The odds are a number offered by the bookmaker to calculate potential winnings from a bet. For example, with a bet of 1 € and odds of 1,85, your winnings are 1,85 € (the bet multiplied by the odds).
This number is calculated by a team of analysts who work for the bookmaker on the basis of many factors and probabilities.
It is believed a weaker athlete or team gets higher odds for their victory. In spite of this, you should also consider the opponent: it is not uncommon for a potential outsider to defeat a categorical favorite in sports. Only a very experienced or a very lucky player can predict such an outcome.

There are several types of odds:
1. Decimal. Used in most European countries. It is recorded in decimal format – 2,5; 1,23; 1,68.
2. Fractional. If you bet with odds of 15/5, you will get 15 on top of every 5 € won. This number can be converted into decimal format: 15 + 5 = 20, 20/5 = 4,0.
3. American. It has positive and negative values, for example, –105 or 157. If you bet with odds of –105, then to get net winnings of 1 €, you have to bet 1,05 €. The same odds in decimal format are 1,95.

In some sports such as soccer, hockey and basketball, extra time is possible after a draw. If there is no victor even after that, this is followed by a penalty shootout.

For example, in soccer:

Bets on soccer matches are accepted for the regulation time. Time added by the referee to the main time is stoppage time (not to be confused with extra time – 2 periods of 15 minutes – which is set in cup matches and does not count except in specially agreed cases).

For example, a bet has been placed on Germany to win a quarterfinal match. The regulation time ended in a draw. The referee called extra time (2 sets of 15 minutes) and Germany won in the extra time, scoring a goal in the 120th minute. The bet on Germany to win loses (because the outcome of the regulation time was a draw). If you want to bet that Germany will reach the semifinal, then there is a special kind of bet for this called “Match-up”.

Goals, substitutions and other game events that take place during stoppage time are considered to have taken place during the regulation time (stoppage time for the first half is counted from the 45th minute; stoppage time for the 2nd half is counted from the 90th minute).

For example, the score was 0:0 in the 90th minute. The referee added 5 minutes of stoppage time to the regulation time and the home team scored a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The calculation assumes that the match ended with a score of 1:0, and the goal was scored in the 90th minute.

Ordinary, or single bets, are the most popular kind among bettors and bookmakers.

You can make a single bet on any market in live and pre-match modes, and on long-term events. Victory with a handicap, double chance, total yellow cards, defeat of a clear favorite – all these are ordinaries.

The obvious advantage of an ordinary is that it depends only on the result of one match. If it wins, the whole bet wins.

The winnings of a single bet are counted by multiplying the amount you bet by the odds set by the bookmaker. The percentage over the bet are your net winnings.

W1 – home team win. Bet is considered won when the team wins.
X – draw.
W2 – away team victory.
1X – the bet is on the two outcomes mentioned. In this case – home team victory and draw. In order for this bet to win, it is enough for the away team to win.
2X – draw and away team victory.
12 – victory of home or away team.

An ordinary can be doubled. It is a bet that combines two outcomes not related to each other in a single match. For example, home team victory and a goal total in the match – W1 and a total of over 2,5. Or a victory of the away team and a bet on both teams scoring a goal – W2 and both score.

Total is the bet on the outcome of the match (encounter), which may be expressed as the sum of goals scored (as in soccer), games played (as in tennis) or points (as in basketball). The total can also be expressed in terms of red or yellow cards, number of substitutions in the match, corner shots, aces etc.
1. Total over. The bet wins if the teams/players score more than a certain number of points.

For example, a TO bet for 2,5 goals scored wins if the three or more goals are scored in the match.

2. Total under. The bet wins if the teams/players score less than a certain number of points.

For example, a TU bet for 2,5 goals scored wins if two or fewer goals are scored in the match.

A sports bet with a handicap is possible if one team has a clear advantage. In this case, the bookmaker may tighten the requirements for the bet to win.

The handicap takes away or adds points, goals etc. depending on the type of sporting event. The bookmaker benefits from balancing the win conditions, which helps to attract more players.

In other words, the point of this option is to change the initial conditions so that a certain team can succeed more easily.

A double chance is the ability to bet on two outcomes. In hockey, soccer and a few other types of sporting events, there are three possible outcomes: the first team wins, the second team wins, and a draw. A bet of the ‘double result’ type is placed on two possible outcomes. They can be:

●  one team wins or a draw – 1Х, 2Х;
●  any team wins – 12. In this case, the bet is on the absence of a draw in the match.

Several outcomes can be combined into a bet – then it’s an accumulator bet. In this case, the odds for each outcome are multiplied, but if one of the results loses, the entire bet fails.

For example, two Champions League matches are due: Tottenham against Ajax and Barcelona against Liverpool. The player believes that Tottenham will win the first and Barcelona will win the second one. They could place two ordinaries of 1 € each: for a Tottenham win with odds of 2,285 and for a Barcelona win with odds of 1,93. Then, if both bets win, the player gets 4,215 €: (1 × 2,285) + (1 × 1,93) = 2,285 + 1,93. The player bet 2 €, so the winnings are – 2,215 €.

An accumulator bet can also be made. Then this would be one bet with odds of 2,285 × 1,93 = 4,41. But if at least one of the outcomes doesn’t match, it counts as a loss. The player bets 2 € and gets 8,82 €: × 4,41 ₽. The player bet 2 €, so the winnings are 6,82 €. It would seem that accumulator bets are more profitable. But if only Tottenham wins, and Barcelona’s match ends in a draw, the player loses their 2 €. With ordinaries of 1 € each in the same situation, the player would come out ahead.

All kinds of bets can be combined into accumulators: live and prematch, totals, handicaps, goals, stats etc. But outcomes that are connected cannot be combined. For example, “total over 1,5” and “handicap minus 1,5” for the same match: “handicap minus 1,5” already presupposes that two or more goals will be scored, which means our total automatically wins, along with the accumulator from these two results.

Systems. Accumulators themselves can be combined into a single bet. These bets are called a system, and their logic is difficult to follow, but let’s take a look at the simplest variety: a "2/3 system". The first number is the number of events in the accumulators, the second – the number of outcomes that these accumulators consist of. A system bet does not have unified odds like an ordinary or an accumulator.

First we choose the outcomes. We need three for our system. Let’s add another outcome to the previous example with odds of 1.64. Now we have the following set:

Outcome 1 – 2,285

Outcome 2 – 1,93

Outcome 3 – 1,64

We have a 2/3 system, so the bookmaker determines how many options of double accumulators there are with these three outcomes. The result is three accumulators:

Accumulator 1: result 1 + result 2 = 2,285 × 1,93 = 4,42

Accumulator 2: result 1 + result 3 = 2,285 × 1,64 = 3,75

Accumulator 3: result 2 + result 3 = 1,93 × 1,64 = 3,17

We bet 9 € on the system. The bookmaker divides the bet by the number of possible accumulators: 9 / 3 = 3 € – this is the cost of one option. Now we wait for the accumulator options to match up and multiply their odds by the price per option.

If all three outcomes match, then all three accumulators will also match:

Accumulator 1: 4,42 × 3 = 13,3 €

Accumulator 2: 3,75 × 3 = 11,3 €

Accumulator 3: 3,17 × 3 = 9,5 €

Now we add up the winnings – these will be the total winnings for the system: 13,3 + 11,3 + 9,5 = 34,1 €. We bet 9 €, so we get 25,1 € in profit.

If only two outcomes out of the three match, for example the first and the third, then only one accumulator wins: result 1 + result 3. The winnings from that are 11,3 €. We bet 9 €, so the profit is 2,3 €.

If one result wins, or no results win, the system loses.

Larger systems follow the same logic. For example, in a 3/6 system, there should be six results that form possible options for triple accumulators – of which there will be twenty.

A Bookmaker company is an organization that accepts bets.

It assesses the probability of various outcomes of events and sets odds for each possible outcome. If the odds suit the player, they can place a bet.

А bookmaker is an individual who accepts bets, calculates winnings and collects (pays out) money.

Bet – this term has two meanings:

1. An amount of money put up by the player to make a profit.
2. An event or several events whose outcomes determine the winnings.

Line – this is a list of events on which players can place bets. The bookmaker publishes a line of all their odds.

Game line – this is the bookmaker’s line with a list of events on which players can place bets. The broader the line, the larger the bookmaker.

Favorite – a team or player whose victory is considered the most probable according to analysts and bookmakers.

Outsider – an athlete or team whose chances of winning the match are assessed as being lower than their opponent’s. It is most often used to describe teams that rank lowest in various tournaments.

Outright – a bet on a long-term event.

Underdog – a team or athlete with low chances of victory.

Bonus hunter – a player that registers at a bookmaker and profits from bonuses while violating the rules.

Margin – the indicator that determines the bookmaker’s income. Due to the margin, events with the same probabilities are never assigned odds of 2,0 (which seems logical), but are instead assigned, for example, odds of 1,9. This 10% difference is how the bookmaker earns money regardless of how successful the players' bets are.

Value (value bet) – a bet on mathematically profitable odds. A value is always subjective; the player assesses the value depending on their own personal opinion.

Fork – two (or more) bets that generate profit for the player regardless of the outcome of the sporting event. Forks occur when there are different assessments of results by different bookmakers.

Bet return – bet calculated with odds of 1.0. This means the player makes no profit, but also does not make a loss. Depending on the rules of the bookmaker company, bets on matches that were rescheduled, interrupted, canceled etc. may be refundable.

Cash out (Cash Out) – a request for a premature payout on a completed bet at a bookmaker’s before the event ends. If this option is used, then a lower profit is set than the one that could potentially be received, or a cash out may be requested to minimize potential losses.

Fixed match – a sporting event whose result or outcome is known in advance to certain individuals. Match organizers may have information about the fixed nature of the match and this information may be bought and further resold, which violates the principles of fair play.

Individual total – total goals scored or points received by a team or individual player.

Free bet – a bonus offered by the bookmaker that can be used to place a free bet. If the free bet wins, only the profit minus the amount of the free bet is credited to the user’s account.