For a long time, sports betting has been a big part of the sporting community in New Zealand, and now more and more punters and sportsbooks alike are moving towards a digitalised platform with society becoming increasingly fast-paced.
Those that wish to get involved in the thrills of online and mobile sports betting will need to become familiar with how to use the betting apps as well as how to understand sports betting odds and their formats, from decimal and fractional betting odds to American and European formats that may be encountered.
Betting odds essentially represent the prices that bookmakers will pay a punter if the wager is successful, which is shown as a proportion of their total stake.
Decimal and Fractional Betting Odds
Before punters have created an account with what they determine to be the best in terms of online betting sites like at https://bettingonline.nz/sports, they will need to determine whether they are worried about dealing with decimal or fractional betting odds.
Decimal odds will represent the percentage payout on a player’s original stake, while fractional odds will represent a player’s potential winnings as a fraction of their stake, which is also then added to the stake in the actual payout.
American and European Formats
There are different ways in which betting odds can be presented, namely American betting odds and European betting odds. American sportsbooks actually present odds differently and these are known as money-line odds, however, there are some sportsbooks that will present their odds in the same format when it comes to wagering on American sports.
Money-line odds present a negative figure that represents the amount that a player will need to wager in order to earn a particular win (usually 100 dollars) or a positive figure that represents the amount that will be won from a 100 dollar bet.
1×2 and Asian Handicap Betting Odds
In what is known as a match winner market, there will typically be one of 3 outcomes, namely win, lose or draw, and a 1×2 bet will allow players to wager on each with the odds shown as one of the above listed formats.
Asian Handicaps offer a similar option, except that it uses an odds calculation that eliminates the possibility of winning on a draw, meaning punters can only back a winner with a set margin.
When it comes to betting on football, for example, bookmakers will pick a goal handicap that they think will get the probability of a victory as close to 50% as possible. Thereafter, the betting odds will be shown as the decimal format explained above.
Pricing Betting Odds
There are any punters in New Zealand that are concerned as to how exactly it is that they price their betting odds, and this comes as no surprise with people dealing with their hard earned money.
At the core, betting odds are determined by odds compilers who work to price up markets and ultimately create the odds that are seen in sports betting events.
Their job is to ensure that there is as close to an even number of bets as possible, both for and against outcomes, and subsequently make sure they don’t lose too much when punters claim their successful bets.