Reading odds displayed by bookmakers is among the most essential skills to have when it comes to football betting. You need to carefully assess your chances and the bet in general, and the only way you can do that is by understanding the odds for each competing team. In this article, we are going to go through the main difference between fractional odds and decimal odds commonly used by online bookmakers.
When you read fractional odds, you are actually looking at the potential profit you can make if you win the bet. For example, if you bet £100 on Arsenal at ½, you will get £50 if Arsenal wins the match; £50 is simply your profit, since you will also receive your initial £100 bet back. Fractional odds are very easy to read – although certain odd fractions, such as 7/8 or 9/7, may be a bit hard to understand immediately – because all you have to do is multiply the amount of bet you place with the odds and you have the profit you will get if the bet is won as the result.
Decimal odds, on the other hand, account the initial bet placed already. If you see Arsenal priced at 1.50 of odds, placing £100 bet will get you £150 in return if the bet is won; £150 you receive consists of £100 of your initial bet plus £50 profit from winning the bet. Decimal odds may not be commonly used among UK football bookmakers, but they are often used by larger – multinational – sites. Knowing how to read them will help you get that much closer to football betting success.