Undering Sports Betting Odds Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

Undering Sports Betting Odds

The first thing you will want to know is how the odds work and what the terminology is for understanding different types of terms in sports betting.
 
For simplicity sake let us consider 2 teams (team "A" and team "B").  The sports betting sport does not really matter at this point.  Just imagine that you are a sports bettor and you are putting up your money in favor of a single outcome of the game.  In addition, you are betting against the oddsmaker at the sports book.
 
If the outcome you want happens, you will get your bid and the bookie's bid. If the outcome you do not want happens, the bookie gets his bid and your bid.
 
However, as you know, not every team in any sport is exactly evenly matched.
 
Let us put aside the idea of betting for a moment and let us imagine that you are entering an arm wrestling competition. Each player is asked to put up $10 just before they arm wrestle. The winner takes their initial stake and the $10 of the losing player.  You step up to arm wrestle.  It appears to be someone the same size and strength. Thus, you believe you are evenly matched.  Thus, you arm wrestle.  It is a fair match and the winner takes the loser's money.
 
Now imagine that you step into the match but instead of it being someone who is the same size as you, it is a former body builder who weighs twice what you weigh and has been in the record books for winning arm wrestling matches for the few past years.  He puts down his $10 and just cannot wait to make the $10.  Are you going to play? Most likely not since you think that your chances of winning are pretty slim.  Given the choice between this arm wrestler and the first one, you are likely going to go back and wrestle the first guy again! So instead of $10, the arm wrestler puts down $100 to your $10.  Although you may not have a great chance of winning, the win is better. If you do win, you will win more.
 
Now imagine just the opposite scenario: you step up to the arm wrestling table and you are greeted by a ten year old girl.  You put down your $10 and she looks sceptical! She tells you that she needs better odds than that so you put down $100 and she puts down her ten and arm wrestles.
 
This scenario is very similar in the betting world.  In cases where teams are evenly matched, the bet placed by you and by the bookie are usually close, called "evens bet".

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