Wholesale Odds and Other Betting Odds

When you’re placing bets, it’s important to understand wholesale odds and other odds, and how they work. There is always an element of unpredictability, but as you get to understand odds better your average success rate will rise.

If you want to understand and use different odds successfully, the guidelines here are a good place to begin. Read on, get familiar, and then start applying what you know.

Wholesale Odds vs. Other Betting Odds

Wholesale Odds, or Real Odds, are the 100% probability of the occurrence of an event. The odds that you are given to work with as a punter are different because the bookmaker’s profit margin, or Overround, has been added on.

Wholesale Odds are a good way to ensure you get the best deal when placing bets. Choose the bookmaker’s options that offer you the best profit margins, relative to the wholesale book price, on Fractional, Decimal and American Odds.

Fractional Odds

Fractional Odds are most commonly used in Britain, and use the formula Probability (%) = B/(A+B). This means that if you see odds that are 9/1, the probability or likelihood of the event are 1/(9+1) or 1 in 10. In other words, there is a 10% chance.

You can also use Fractional Odds to calculate how much money you stand to win if you’re successful. Reconsidering A/B, for every value of B that you wager you’ll win B and your original stake will also be returned. So if the odds are 9/1 you’ll win 9 coins for every 1 coin that you bet as well as the wagered coin, meaning you’ll get 10 back for every 1 staked.

Decimal Odds

Decimal Odds are favoured in Europe, Canada and Australia and are actually becoming more common everywhere. This is because they show the total return without you having to calculate it, which can make for clearer decisions under pressure.

Equivalent Decimal Odds can be derived from Fractional Odds by dividing the first figure by the second figure and adding 1. To continue the example from above, 9/1 Fractional Odds would equal Decimal Odds of 10.0. This would show your total return; for every 1 coin that you bet you’ll get 10 coins back. To calculate your actual winnings, the formula is (Odds x Stake) –Stake = Profits. Here, it would be (10 x 1) -1 = 9.

American Odds

Also known as Moneyline Odds these are, as the name would suggest, widespread in the United States. The other type of betting that is popular in America uses the concept of a Points Spread, which has to do with the difference in final score between the competing sides. Moneyline refers to straight-up odds, without any Points Spread consideration.

When the odds in a game are even, no Moneyline symbol is seen. When they are better than even you’ll see a + and when they are worse you’ll see a -. Fractional odds of 9/1 would be expressed as +900, and of 1/9 as -900. The positive and negative figures can also be seen as how much you’ll win if you bet 100 units, and how much you have to bet in order to win 100 units respectively.

Insights Through Practice

The more you work with all the types of betting odds, the more you’ll understand them and how they relate to each other. There are plenty of tools online to help with conversions from one type to another as well. Whatever odds you’re using, be sure to compare them to Wholesale Odds so that you know you’re getting a good deal.