Beyond the basics of understanding the maths behind odds-making, and how to exploit a positive edge, there are tools that all sports bettors should be aware of. In this article, we introduce some of the essentials that can help all bettors, be that a casual recreational punter or a more serious value-hunter. If you're looking for an arbitrage calculator, you've come to the wrong place... there's nothing sharp about arbitrage!
- Need a quick way of converting odds from traditional fractional odds to decimal? Or from a US Money Line to decimal, and back again?
- Want to know the exact staking splits when "dutching" across several selections?
- Considering a Cashout scenario and need to check the maths?
- Have a betting history that you want to analyse for signs of skill? Use our instant p-value calculator?
- Check your optimal stake amount based on Kelly guidance and Sharp Stakes method?
- Working on a Back-and-Lay trading strategy on the exchanges or with the fixed-odds books?
- Need to quickly work out the payout of a double, treble or multiple-leg parlay?
The SharpBetting worksheet provides ultra-simple step-by-step guidance to calculate all of the above in an instant. All of these tools can be found at the link here: simply click this link and request access and someone in the SharpBetting team will send you your own copy of the file immediately.
Once you have clicked the link the file will load on your mobile or desktop browser. Simply request edit access in the file and shortly afterwards you will receive your own copy in your inbox. (Check your spam filter if you cannot find it.)
Dutching
Dutching is sharing the risk of losing across a number of runners by backing more than one selection in a race or event. One needs to calculate the correct stake to place on each selection so that the return is the same if any of them wins.
- Dutching these 2 selections is the equivalent of having a decimal odds single at odds of 1.8 by splitting the £100 total stake as advised. In this case, stake 90 on Selection 1 at odds of 2 and stake 10 on Selection 2 at odds of 18 and so on. This strategy ensures a £80 profit if any of the Selections win.
Accumulators
An 'Accumulator' bet involves more than one selection on a bet, often consisting of four or more selections, which basically requires all selections to win. The stake and return from the first selection rolls on to the next, until the final selection on the bet is settled.
- An accumulator with these 5 selections would have decimal odds of 60 and an implied probability of 1.7%. A stake of 100 would give a profit of 5900 if all selections win.
P-Value analysis
The calculated p-value will range from 0.5 to 0. A smaller p-value means a lower probability that the record has arisen by chance assuming there is no skill. For example a p-value of 0.01 means there is a 1% probability a record can arise by chance assuming no skill is present
- A bettor who has placed 10 bets at average decimal odds of 3.4 and achieved a 57% profit margin (return on investment) would earn a p-value of 0.158. One bettor in 6 picked at random would be expected to achieve these results through chance alone.
Odds Formats
US (Money Line) odds for favourites are accompanied by a minus (-) sign. Using -300 as an example, this means you must bet $300 to win $100. Odds for underdogs are accompanied by a plus (+) sign. If you see odds of +300, this means you will win $300 for every $100 you stake.
- Traditional fractional odds of 9-to-4 would be shown as 3.25 in decimal odds format and as +225 in the American Money Line format.
Other tools
As well as the above, the worksheet consists of several other useful calculations. The full list is:
- Dutching.
- Accumulators payout.
- P-Value analysis.
- Odds Converter.
- Cashout calculator (exchange and fixed-odds).
- Back & Lay trades.
- Net Position calculator.
- Kelly Criterion.
- Sharp Stakes calculator.
- Odds Table.
If you would like a copy of this set of tools simply click this link and request access to the worksheet. We will then send you your own copy for free. It's all part of the SharpBetting service!
____________________
You can sign up to our newsletter which provides free positive EV betting advice, or Join Our Waiting List by visiting the SharpBetting.co.uk website. We look forward to welcoming you there.
Other reading
- Betting 101; the basics. Click here.
- What is the Sharp Stakes method? Click here.
- Sharp strategies for all levels. Click here.
- The Road To £8,000. Click here.
- Free tips via email? Click here.
____________________
Don't forget to join our 10,000 followers on X at @SharpBettingGB. And if you have any questions about this article, you can contact David on X at @dwmh.
