The “+” sign in front of a number - for example, +350 - means that a bet has been placed on the underdog, and the three digits following that sign indicate the amount paid out if the bet wins and the bettor had wagered $100. With bets, they can be placed on either the favorite, known as the team projected to win, or the underdog, which is the team that’s predicted to lose. If it’s 8/5 odds for a race for Horse A against Horse B, that means Horse would be expected to lose eight out of the 13 outcomes while winning the other five.Īlready got it down? Check out these sportsbook promo codes before signing up for an account: How to read sports betting oddsīetting odds can be displayed in three distinct formats - American, decimal and fractional - and they signal a probability of the game, or teams, they’re connected to and how much an individual could win by selecting those odds.įor American odds, which are the default options at United States sportsbooks according to Action Network, there’s a “+” or “-” symbol in front of a three-digit number.įor decimal odds, there’s a number rounded to two decimal places, like New York Yankees (5.40), that determines the amount that you wager is multiplied by to determine the winnings.Īnd for fractional odds, which are perhaps most commonly seen during horse races, the numerator details the number of times the bookkeeper expects the result to fail while the denominator illustrates the number of times they expect the result to succeed. The Post answers questions below that’ll help you accomplish that.

Some formats of betting odds are different by country or by sport, and it’s important to have those betting odds explained so the best way to maximize money is understood.īut before you place your next bet, it’s important to understand how betting odds work and how to read them - regardless of whether you wager online or in-person. Where is sports betting legal? Updates for the USīetting odds have always lined newspapers, and now they’ve started to become popularized in electronic applications, too, as t he presence of mobile betting expands.

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