The Kiwi punters that are new to the world of online and mobile betting are encouraged first and foremost to understand exactly how betting odds work and what they can do for a punter’s betting strategy. Betting odds essentially tell a punter what is expected to take place in a game.
It is crucially important for punters in New Zealand to understand just how likely it is for an event to take place and what their potential winnings may be and these answers can be found in the various online betting odds that are provided by the many available online betting sites.
Understanding Probability
At its most basic level, betting essentially provides New Zealand punters with the ability to try and determine the outcome of an event in order to win money, and with every event comes a certain number of results.
Betting odds simply present the likelihood of a particular outcome taking place. So, if someone rolls a six-sided dice they will have a 16.67% chance of rolling a 1. Betting odds are generally presented as a fraction, while many online sportsbooks will present them as decimals.
Calculating Probability with Betting Odds
Any two numbers separated by a trailing slash and displayed on an online sports betting site are known as fractional odds. These ultimately allow punters to calculate just how likely an event is to happen.
In order to do this with ease, replace the numbers in 9/1 with A/B and use the equation B/(A+B) = probability percentage. Thus 1/(9+1) = 0.10, which is a probability percentage of 10%. It is now a lot easier to determine the likelihood of the event occurring.
Calculating Winnings
Being able to calculate potential winnings is a fantastic skill to have for those that are flexible with how much they want to bet, with potential winnings often giving punters incentive to up their bet. New Zealand punters are also able to use betting odds to calculate exactly how much money they will make if they place a bet on a given event.
Thus, using the equation explanation mentioned above, for every value B that a punter bets, they will win A. Again using 9/1 as an example, it ultimately means that for $1 that a punter bets, they receive $9.
Decimal Odds Vs. Fractional Odds
A lot more common with exchanges, decimal odds are displayed on most leading online betting sites in New Zealand as many punters tend to find them a lot easier to work out.
Using the same example, we can see that the use of a percentage falls away and 9.0 can be calculated as (9.0 * $10) – $10 stake, which would then bring in winnings of $80. In truth, there is not one better than the other when it comes to decimal and fractional odds.
It is simply a matter of punter preference and they seem to be leaning more and more towards decimal odds, with them being easier for beginners to understand. Moreover, fractional odds will only represent the possible winnings and won’t include the stake expected to return to the punter, while decimals don’t include the punter’s stake.