Betting companies (BC) all over the world offer bettors various betting lines, which make it possible to bet on almost any ongoing game or other event. A bet is a confrontation between a player and a bookmaker, where the coefficient is the established rules of the game. In essence, the coefficients (CF) are an expert assessment, carried out by the analysts of the office, of the possible outcome of an event.
It should also be taken into account that every bookmaker is still a business, and it must generate income. Therefore, the odds include not only the opportunity, but also the profitability of the bookmaker itself. Any player is constantly attracted to large betting odds, because this leads to a quick win.
The main task of the bookmaker is to correctly calculate the balance between the acceptability of the odds for the client and the bookmaker’s earnings included in it.
What is a ratio?
The coefficient of the bet is just a reflection of the probability of an event. Learning how to calculate them and convert them to decimal odds is the first step towards creating your own system for determining the value of bets (displaying the estimated frequency of an event, derived from the base probability, based on which you can bet).
What do the coefficients depend on?
In order to set a good odds for a particular game, analysts must predict it. We can say that they are cappers, only their income is a salary. First you need to determine the chances of the team to win. For a more accurate forecast, different tools are used, but they are mainly divided into analytical and heuristic. The first method is mainly probability theory and statistics, the second is expert assessments. By combining these two methods, the most probable outcome of an event is derived.
Rules for calculating the odds
In an effort to quickly and easily make money on bets, players often do not think about the long-term profitability of the offered odds laid down by the bookmaker, they are attracted exclusively by the largest odds today, immediately. Betters do not think about how much they will lose in the long run if some bets do not win. Gaining experience, over time, players begin to understand in more detail how odds are formed, which bookmaker is preferable to choose, where it is guaranteed to get a win at a bet (it can be in rubles, hryvnia, dollars).
Consider a football game between two teams. There are only 3 possible outcomes of the confrontation: the victory of team A, a draw or the victory of team B. The probability that at least one outcome will occur is 100%. And then the matter is small: you need to distribute these 100% among the three outcomes. Analysts and sports experts get down to business. Their task is to estimate the probability of each outcome occurring.
Types of coefficients
What is a coefficient in sports betting? Different types of odds of bookmakers can be compared with foreign languages, where words look and sound differently, but denote the same action. The same is true with odds. CFs can be fractional, decimal, positive or negative. Their mathematical essence is the same. Moreover, there are easy formulas that allow you to recalculate different coefficients from one type to another:
- The English coefficient has a fractional format. For example: “team A” will be the leader in the confrontation. The coefficient on it will look like 2/15. This suggests that when betting on 15 units (dollars, rubles or other cash equivalent), the bettor will win 2 units (dollars, euros, rubles) which are added to the set bet. The player will receive a win of 17 units (rubles, hryvnias, dollars) on his account.
- European coefficient. The decimal format is a familiar form, for example, 1.15, 7.74, and so on. It gained popularity and soon began to be used on a par with English. Today, the European format is considered the main one for betting in all major bookmakers.
- American odds are considered the most difficult to understand by bookmakers. These CFs do not use fractions in calculations, unlike the English and European systems. A significant difference is the fact that there is a “+” or “-” sign in front of the numerical value. By this sign, you can determine who the bookmaker considers the favorite. American odds have not taken root in Europe at all, but they are actively used for betting in the United States.
- With the development of Asian markets, new Asian betting systems began to appear, which are rarely found on the websites of Russian-language betting shops, but where you can also get up-to-date information about sports events. These exotic systems include: Hong Kong (the bookmaker determines only the percentage of net profit at the rate); Malaysian (the ratio of the size of the bet to the win is determined); Indonesian (represents the US coefficient divided by 100).
In fact, these systems are modifications of the American and European ones. It is important to know that the type of coefficient does not affect the bettor’s winnings in any way. It’s just that these are different views that display the same mathematical entity for making a bet.