How to interpret online betting odds

August 10, 2006 7:45 AM

How do I interpret the odds at Tradesports.com?

I have no idea how to interpret the odds at sites like Tradesports.com. Can anyone explain or point me to a good tutorial? I have no idea what things like "best to buy" and "best to sell" mean, for instance.

posted by VillageLion to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (2 answers total)

Tradesports odds are different than normal. They indicate the % likelihood of the contract becoming true. That is, if a contract for BOSTON REDSOX to defeat KANSAS CITY ROYALS tonight is trading at 80, it means there is an 80% likelihood that the Red Sox will win (and this 20% chance that KC will win). Buying KC contracts at 20 will be very profitable (or actually, selling RED SOX at 80) if KC wins, the % will rise to 100, and you will multiply your money by 5. Conversely, buying Red Sox contracts at 80 will yield a modest profit but will result in heavy losses . The Red Sox are favored.

Other sites will list the game as:

RED SOX -210
ROYALS +225

This means that you need to risk $210 to win $100 if you bet on the Red Sox, but if you bet on the Royals, betting $100 will net you an EXTRA $225.
posted by JakeWalker at 7:59 AM on August 10, 2006

Tradesports prices indicate the collective or more accurately the last transaction's two participants agreement on what is the percentage of likelihood of a team winning. A winner pays 100. So if you pay 25 and it closes at 100, you got paid 3 times your money not including your initial bet.

The great part about Tradesports is that it is dynamic. While most betters are static and once made have to be hedged or adjusted by placeing another bet elsewhere (or a sperate bet), with TS, you can continuously buy and sell the same bet. For instance if you bet 45 last night on the whitesox beating the yankkes (or shorted the Yankees at 55) and during the 8th and 9th inning rally, you likely would have been able to sell that bet for higher (70+?) than you paid, yet ultimately it would have gone off the board as worthless.

In short, with TS, you are buying and selling options. with a strike price of 100 which is equal to a team winning.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:56 AM on August 10, 2006 [1 favorite]