The first thing you’ll see in odds is they either have a plus or minus sign before the number.Ī plus sign means you’ll be paid more than you bet. There are other ways odds can be listed and I’ll cover that at the bottom of the article: Step 1: What does the + and – mean in the odds? It’s still could to have an idea of how they’re calculated so you understand what’s on the line.īelow I’m going to be talking about standard American odds. Side note: Most sports betting sites will calculate your winnings for you, so you won’t have to go through this math. It takes a little math, but it’s worth learning because it’s the heart of sports betting. But they don’t directly say “bet $100 to win $96,” so how do you decipher the code?

We’ve covered that odds tell you how much you’ll win on a bet. If you want to know more about point spread, check out our article on the most common types of sports bets. This article will focus on how to read sports betting odds. Sports betting odds tell you how much you’ll win on the bet you place, while the betting line usually refers to the point spread or how much your team is predicted to win or lose by. You might hear people talk about the “odds” of a game or the “line” of a game. It helps to get a little sports betting vocabulary out of the way. Sports Betting Odds vs Sports Betting Lines You can’t really understand what you’re betting on if you don’t understand odds, so let’s dive in.

FAQ: underdogs, favorites, what odds you want, etc.

Different types of sports betting odds: American, fractional and decimal.

How to calculate your winnings based on odds.

How to read sports betting odds (not to be confused with betting lines).

We’ll cover everything about how sports betting odds work: The odds determine how much you’ll win on your bet, and it can be hugely different depending on who you’re betting on. Before you start betting on sports, the first thing you need to know is how the odds work.

Betting odds explanation