Sports betting made simple

First impressions: fractional or decimal odds

Odds can appear in two different formats, decimal odds or fractional odds and the first thing we will do in this Casumo Basics guide is explain the difference.

The reason for this is simpler than you think, It boils down to personal preference. Most gamblers from the United Kingdom will prefer fractional odds, while decimal odds are more popular in continental Europe, Canada amongst other locations.

Critically, they mean exactly the same thing.

Odds of ½ are essentially odds of 0.5
Odds of 7/2 are odds of 4.5

On Casumo.com you can change what odds you wish to see in your settings menu. To do so

follow these steps:

Click or tap the My Bets icon on the top right of the screen.
You will see Odds format and a two-tiered menu. Select between Decimal or Fractional.

How fractional odds work

Fractional odds are shown with a slash (/) dividing the numbers or in some cases a hyphen (-) and the maths behind them is pretty simple.

Let’s break the explanation down to an easy example:

Your team is listed as 6/1 to win the match. This means a €1 bet on them would be returned to you six times, if they win. If you bet €10 that they will win and the bet comes through, you will get €60 as winnings, plus your €10 stake back.

Let’s break it down to an outright bet of who will win the Premier League. The odds in this example are as follows:

• Manchester City 21/20

• Liverpool 37/20

• Manchester United 8/1

Manchester City, having the shortest odds are the favorites to win the title. Your £10 stake on them gives you a potential payout of €20.50 or €10.50 plus your stake back.

A tenner on Liverpool will give you €28.50, while the same stake on Manchester United will return €90.

The maths behind the odds

Potential winnings = Stake x (Numerator divided by Denominator)

€10 X (21/20)
€10 X 1.05
= 10.50

+ Your £10 stake returned = €20.50

Pro tip: Remember your early math years: stuff in the brackets gets calculated first.

How decimal odds work

Traditionally, bettors outside the UK have preferred the decimal format. In decimal odds, also called, digital odds or continental odds, numbers are separated by a decimal point.

The decimal odds number is basically the return the player will get per €1 of the stake. We’ll stick to the same example.

Premier League outright bets:

Manchester City 210/20 or 2.05.
Liverpool 37/20 or 2.85.
Manchester United 8/1 or 9.0.

So if you bet €1 on Manchester City, it’s 1 x 2.05 = €2.05
If you bet €1 on Liverpool it’s 1 x 2.85 = €2.85
And if you bet €1 on Manchester United it’s 1 x 9 = €9

It’s obvious there that Manchester City are the favorites, as their odds are the shortest, therefore the returns are lowest.

Always keep in mind that betting is not easy due to the endless amount of outcomes and the unpredictable nature of sport. The probability of winning is calculated by odds traders, who constantly look at the dynamics of any sports to keep the odds accurate. All odds are subject to change and when you bet on games early, the odds might be very different from moments before kick-off. This is because of occurrences that influence the odds trade such as player injuries.

In 2016 the football world was shocked as Leicester City managed to win the title despite starting the season as favourites for the drop. At the start of the season, they were listed as 5000/1 to win the league. That is an extremely low probability. As the season drew on, their odds of winning shortened, so bettors who got in early on that deal made the best return.

Betting terminology A-Z

Here at Casumo, we’re trying to make your life easier! We’ve therefore made a list of betting terms to help you get to grips with the world of sports betting. [Insert instructions of how to navigate the terminology list (depends on design)]

A

Accumulator/ Acca  - When an accumulator is placed, all bets are linked. They must all be winning bets for the whole betslip to be a winning bet. If you backed three teams to win, but one lost, the whole bet is a lost bet. A combination of bets which all need to come through for your bet to be a winning bet. 

Asian Handicap - A specific half or quarter goal advantage, given to a team of your choice to even out the game.

B

Bookmarker/bookie - A licensed person, shop or online sportsbook taking in a client’s bet.

Bettor - A client placing a bet. (See Punter)

Bet - Placing real money on the outcome of an event or happenings within an event

Betslip - Your betslip shows you the stakes and selections you have bet on, and this populates automatically at the bottom of your screen.

Bonus - This refers to a specific offer given to the bettor to highlight a game or event they might be interested in betting on.

C

Combination bet - This is also called System Betting. In these types of bets, selections within the betslip can be linked, meaning if one of the selection fails, the whole bet is not lost.

Closing odds - The last available odds preceding an event.

Correct score  - A bet on the exact score between two players or teams.

D

Decimal odds - Odds shown in decimal format, for example, 2.4, 8.0.

Double - Placing a double is placing two bets in a combination that both need to be winning selections for you to win the overall bet. It is essentially an accumulator of two bets. 

Double result -Placing a conditional bet on a combination between the Half Time result and the Full-Time result. If Barcelona play Real Madrid, you can bet that Barcelona will win one half, and Real Madrid will win the second half, or that Barcelona will win both halves and more combinations along those lines.

E

Evens - Odds of 1/1 or 2.00 mean that the stake placed will give the exact same return. If you bet €10 on evens, you’ll get your stake back and €10 profit. You have a 50% chance of winning. 

Expected goals -The number of goals a team is expected to score in a game, or the total number of goals expected in a game by both teams

F

Fractional odds - Odds shown in fractional format, for example, 8/1.

H

Handicap - You can choose to give a team a handicap, so if say you give Aston Villa a 2 goal handicap, Liverpool would need to score three to win that game. Asian Handicaps differ as you quote half goals to cover the instance of a draw. See Asian Handicap. 

I

In-Play betting (or Live betting) - Bets which are placed live during a match, where odds constantly fluctuate depending on the circumstances of the match.

J

Joint favourites - When two or more players or teams both have the same odds to win an event or tournament

L

Live betting- See above, In-Play betting

Limit - Maximum stake or number of bets allowed.

Longshot - A bet where the chances of being won are slim, i.e. the odds of the outcome are unlikely but the payout is big.

M

Markets - Markets are selections you can make on a game. For example:

• Full Time

• Half Time

• Total Goals, per team or overall match

• 3-Way Handicap

• Asian Lines

• Match events

• And many more

N

No action - A bet which is nulled, or void. This happens when the event is postponed, cancelled, or abandoned, rules are changed (example tennis surfaces change) or obvious error.

Novelty betting - Betting on events outside sport, often on reality TV shows.

O

Odds - Calculation of the probability of an outcome occurring. Here’s how they work.

Odds on favourite - A player or team which has 50% or more chance of winning the event.

Oddsmaker - A person responsible for setting the lines and odds at a bookmaker.

Outright betting - This is a bet on the result of a sports tournament instead of a single game or match within that tournament. You can bet on the outright before or after a tournament starts and you will be paid out once the tournament winner is confirmed.

Over - When you place a bet dictating the number of goals scored, in a half or the full game, or per team. You can, for example, place a bet that the game Manchester United v Liverpool will produce Over 4.5 goals by Full Time.

P

Payout - The return on a winning bet.

Punter - A betting client placing a bet.

Parlay - See Accumulator. An accumulator, or combination bet which markets depend on each other. They all must come through for your bet to be a winning bet.

Price - The odds on a market

R

Return - See Payout above.

S

Single - A single bet is a bet of an outcome of an event or game. You can bet on many different single bets, across different sports, within the same betslip. These bets are not linked.

Stake - The amount of money placed on predicting an outcome.

Sportsbook - An online shop for sports betting.

T

Tip - A prediction of an outcome, usually told by an influencer, or a person knowledgeable about the field - a tipster.

U

Under - This is similar to Over. It is when when you place a bet dictating the number of goals scored, for example under 1.5 goals. If you bet that we will see under 1.5 goals between Manchester United and Liverpool and the match ends 0-0, your bet is correct as you have said there will be Under 1.5 goals.

V

Void - A bet which is nulled, or void. This happens when the event is postponed, cancelled, or abandoned, rules are changed (example tennis surfaces change) or obvious error.

W

Wager - See bet.

Winnings - See return.