Sports Betting Odds Comparison & Analysis

The odds indicate the payout that you stand to potentially win on a given wager. You will frequently see odds written in a variety of ways, including American odds (also known as moneyline odds), decimal odds, fractional odds, and implied odds. Before you place a bet on a sporting event, it is imperative that you know how sports betting odds work.

At Sidelines, all odds are expressed in the American odds format. American odds are easy to distinguish from all others because they contain a positive (+) or negative sign (-). Positive signs are used to denote the bet’s underdog, while the negative sign indicates the favorite. The important thing to remember here is that the positive sign represents the amount won for every $100 wagered, while the negative sign represents the amount you need to wager in order to win $100. Simple, right?

Say the Lions are playing the Chiefs. The Lions are getting underdog odds of +210, while the Chiefs are getting the favorite odds at -245. What this essentially means is that if you wager $100 on the Lions, you stand to win $210 in profit (plus your original wager of $100, for a total of $310). Whereas, if you wager $100 on the favorite Kansas City Chiefs, you will only win $40.82 (which coupled with your original wager makes for a total of $140.82).Not exactly a juicy bet.

For more information on calculating payouts and understanding odds, check out the Sidelines odds calculator.

In terms of setting initial lines, sportsbooks take into account a variety of statistics, information, historical data, and team- and game-specific factors before running all of it through advanced algorithms to release the first batch of odds for a given bet.

However, sportsbooks don’t set odds solely based on the perceived chances each team has of winning. They set and adjust odds in such a way as to ensure that there is an equal amount of money on both sides of a bet. That way, they use the money from the losing side of the bet to pay the winning side, all while pocketing the “juice” (also known as the “vig”) they charge to take on your bet.

In the past, bettors had to manually look up the odds for every bet on every game in order to find the most advantageous odds. Sidelines simply automated the process by pulling all the data directly from the sportsbooks to display the odds with the best value for every bet on every game.

As we mentioned, sportsbooks are not in the sports betting business out of the good of their hearts, but rather, their wallets. Given that sportsbooks set and adjust odds more as a way to minimize their risk (thus not leaving themselves exposed to serious losses), it is only natural that all sportsbooks do not give the same odds for the exact same bet! This presents an opportunity for savvy bettors to ensure they get the best value on their bets and maximize their payouts.