With the pandemic taking over the lives of people all over the world, the cricket fans in India finally have a chance to celebrate the game again. IPL has moved to the UAE this year and the joy of watching the game being played in a roaring crowd is missing. It has not put a pause on people’s enthusiasm as they enjoy watching the live transmission of the game and continue to pick their winning teams on Cricket Betting.
Cricket betting has seen a revival, and there is little or no possibility of watching the game live. More and more people now want to get the thrill through betting but are not aware of how it all works. To make it easy for all the new-comers and to give better clarity to the experienced ones, the basics of cricket betting and its odds are explained below:
- What Are Cricket Betting Odds?
The betting odds are an indication of the rewards that you can get if your chosen team happens to win the match. If you bet on a particular team that has odds of 1.35, it means that you will get 1.3 units for every unit of betting. i.e. if you bet ₹100, you will be rewarded with ₹135, if your team wins. If your team loses, you do not win anything and lose the money that you have bet.
- Formats for Writing Odds
The odds for a cricket bet can be written in two different formats. Both the formats are easy to understand when you know how to interpret them:
- The Fraction Format
Odds of ½ for a result means that you will get half of your bet as a reward in addition to your wagered money if you win. Odds of 7/4 will give you 1+7/4 in return.
- The Decimal Format
The odds described above when written in decimal format will read as 1.5 in the first instance and 2.75 for the second. The decimal figures indicate the reward as a multiple of your bet. Hence, a bet of ₹10 will give returns of ₹15 and ₹27.5, respectively.
- How Are the Odds for a Bet Decided?
The odds of a bet are decided based on the probability of the occurrence of the event. The event, in this instance, is the winning of a specific team. In cricket betting, there is also the factor of the bookmaker’s profit that is taken into account. As more people bet in favour of a team, the odds continue to change per profit margin.
- What Are the Odds Without Profit Margin?
The possibilities of winning for all the teams in a tournament add to 100. If there are three teams, the probabilities could be 60-20-20 or 60-30-10 or even 50-20-30. Consider the scenario when the possibilities are 60-40-40 for teams A-B-C respectively. If we only consider the probabilities, the odds for each team would be 100/60, i.e. 1.666 for the first team and 100/20. i.e. 5.0 for the other two teams.
- How Do They Change with Profit Margin?
Since the profit margin of 7% also must be included, the total probability should be 107%. The probability could become 65-24-18. It will result in the odds becoming 100/65, i.e. 1.54 for the first team, 100/24, i.e. 4.12 for the second and 100/18, i.e. 5.55 for the third team.
- What Are the Chances of Optimal Winning?
The bettor will always make a lesser profit than the best-case scenario in betting as the margin of the bookie will pull their winnings down.
- What Happens When an Underdog Team Wins?
If a team, which is not expected to win (and has had lesser people betting on it), plays well and wins, those who have bet on the team make a handsome amount of money. The bookmaker also makes a reasonable profit as he has to pay out to a lesser number of people. If the underdog team gets more bets in its favour and again wins, the bookie stands to make a loss. To avoid this, he shifts the odds in favour of the team with lesser action and ensures profit. Thus utilising reams of data to turn a profit.
Conclusion
When you place a bet, you need to keep the odds in mind. You must also pay attention to the teams playing, their statistics and the form of the players. The external factors are the pitch, the weather conditions and the crowd support (which is sadly missing this time). Most factors are generally taken into account when deciding the odds, but luck can turn any time.
