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Low Odds vs High Odds – Turn Any Odds into Profit

Low odds and high odds are two sides of the same coin. This betting guide highlights the advantages and shortcomings of each type of odds. You will learn how the decision between high odds vs low odds comes down to the same concept: risk management.

When the odds are low, you take fewer chances but settle for lower profits. The odds are high meaning implies more significant risks but the possibility of winning more if you make the right choice.

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What are low odds?

Contrary to what many people might think, low odds in betting doesn’t mean that the player has lower chances of winning the bet. Low odds, or short odds as their also often called, actually mean that the player has a much higher chance of winning the bet (high probability). But at the same time shortening odds come with lower profits.

If you don’t use often online betting sites, the name might be a bit confusing, but low odds get their name because the winnings you can get from them are often very small compared to your stake. Even a low odds high stakes system won’t help you to win big bucks.

This doesn’t always have to mean that you won’t make nice winnings from making low odds bets, but in general, they are the “safe” way to go. In other words, betting on low odds strategy is perfect for beginners. Betting on low odds is considered one of the best ways for new players who don’t have a lot of experience to get familiar with the betting scene. For this reason, we recommend taking a look at our best staking plan for low odds guide too. It contains several low odds betting tips and explains betting big on small odds in detail.

Pros and Cons of low odds betting

PROS

  • Positive return over time
  • More chances to place separate bets
  • More betting opportunities

CONS

  • Less time to research bets
  • Bigger losses

What are high odds?

Just like with low odds, many people who use betting sites for the first time get confused by the name when it comes to high odds. High odds in betting means that the payout you might win from these bets will be very high, but the chances of winning the bet are quite low.

Betting on high odds gives bettors a chance to potentially rake in massive amounts on a somewhat small bet. Of course, the chances of that happening are slim, which is why high odds are also often referred to as “slim odds”.

Pros and Cons of high odds betting

PROS

  • Potential to score big wins
  • Low stakes can have big payoffs

CONS

  • Easier to accumulate losses over time
  • Less betting opportunities

Why do the betting odds keep changing?

The odds offered by the bookmaker for a particular event change continuously until that event starts. This change can be up or down. If you are betting large amounts on low odds or high odds, you must find out how bookies set the odds. Because even high odds bookmakers can dramatically decrease the rates they offer for a particular event. To answer this question, let’s first remember the basics.

  • High odds meaning: It means that the probability of an outcome is low. For example, if odds of 9.0 for Team A are offered in a match, it means that the chance of that team winning the match is low. High odds for betting always mean that the chance of that outcome is low.
  • Low odds meaning: It means that the probability of an outcome is high. For example, if odds of 1.20 for Team B are offered in a match, it means that the chance of that team winning the match is high.

Odds are used even on e-sports betting sites and they give information about two things. One is how much money you can earn when you place a bet on that outcome (potential winnings) and two is the probability of that outcome happening. The odds offered for an event may change due to any development, but there are usually two reasons for this:

  • An unexpected development for favorites and underdogs. For example, if it turns out that the star player of the favorite team cannot play in that match, the chances of the underdog team will increase (therefore their odds will decrease) and the chances of the favorite team will decrease (therefore their odds will increase).
  • The bookmaker’s attempt to achieve balance. Whatever the outcome, the bets on both outcomes must be as equal in number as possible for the bookmaker to make a profit. If, for example, everyone is betting on the favorite team, the bookmaker changes the low or high odds ratio to keep the balance, encouraging bettors to bet on the other option as well.

Learning why odds change and how high odds betting sites work is of crucial importance. Before you bet big in low odds (or do the opposite), make sure to learn the basics. This is the best sports betting strategy we can advise, and these basics are important for all other strategies, such as football strategies and systems, prop betting strategy, over under betting, and even low and minimum betting stakes.

Betting odds explained

In order to create a low odds betting strategy and place a winning bet, you must first learn the numbers you see on the screen and their meanings. All of the best betting sites with high odds use one of these formats by default, but switching to other formats is always possible:

  • Fractional Odds – This is the “British” version of odds and it is shown by a slash or a hyphen, i.e. 4/1 or 2-1. The right digit represents your bet amount and the left digit shows how much you can win. For example, 6/1 means that you will win 6 units for every 1 unit you wager. In this regard, if you bet 10 EUR for 6/1 odds and win the bet, the payout will be 60 EUR. (You will also get your initial investment of 10 EUR back.)
  • Decimal Odds – These are known as “European” odds and they are pretty common. They are simply a number that shows how much you can win by wagering 1 unit. For example, 4.00, 2.50, and 1.20 are all decimal odds. If the odds are 4.00 for a bet and you wager 100 EUR & win, the payout will be 400 EUR.
  • American Odds – These are also known as “moneyline” odds and they are very common in money line betting. Also, as the name suggests, they are common in US betting sites. They are shown with “+” and “-“ signs. If the minus sign is used, it means how much you need to wager to win 100 USD. If the plus sign is used, it means how much you can win for every 100 USD wagered. For example, “-150” means that you need to wager 150 USD to win 100 USD. Likewise, “+150” means that you will win 150 USD for every 100 USD wagered.

The odds range value explained

  • The low odds range value

Whether you’re looking into high or low odds betting, you’ll see that both categories of betting have a different range value that defines them. With low odds, this range value is most often between odds of 1.20 to 1.40, and these are the numbers you will see the most in a betting low odds system.

In some cases, even when it is about sports betting exchanges, you’ll see punters going up to 1.60 with what they consider to be low odds. These range values will provide you with a relatively small return for your stake, but you’ll have higher chances of winning your bet, especially if you use a low odds betting system.

  • The high odds range value

Following the previous paragraph about the range values for low odds, we can deduce that high odds are considered the ones above 1.60. In different terms, high odds betting could be considered underdog betting on a team that has odds of 50-to-1 against.

The chances that you’ll win these types of bets are incredibly slim, so we recommend that you do not place large bets such as dime bets, but if a bet does end up panning out, the amount you’ll win will be much higher than your initial stake. If you have doubts, though, you can always opt for hedge betting. We have also prepared a value football betting guide and a betting odds explained guide to better clarify this subject.

The confusion between odds and probability

As mentioned before, when live betting and looking at lower odds vs higher odds (or high odds vs low odds), people often get confused. A lot of this is due to people confusing odds with probability. Probability can be defined as the number of times we can expect an event to occur during many trials, and it always ranges between 0-1. However, the odds are different. They’re the probability that an event will occur divided by the probability that the same event will not occur.

Example of dog betting:

If a greyhound participates in 100 races and manages to win 25 and lose 75 of them, then the probability of that dog winning is 25/100 = 0.25, or 25%. The odds of that greyhound winning however would be 25/75 = 0.333, or 1 win to three losses.

Low odds and high odds betting strategies

Tip

When you examine the following strategies more closely, regardless of the sports you choose to bet on, you can see that they both strive for the same goal. None is better than the other, it all depends on which one works best for each player.

  • With betting high on low odds, players can slowly build up a nice stack of winnings since the chances of a loss are lower. However, if you do lose, you’ll lose quite a high stake.
  • With low on high odds, the wins and losses are reversed. Over time, players might end up amassing quite a big pool of losses if they’re not lucky enough to snag a win, but if they do end up getting one, they’re golden.

Like with all betting, the most important part of betting low on high odds and betting high on low odds is learning to best manage your money. This way you can make the most out of your experience and know when it’s time to cut your losses and take a break.

High odds vs low odds - The bottom line

When betting for fun or profit, the decision always comes down to minimizing risks. If you want frequent winnings, you should celebrate when the odds are low on different sports. To maximize your sports betting gains, our betting advice is to look for matches and markets where the odds are high.

The low odds vs high odds debate is here to stay. Ensure you understand the betting terms and choose low or high odds based on your expectations. Exercise proper bankroll management and find value in every odd to be successful in your sports betting quest.

FAQs about betting on low and high odds:

Both high and low odds offer their unique advantages and disadvantages. Depending on what type of betting experience you’re looking for, one or the other might suit you best.

Odds and chances are not the same thing. Odds represent a ratio of favorable to unfavorable outcomes, while chances (probability) indicate the likelihood of an event happening.

Betting on low odds long-term is a “safer” way of betting but it isn’t necessarily better. Since the chances of winning when betting on low odds are higher, the player can accumulate solid winnings over time.

Betting on high odds long-term might minimize a player’s losses if they place low stakes bets but it isn’t necessarily a better betting strategy. However, if the player does manage to win their wins will be much bigger than their stake.

Both low odds and high odds betting offer some great benefits that bettors can take advantage of. It's generally safer to bet high on low odds since they represent a higher probability of winning, while betting low on high odds minimizes risk in less likely outcomes.