What Does Odds On and Odds Against Mean In Betting?
The betting term “odds against” refers to bets that come with odds that are greater than evens (or 2.0 in decimal odds), “odds on” means the odds are less than evens. Evens itself is, well, even odds. Should you be successful with an odds against bet, then you’ll be able to at least double up on the stake that you originally place on it.
When a price is larger than that of evens, so let’s say 9/1 (10.0 decimal) for example, the first number within that fraction is what the bookmaker is liable for. The second part of the fraction is the amount that you, the customer, are liable for. Using this example, if you placed a £10 bet on a horse at 9/1 and it won, you would receive a £90 lay from the bookmaker, as well as your original £10 back, totalling £100 altogether. Should that selection lose, then the bookmaker receives the customer’s £10 stake, and keeps the £90 that they lay.
If you place a bet on a particular team or player to win a match, then the underdog is usually the odds against, while the favourite is the odds on. If a team has odds of 1/2 (1.50 in decimal) this is odds on, it means for every £1 you want to win you need to stake £2. Here a £10 winning bet would return £5 in winnings and your £10 stake, £15 total.
Sports like horse racing and golf tournaments or Formula 1 races (those that involve a field of entries) will often see a price that is generally greater than evens for all entrants, unless there is a very heavy favourite to win in the field.
Favourites in football are generally odds on as well as in tennis and any other sports where there are only two contestants / teams, the favourite is usually odds on and the other is odds against. Taking an example where two tennis players are evenly matched the odds of each winning will not be evens because the bookie builds in a margin. Here both players would be odds on at say 10/11.
A basic rule for odds on and odds against would be if the first number in the fraction is higher than the second then it is odds against, if the second number is higher than the first it is odds on. In decimal if the odds higher than 2.0 it is odds against, if it is lower than 2.0 it is odds on.
More On Odds On And Odds Against
| – | Home | Draw | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal | 8/1 | 7/2 | 1/3 |
| Odds? | Odds Against | Odds Against | Odds On |
To explain odds on and odds against a little further, here is an example of an upcoming football match. In it, Crystal Palace is set to take on Arsenal, and the win-match has three potential outcomes – home team win, draw or away team win.
The odds are stacked against Crystal Palace and a Draw result in this particular game, while Arsenal is odds on to win. Despite Arsenal being the away team, the sportsbook still suggests that the team will win, which comes down to the capabilities of the football team, rather than random selection. Crystal Palace has the odds against it at 8/1. Anyone betting on this team would receive an £80 payout from a £10 wager.
A £10 bet on the draw outcome produces a £35 positive return, while a £10 wager on Arsenal winning provides a positive return of £3.33.
You can see the difference in the payout that you would receive if you wagered on Crystal Palace and the team won. The issue is that betting on the odds against team is much riskier. There is a bigger potential return, but it’s only worth backing if you are confident the odds offered are higher than the real chances of the outcome.
Take an example where you have done a lot of research and you believe Palace are about to hit form with key players coming back from injury whereas Arsenal just played in Europe midweek and have tired legs. You think the 8/1 offered on Palace is too generous and the real odds are maybe 5/1. This would make it a worthwhile odds against bet to place. You are still more likely to lose than win but if you were to place several bets in a similar scenario then over time that approach can generate returns. It is called finding ‘weak lines’, where odds are higher than what the real world probabilities might be.
A Very Memorable Odds Against Wager
You don’t need to look too far back to bring to memory a big odds against wager that paid out. In 2016, the entire Premier League was shocked to witness Leicester City lift the title once the season was over. Prior to any ball being kicked that season, some bookmakers had odds against the team of 5000/1. Clearly, the chances of them winning were severely underestimated that year. Yet some people weren’t dissuaded.
One man decided that he was going to back the team, despite the massive odds against situation the team were in. He placed a £50 wager on Leicester City prior to the season kicking off. He chose to cash out in March, before the season had ended, but scooped a massive £72,000 return for his decision.
Had he opted to leave the wager running for a few more weeks until Leicester eventually lifted the trophy, he would have taken home £250,000 altogether. He wasn’t the only one to win big on the team in 2016, though. Collectively, the unexpected occurrence of Leicester City winning the Premier League with such odds against them cost UK bookmakers.
