Read our complete and comprehensive sports guide on betting odds, including ins and outs of soccer betting in New Zealand, as well as advantageous knowledge about computing odds in sports betting: their types, lines and adding margin. Get only relevant and up-to-date 2022 information on this page!

Sports Betting Odds: Intro

Speaking in fact, it is the odds that play the key role in betting, since it is their attractiveness and profitability for the player that determines which bookmaker you’ll, after all, choose, what bet you’ll prefer to make, how much money you will gain, and, in the end, how intriguing it’ll be to watch the game.

One fine day, bookmakers generated a delicate odds calculation mechanism and due to it they are still getting rich. In this article, we will explain to you where the odds come from, how bookies introduce their commission, and why the odds are not stable.

Sports Betting Odds Explained: Glossary of Terms

Before moving on to the odds themselves and the principle of their operation, first you need to comprehend what they are in general and what concepts they include. Here’s a little info to help clear things up.

When talking about betting, it’s fundamental to introduce the concept of “probability”, because it is a kind of odd’s skeleton. Probability in sports betting means the possibility of one of the outcomes. Thus, for example, you can observe the odds are 1.4 for team X, and 3.6 for team N in the upcoming match. Consequently, you are to bear in mind that team X is predicted to win. Therefore, by betting on it, the client’s winnings will be less. But the probability that the bet won’t go bang is higher. And vice versa.

In order to competently work out the probability of each outcome, bookies conduct or request deep analyzes of the statistics of a specific team, individual players, and all related matters.

Successful sports betting is hard to imagine without the ability to understand the odds. The betting odds represent numerical multipliers or, in other words, a numerical expression of the bookmaker’s opinion, that indicates the probability of a certain outcome in a sporting match. The concept of odds also includes the bookmaker’s margin and is used to determine the winnings: the payout that the player will receive in case a bet is a success is the amount of his deposit money multiplied by the odds. Margin in sports betting is the bookmaker’s commission included in the odds.

The Principle of Betting Odds Establishing

The main goal of bookmakers is profit despite any outcome. Each sportsbook has a team of analysts in its arsenal to calculate quotes for the result of every single match and the course of the game. Based on a thorough analysis of statistics and many other factors affecting the game, the bookmaker sets its odds and lays down a margin that will provide the office with a guaranteed income.

Let’s take one more example, and let it be a simple coin. Throw it up: the chance of each side falling out will be 50%. For instance, you bet $50 on tails and your opponent bets another $50 on heads. Without adding margin, the lucky one will receive $100, so the odds are 2.0. It goes without saying that not a single bookmaker’s office can exist under such conditions, so the odds will be not 2.0-2.0, but 1.95-1.95, depending on the desired margin. Thus, in case of a win, you will be paid $95, and the $5 remaining will go into the wallet of the office.

Soccer Betting

To start betting on soccer, you first need to create an account with an official bookmaker. Online sports betting is legal in New Zealand, so you can easily register with one of the many national or international bookmakers such as 1xBet, Betway or Paddy Power, just to name a few.

Once you have registered a betting account, you can top it up using a range of deposit methods available. Naturally, there are credit card and e-wallet payment methods available at most online bookmakers.

After having successfully deposited money, you can bet on the great field of football matches and events. Both line and live betting options are offered on supreme sports betting sites.

Main rules of football betting

Soccer Betting Odds Types

There are three most popular and widespread types of soccer betting odds forms that you can meet: British, American, and European.

British odds are called fractional, European ones – decimal, and American – moneyline. Talking in general, the odds format doesn’t anyhow affect probability, it’s just the way convenient for a particular bookie to present its betting odds. There’s no need to bother if you come across the odds not familiar to you – there are free odds converters available online providing a nice possibility to turn one soccer odds format into another one that you’re most comfortable with. If you feel like getting the full picture, take a look at the table below.

Odds type NameFormDescriptionExample
BRITISH (Fractional)





21/6
154/42
17/60
Generally used by British bookmakers. The fraction displays the ratio of the bet size to the net profit: the denominator of the fraction is the amount of money wagered, and the numerator is the net profit of the bet.Bet $50 on an outcome with the odds of 22/5: the winnings minus the amount of the bet will bring $220.
EUROPEAN (Decimal)







1.40
2.00
3.65

The most popular and spread format across the world – most commonly met In Europe, Russia and the CIS countries, in some Asian countries. The decimal odd multiplied by the money bet allows you to find out the amount of the potential payout.Bet $100 at odds of 2.51, and get a potential payout of $251 (100 x 2.51). Out of these, $151 is net profit, and $100 is your amount of the bet.
AMERICAN (Moneyline)
















+145
-210





Popular with the US bookmakers. The “+” sign odds indicate the potential profit that a player can make from a $100 bet. The rule works with any currency.
The “-” sign betting odds mean the amount you need to bet on an event to get $100 in net profit. This rule applies to any currency as well.
The +620 odd means that with a bet of $100, the player will receive $620 of net profit.
The odd of -132 means that a bet of $132 will bring a net profit of $100.

Taking Odds Up: Applying Soccer Betting Strategies

The most vital success aspect of betting on soccer is the ability to correctly analyze each game. In order to conduct an accurate analysis of the duel, it is necessary to be guided by the following evaluation criteria:

  • Team’s Condition. It is significant to assess the physical and psychological state of the teams, perhaps there are a series of victories or defeats or other factors that affect the functional and moral commonwealth.
  • Head-to-head Confrontations.  Uncomfortable opponents or, on the contrary, convenient teams, long ineffective series for one of the teams, and failures at a particular stadium are also important factors that can indirectly affect the result.
  • Trends. First of all, performance trends – it is important to evaluate how many balls a team scores and concedes in recent meetings.
  • Motivation. Confrontation of teams from the same city, historically irreconcilable rivals, a playoff match, a tournament final – assessing the value of a match for each team is no less important than understanding what form the teams are in.
  • Personnel selection of Players. Injuries, private problems, relationships with the coaching staff, disqualifications – must be taken into account.
  • Weather Conditions. This feature has a greater impact on teams’ performance. In rainy weather, it is harder to run, and the muscles in the legs clog faster, so the teams tend to show not the most effective football.

Thus, taking these features under consideration, looking through the archives of matches and live fights and being guided by statistics, bettors will greatly simplify the task of choosing the best option for betting.

FAQ

Why do Odds Keep Changing?

After calculating the betting odds and laying the margin, the office does not stop influencing the process. First of all, it is players’ bets that affect the quotes changing: if a large flow of funds is concentrated on one outcome, the odds for this market are significantly reduced, and for the opposite one is increased.
There can be other reasons for the line movement, which are associated with the appearance of new circumstances.  For example, a team’s key player has been injured, the coach has changed, or rainy weather is expected. These aspects affect both the outcome and process of the game.

What should I do if I’m offered Decimal Odds, but I only gamble with the Fractional?

New Zealand bookmakers commonly use the fractional odds format, but the decimal soccer betting odds are becoming more widespread. This may be happening because they are simpler to operate with. Anyway, there is always an odds converter at your disposal, and on all major soccer betting sites, you will be provided with an option.

What is the Most Effective Way to Bet on Soccer?

There are many variants of soccer betting, and the most distinguished one is three-way moneyline odds. The moneyline is the most essential and traditional way to bet on any sport and simply requires you to select a winner, providing soccer bettors with three options to wager on: either side or a draw match. The bookies establish a set of odds for each side depending on their implied probability of winning the game.

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