Sports betting

Bet, stake, odds, gain...

Originally restricted to races (horses, greyhounds, ...), sports betting today covers all the imaginable sports and events, from football and tennis to darts and ping-pong!

To bet, you need to place some money (your stake) to a bookmaker, specifying the outcome of the match you want to bet on.
Odds are given to each possible outcome which enables to calculate the gain paid out if the bet is winning.

You will win with a successful bet your stake multiplied by the bet's odds (under the condition that the odds is in the European format; see the page Format of odds, if it's not the case):

Gain = Stake x Odds

If I win, how should I calculate my profit?

Obviously, the higher the odds, the bigger the profit. This means, logically, that the lower the probability of winning, the higher the odds!

The profit (or the benefit) earned by the player is calculated by subtracting the initial stake from the gain:

Profit = Gain - Stake

Gains and profits: don't get confused!

As a result, you should be careful not to mix up the gain and the profit of a bet:

the gain is the total amount paid by the bookmaker (including the initial stake of the player),
the profit represents the additional value won, i.e. what the player gets as an extra from the initial stake.

If a person wants to bet on the match of the 1st League Lyon-Lille, the first thing to do is to learn about the odds. Lyon is the favorite in this match, so this team has the lowest odds. Lille is the outsider, with higher odds:

Team	Odds
Lyon	1,3
Draw	9,5
Lille	5

If the prognosis proves to be right, the gain will be 1.3 x 100 = 130 euros, and the profit goes to 130 - 100 = 30 euros. If Lyon loses or draws, the stake is lost. The same, if the bet is 100 euros on Lille, the gain will be 5 x 100 = 500 euros, corresponding to a profit of 500 - 100 = 400 euros.