This Bet Calculator allows bettors to calculate the potential Payout for any single bet and has a simple ‘Add Odds’ function to calculate the Payout for a multiple bet. It might be one of the most basic calculations in betting but using the Bet Calculator above will help bettors enhance their understanding of what betting odds represent. As the reciprocals of betting odds are the implied probabilities of the events, one can calculate the harmonic mean as a reciprocal of the average probability of the respective bets: The above equations rearranged facilitates the harmonic mean calculation by dividing n (the number of matches) by the sum of the reciprocals of the odds. Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this.

1. American Betting Odds Calculator
2. Betting Odds On Soccer Games
3. How To Read Betting Odds

Whether you are new to the world of betting or somewhat of an old hand when it comes to having a flutter every now and again, you will undoubtedly be aware of the sheer range of options at bookmakers like Betfair and Paddy Power when it comes to having a bet.

While putting money on a horse winning a race may sound like a relatively straightforward matter, there is a wide range of bets available. For example, are you planning to keep it simple with a single bet on one race? Or, alternatively, are you looking to take a chance on a larger gamble with an accumulator?

Thankfully, that is where online odds calculators come into their own. These handy tools can make a huge difference to your betting activity, providing you with a full overview of the options available and ultimately helping you to place the bet – or combination of bets – that works best for you.

In this article, we are going to take a closer look at the concept of odds calculators, how they tend to work, and the key benefits that they can offer in terms of boosting your betting balance.

What is an odds calculator?

On the most basic level, odds calculators are designed to help you understand the implications of your bets and ultimately determine what returns you will receive if you are successful.

Such tools tend to operate in a standard format, with them first asking you to input the type of bet that you have made or are planning to make. This could be anything from a single to a Yankee to Super Heinz or an accumulator. Once you’ve provided this information, you will then be asked to enter the odds on your bet and also the stake that you’ve placed on it. The calculator may also ask you to either enter the odds in the decimal or fraction format, but we will touch upon the key issues related to that further on in this article.

You will then repeat that process however many times is necessary – for example, if you have placed multiple bets – and then may also be able to add information related to Dead Heats or any situation when Rule 4 may have come into play. The latter offers compensation in the event that a horse withdraws from a race after a bet is placed.

Clear benefits

After providing full information regarding your range of bets, the odds calculator will then take care of the hard work by doing the maths and generating an overview of the bets you have made or are planning to make, as well as the potential returns which will be available if you are successful.

Choose your each-way terms with the odds calculator – these vary based on the number of runners and the type of race

As you may have already realised, such tools offer clear benefits to horse racing fans whether they are planning for future races or even checking what their final winnings will be after placing several bets. The ability to input information on a combination of bets is a particular benefit, as it ensures you do not get a headache while attempting to consider the potential outcomes of the bets you have made.

Fractions vs decimals

For a great number of horse racing fans, the use of fractions is the traditional way of viewing the odds for the runners and riders, but the use of decimals is something which has grown significantly across recent years, too. The concept operates on the straightforward notion that you simply multiply a stake by the decimal shown and the outcome will be your total winnings. For example, if you place a £1 bet on a horse with odds of 4.00, you will get a return of £4.

While the use of decimals may seem very simple in that respect, it is worth bearing in mind that the concept offers up one fundamental difference in comparison to the use of fractional odds. When it comes to decimal odds, your stake is always factored into the return that you calculate but this is not the case when following the fraction method. In terms of the latter, if you put £1 on odds of 4/1 you will receive £4 in profit but also get your £1 stake back too – so £5 in total. As such, the fraction allows you to work out your winnings, but you will also need to factor in that your stake will also be returned to you as well.

A better understanding

It goes without saying that a huge number of people across the globe love betting on horse racing with bookmakers like Betfair and Paddy Power, whether they are attending race meetings in person, following the action on TV, or online via streaming services. You can get free Timeform tips for every British and Irish horse race and free Infogol tips on Europe's biggest football leagues. However, it is also true that some can find it a complicated world to navigate around and they often want a bit of a helping hand to get started.

Whatever your level of experience, taking some time to gain a better understanding of how the different formats for odds work can be an important step towards making informed decisions on your betting. Furthermore, the use of odds calculators can help you fully understand how specific combinations of bets could put you on the path towards winning big and also ensure you are fully aware of the winnings that you are due.

Professional sports trader and Goal.com contributor Pete Nordsted continues his new betting guide series with his exclusive analysis and insight on how to turn a profit by punting on football. Mr. Nordsted's three draw strategy in our weekly series Five To Follow earned a 15 point profit last season.
When betting on a football match you have to accept that you are going to have a run of losing bets. You are going to have to come to terms with the fact that you are not going to win every weekend and you should simply be setting yourself the goal of attaining a steady long-term profit.
Knowing that you are going to have your fair share of losers, the only way you are going to achieve this profit is by backing teams whose odds are larger than the actual chance of the team you are betting on winning.

'Before you even consider having a bet your selection must offer value. To achieve this it helps greatly if you can compile and calculate your own odds.'

American Betting Odds Calculator

Below we will be explaining a simple method that you can use to price up a match yourself. It should be remembered that pricing up a match is all down to individual preference. Some people put more emphasis on the form of the last six games than they do on the previous 38 matches.
Pricing up a football match takes a little time to learn. With each match you need to decide how far you’re going to go back, which games (or kinds of games) you think might deserve extra or less emphasis and so on. However, with continued practice you will find that putting in a couple of hours work a week can pay off handsomely.
How to compile your own odds
Let’s look at an easy straightforward example by looking at this weekend’s match between Fulham and Aston Villa. In this instance we will be looking at Fulham’s previous 15 home games and Aston Villas previous 15 away games
Fulham’s last 15 home match form
Won 7 Drawn 5 Lost 3
Aston Villa’s last 15 away match form
Won 3 Drawn 5 Lost 7
I would then suggest the following equation;
To get Fulham’s home price:
You would take Fulham’s seven home wins and add them to Aston Villa’s seven away losses = 14
To get the Draw price:
You would take Fulham’s fie home draws and add them to Aston Villa’s five away draws = 10
To get Aston Villa’s away price:
We would take Fulham’s three home losses and add them to Aston Villa’s three away wins = Six
So then we are left with the following;
Fulham 14
Draw 10
Aston Villa 6
To get the percentage chance we divide each team’s individual score by the 30 matches.
To get Fulham’s percentage you divide 14 by 30 = 46.66%.
To get the Draw percentage you divide 10 by 30 = 33.33%.
To get Aston Villa’s percentage you divide 6 by 30 = 20.00%.
Then to get the odds you simply divide 100 by the percentage figure. So in this case we have;
Fulham 100/46.66 = 2.14

Research Do your homework on the teams just like a manger would.

Draw 100/33.33 = 3.03
Aston Villa 100/20.00 = 5.00
We have now priced up our match and we have;
• Fulham at 2.14
• Draw at 3.03
• Aston Villa at 5.00
If we then take a look at the odds from a well known bookmaker we see they have priced the game up as follows;

Match Odds: Fulham 2.20 Draw 3.30 Aston Villa 3.40
Fulham are 2.20 (45.45%) and we believe they should be 2.14 (46.72%)
We may now consider betting on them as we believe the Cottagers have more chance of beating the Villains than the bookmakers do with a +1.27% difference between us.
Aston Villa are priced at 3.40 (29.41%) and we have them as a 5.00 (20.00%) chance
We would probably not look to back Aston Villa as we think they stand -9.41% less chance of winning than the bookmakers have them.
The draw is priced at 3.30 (30.30%) and we believe it only offers a 3.00 (33.33%) chance
We may consider the draw as we believe there is +3.03% more chance of this happening.
Now the question here is how much value do we require? Personally, I would not bet on a team unless we find at least 5% value and would not bet on the draw unless there is at least 1% value
Other methods to consider
Now the above is only one method of pricing up a match.
The following is a list of other suggestions you could employ. You may also wish to mix and match.
* For long term you can look at the last 20 home and away matches for each team.
* Short term you may look at the last 10 home and away matches for each team
* How a team has played against similar opposition.
* Check the prices available from the corresponding fixture last season.
You can then assess if either of the teams have improved or deteriorated since the last time they met and price up the match from there. The main thing is to find a method that suits you and which you have complete confidence in and unfortunately that will take some time to master.
Word of warning
If you price up a match and you find that you are receiving excellent value and it seems too good to be true then you need to check the prices and the team news. The manager may be resting players or important stars may be missing though injury.
Or, you could have made a simple mistake in your calculations. Always double-check your figures, facts and team news before placing what you consider to be a value bet.

Betting Odds On Soccer Games

Pete Nordsted is the co-author of the Premier Football Betting Handbook 2011-12 which has just been released. The follow up to last year's successful book offers a comprehensive guide of the best markets for this season's forthcoming Premier League season and how to profit from them.

How To Read Betting Odds

The book can be ordered by going to the following link at Harriman House or is available in the Kindle Store at Amazon. For more about his work see Premier Betting.
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