Olympic Betting Odds

The American moneyline is based, as its name implies, on the moneyline. Moneylines are presented as positive or negative numbers, and these are the “price tags” for the bets on the boards. While straight bets use the moneyline to represent the odds themselves, other bet types typically include their associated moneylines (or prices) in parentheses beside the wagers in question. With the moneyline, a negative number (-) typically represents the favorite, while a positive number (+) represents the underdog. However, in a field of more than two contestants (as is so often the case in the individual Olympic events), the favorite will often also have a positive moneyline. In this case, the favorite will have the smallest positive line, while other contestants will have higher positive lines in line with their comparative longshot status.

When it comes to understanding what the moneyline actually means, it’s simple: a negative number shows how much you have to wager to win $100, while a positive number shows how much money you stand to win on a $100 wager. For example, if the US Men’s bobsled team is listed on a head-to-head matchup at -210 odds against Team Spain (at +140), a $210 bet on the American team would win $100, while a $100 bet on the Spanish team would win $140.

All odds work the same general way as the US moneyline, in that they all show the payout amounts. With British odds, you’re shown the wager’s payout ratio as a fraction. For example, if the Jamaican 100-meter relay team is on the boards at 2/5 odds, it means that a wager on the club would pay out $2 for every $5 wagered. A sub-1 fraction denotes a favorite, while a fraction greater than 1 denotes an underdog. A fractional underdog might have odds of 5/1, meaning that $5 is won on a $1 bet. As long as you remember that the numerator (the first number in the fraction) shows the amount to be won while the denominator (the second number) shows the amount wagered for said winnings, you can easily read and understand British odds. You will almost certainly come across fractional odds during your Olympics betting activities.

European decimal odds are rare on most betting boards if you live in the US or the UK, but they’re reasonably simple to understand. Decimal odds already include your stake, so whatever the posted decimal is, you simply multiply your stake by that number to get your winnings. For example, if some team or individual has 3.0 odds to win, that means that a $1 bet would yield $3 (3.0 X $1) and that a $5 bet would yield $15 (3.0 X $5). Because your stake is included, odds that are between 1.001 and 1.999 show a favorite, while odds of 2.0 and greater indicate underdogs.