Why Do Football Betting Platforms Have Different Odds?

Every punter desires odds that will deliver value for the money they stake. Therefore, it’s essential to understand how different football betting platforms determine their odds. This process is not as straightforward as you may think. But you can get better value for your time and money.

There are two concepts that will help you answer this question. These concepts include what defines actual odds and how betting platforms adjust them for profit.

What Determines Actual Odds?

Before football analysts can demine the actual odds of a match, they have to consider various factors. Such factors include the opinions of pundits, the history of the two opposing teams, the home or away factor and other statistics. After all this research and analysis, the bookie can establish the most probable odds of the match.

In a Fair World

Let’s assume the following odds are established after much analysis. A home win is 5:1, Away win 2:1 and draw is even. Such odds represent 50% chance for a draw, 16% chance for an away win and 34% chance for a win at home. If the betting platform were to present such odds, they would apply what is called a fair book. Here all the odds sum up to 100%. This would be untenable because they have to make a profit too.

How Betting Platforms Determine Their Odds

Betting platforms adjust the actual odds downwards before offering them to users. Each platform has its method of applying this process, and it can get very complicated. However, proportional decreasing is the easiest method of explaining this.

The above example has a proportional relationship of 3:2:1. If the platform were to adjust it to 6:4:2 the odds would sum up to 120% instead of 100%. The punter would bet using the fair book system, and the platform would make 20% of the money staked on the bet. This figure is known as the vig or the bookmaker’s margin.