Odds, by definition, are the likelihood that an event may or may not happen. In gambling, it is the ratio between the amounts staked by parties to a wager. Knowing the odds is a crucial part of gambling as it is an effective way to improve your strategy and to be aware of how much you will win to go wild online casino.

Before betting, one should be conscious of the possible outcomes and the chances of winning. For example, there are six attainable results upon rolling a normal dice and only one of them will be in your favor. Mathematically speaking, there is only 1/6 or 16.67% chance that the number that you’ve chosen will manifest.

There are two common types of betting odds used in sports such as football, basketball, and horse racing: American Odds and Fractional Odds.

American Odds, as the name suggest, are used in US Sports. If you will look at their sportsbooks, you will see either a positive or a negative number together with the team playing for a certain day. A positive number will be assigned to the underdog as they have a lesser chance of winning while a negative number will be assigned to the favorite.

If you want to bet on the favorite with an odd of -150, you need to wager $150 for you to yield $100 winnings thus, receiving a total of $250 once they won. On the other hand, if you want to bet on the underdog with an odd of +140, you need to wager $100 for you to yield $140 winnings, receiving $240 if they won.

Fractional Odds (A/B), also known as British Odds or UK Odds, does not have any base amount, unlike the American Odds with a $100 base. The numerator (A) indicates how much you win and the denominator (B) shows how much you wager. In the favorite team, the numerator is less than the denominator (A<B) while in the underdog team, the numerator is greater than the denominator (A>B).

If you bet £5 on the favorite with an odd of 1/5, you will receive a total of £6 once they won as your profit will only be £1. On the other hand, if you bet £5 on the underdog with an odd of 5/1, you will receive a total of £30 once they won as your profit will be five times your wager.

One can’t predict what may happen in the future but knowing the possibilities will put yourself in a position to achieve what you want to attain.