S ports
The Bookmakers’ Edge
making it more accessible to the average punter. Ten
years ago, if you were going to Cheltenham, all the
odds would be displayed as fractional odds. Now,
they’re largely all in decimals.
The second difference between the formats is that
fractional odds only represent winnings, and do not
include the returned stake compared to decimals
which do include the stake. The transition from frac-
tional odds to decimals largely kicked off with the
growing popularity of the betting exchanges such
Betfair. For odds to change slightly, it’s really difficult
to marginally increase or decrease the probability
without creating large fractions which are hard to
compute for the punter.
Bookmakers offer odds on a huge range of events
in football but how do they work and how can that
help punters be more successful at picking winners?
Bookmaker odds relating to different football events
are everywhere. Online firms now take bets on a
wide variety of events; from the games themselves
to next manager markets, potential transfers and
seemingly everything in between.
Understanding how odds are calculated and what
they mean in practice is an essential part of the tool-
kit for a successful punter. It underpins everything
else that follows so getting comfortable with both
the prices and what they represent is an important
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