Understanding Football Odds

Football odds are an integral part of the world of sports betting. They can be confusing and at times difficult to understand, but they can also provide great value if you know how to read them correctly.

The first thing you should know about football odds is that they are constantly changing depending on the predictions made by oddsmakers. The odds that are displayed on a sportsbook’s website are often updated throughout the course of a match and can change at any time during the build-up to a game, so it is always worth checking the odds before placing a bet.

Betting on a team to win is usually quite simple but there are many other ways of betting on a football match. You can bet on the score, goalscorer, the amount of corners or red and yellow cards, etc.

Point spread / money line bets are another popular way of betting on football matches. These bets are based on which team is more likely to win the match and pay out more if it wins.

There are two main types of football betting odds – fractional and decimal. Fractional betting is easier to understand but doesn’t show how much you’ll win if your bet wins.

Decimal odds are a bit more complicated to calculate and you’ll need to know your maths. You’ll see a number which shows the return of your bet, on the left, against what you need to bet to win that amount, on the right. betting shops