If you are a gamer, you’re mostly playing Starcraft, LoL, Dota2 or CS:GO and trying to improve your skills. Other people simply enjoy watching gamecasts or eSports tournaments live on Twitch.tv as spectators, and catching up with their favorite caster on Youtube. Or you may be a combination of both.

In any case, if you’re like me, your’re playing video games, more often than betting on them. The truth is that all this eSports betting and odds stuff can be confusing; and this is where we try to help.

Odd the Differences & Figuring Profit/Loss

There are three different way of displaying odds, and most eSportsbooks (just means a place where you can bet on eSports, sometimes abbreviated as book) will let you switch to the format you feel most comfortable with. However, it’s a good idea to understand all of them just in case you end up with a book that doesn’t let you switch.

United States Odds

In the United States, you’ll often see a negative or positive number, which are both relative to $100. The Favorite would get negative odds while the underdog would have positive numbers.

• As an example, if you are given odds of -160, that means you need to bet $160, in order to win $100 ($260 total).
• If on the other hand, if you’re given odds of +160, that means you need to bet $100, in order to win $160 ($260 total).

You don’t have to bet $100, it’s just whatever minimum and maximum the eSportsbook offers.

Decimal Odds

Popular in Europe, decimal odds will present with a number like 1.60. For every $1.00 that you bet, you can potentially win $1.60. To calculate your actual profit, you’ll need to subtract your bet from the total winnings. In this example you could win $0.60 cents; ie: $1.60 – $1.00 = $0.60.

Fractional Odds

As if two different ways of presenting odds weren’t enough, we also have fractional odds which are probably the most confusing of all three. Doing the math is the easiest way to understanding this one.

For example, take odds of 3/5. You’re risking $5 to win $3. Anytime you’re risking more money than what you can potentially win, then you’re betting on the favorite to win.

If you go the other way around with odds at 5/3; you’re risking $3 to win $5. When you are risking less money than what you can potentially win, then you’re betting on the underdog.

Once you feel more comfortable reading odds, then you’ll be ready to place some bets on your favorite eSports games, teams or players.