Play like a pro with the beginner’s guide to online gambling odds

We know that chance refers to the probability of a specific outcome occurring. For example, if you drive a car with very little petrol from home to work, chances are very likely that you’ll break down, but you might also just make it to work. If you had to gamble on this scenario, you would bet on the outcome that you believe has the best probability of occurring. Odds are simply a representation of each outcome. Make sense?

The purpose is to predict the outcome of a situation with a bet, and in the event that your prediction is correct, you usually win money. If it’s wrong, as you know, you’re bound to lose some too!

Instead of percentages, as we discussed earlier, casinos and bookmakers use odds to represent possible outcomes. The best part is that you can use these betting odds to calculate the probability of you winning a bet while gambling. The most important tip we can teach you in this beginner’s guide to online gambling odds is to start thinking in decimals. Although it’s possible to work out odds using fractions, using decimal odds is by far the simplest. All leading online casinos give players the opportunity to view betting odds in a decimal format so that they are easy to work out.

One important thing to remember from this beginner’s guide to online gambling odds is how to calculate your bet:

• Your stake multiplied by the odds equals your payout.

For example, if you bet 100 dollars and the decimal odds are 1.82, your stake is 100 dollars, the odds are 1.82 and the potential win is 182 dollars. The sum would look like this: 100 x 1.82 = 182.

Now that you better understand how real money betting odds work, you can start to calculate your potential winnings more easily. If you’ve decided to try gambling online, a beginner’s guide to odds is a useful tool to help you understand what bets are safest to start out with. Here’s some of the terminology you might come across.

This is when you bet a specific fixed amount to predict the outcome of something. The odds represent how much you will win if your prediction is right.

This refers to the amount of real money you put on the line.

This is when you stand to profit more than double what you originally bet.

This refers to when a bookmaker and you are both risking the exact same amount on a bet, and when the return is likely to be double your stake, which is a top outcome in a bet.

Odds are reversed in this case, as odds on refers to bets where you are required to stake more real money than you will potentially win.

Although short odds means you aren’t likely to win a large amount, but the best part is that it also usually indicates an outcome that has a fairly high chance of winning.

The opposite of short odds, long odds have a poor chance of winning but if you do, you’re likely to win a large amount.

Now that you’ve read through our online gambling beginner’s guide to odds, why not try it out for yourself on one of the top recommended South Africa sites for 2024! Good luck.