What is Odds Against? Odds Against Explained in 2 minutes
Jesse M. Cox Last Verified
31/03/2021
What it Odds-against?
Odds compilers create a betting market by devising odds in an event for each outcome. The odds determine the return from a bet, and they can be displayed in fractional or decimal format.
Prices for a range of outcomes of an event are designed to make any of a list bookmakers a theoretical profit and attract customers to make bets. If an outcome is Evens, the profit is the same as the stake. Prices shorter than evens equate to an outcome being known as odds-on to happen and here, the profit is less than the stake. Prices above even money are known as odds-against, where the profit is more than the stake,
How is Odds-against used in Sports Betting?
In any sporting event the bookmaker offers a range of odds for each outcome. Customers can bet on the outcome of a football match, for example. This is a three way betting market because the home team can win, the away team can win or the match could be drawn. If one of the teams is much better than their opponents the odds will be shorter than evens, and the perceived weaker team will be odds against.
Some bettors don’t like to bet at odds-on due to the risk and reward involved. The short odds mean you have to stake a decent amount to get a worthwhile return at odds less than even money. To decrease the risk with things like free bets and odds boosts, have a look at our betting offers page where operators give you the best promos and deals.
Events in which the outcomes are bigger than evens or odds-against are attractive because the profit can be much bigger than the stake. Bets are settled based on odds on offer so when a team or horse is odds-against the return is greater than the stake and determined by the odds.
An outcome can go from odds-on to odds-against and move in the other direction based on the weight of money across each potential result. Even money is not odds-on or odds-against and the perception is that there is the same probability for something to happen as not happen.
