome. As a result, the Vegas odds on the favorite are always negative numbers, while underdogs get positive numbers.

Oddsmakers take into account various factors to decide who’s the favorite/underdog. What we’re talking about are power rankings, game locations, the form of the teams, and so on. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Vegas odds equal the true probability.

Using the Odds Knowledge to Your Benefit

The thing about odds is that they change all the time. For example, there might be some big news coming from a team’s roster, such as an injury of a key player. You can be sure that the sportsbooks will adjust the odds in that case in order to protect themselves.

Still, the #1 reason why odds change lies in the behavior of the bettors. If the players suddenly start betting on one outcome, the sportsbook will have to react by adjusting the odds. They will move the odds on the outcome in question (e.g., from -128 to -175), while moving the odds against the opposite outcome (e.g., from +108 to +155).

This way, they are making sure they aren’t going to have to pay out too much money if the favorite wins. At the same time, they are encouraging bettors to put their money on the underdog with the odds more lucrative than earlier.

How can you use this knowledge to your benefit? You can go on an odds hunt. If you compare all the odds available, you will be able to find the best value for your bets. It may be at a Vegas-based sportsbook or it could be at an offshore website, you’ll find out only after you’ve compared them!

Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.

How To Betting Odds Work

Sports Betting Odds Explained

Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.

American Style Sports Betting Odds

Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:

American Odds

• Matchup Odds
• New England Patriots +120
• Pittsburgh Steelers -140

The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.

How Do Odds Work In Horse Racing

The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.

The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.

A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.

Examples:

How Do Odds And Spreads Worksheet

A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.

Examples:

Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.

How Do Odds And Spreads Working Out

In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).

The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.

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Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds

Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.

Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.