The popular belief is that profiting from sports betting is a much easier thing to accomplish than consistently making money via casino gambling. While that is true, it is still no walk in the park. Sports bettors need all the help they can get to overcome the unpredictability this pastime brings and surpass bookmakers’ margins.
Thus, everyone serious about being successful in this hobby should look to leverage every tool at their disposal. Some of the most used and easily accessible ones are betting calculators, for which we have prepared the guide below. It goes into the main things to know about these instruments and how you can use them to your benefit.
What Are Betting Calculators?
They are digital tools created for bettors to make more informed decisions. This is a blanket tool for simple pieces of software, often embedded in websites or apps that preform mathematical operations en route to supplying valuable info about different aspects of sports betting. They eliminate the need for manual calculations, and seek to aid in the quick determinations in terms of wagering strategies.
Different types of these calculators exist, which we discuss below. The common factors are that they are largely free, easily discoverable through Google searches, and require the inputting of figures. They can convert odds, give a clearer picture of the financial implications of a bet, and more.
Without question, these tools play a crucial role in streamlining the betting process, allowing bettors to focus on strategy rather than on cumbersome calculations. They can also assist with things like bankroll management and responsible wagering.
In short, they are time-savers for pros and recreational bettors, making smart betting more convenient.
Types of Betting Calculators and How to Use Them
As noted above, you can find various betting calculators on the Web covering different aspects of sports gambling. Here, we give you the most commonly utilized ones.
Odds Converters
These are self-explanatory, and as the subheading states, they are converters. They transform one odds format into another and are indispensable for bettors who use region-centric sportsbooks. Those who have experience with wagering on sporting events know that various parts of the globe have developed ways to display winning coefficients. In North America, the moneyline is the established form, while in Europe, the decimal format is dominant. However, you also have fractional odds, such as Hong Kong, Indonesian, Malaysian, and so on.
Thankfully, higher-end crypto sportsbooks these days let you view their odds in a format of your choosing, giving you the option to select between the six most famous ones. Nonetheless, if this is not an available choice or you are viewing a tip, you will need to locate an odds convertor to morph odds present in one format to your desired one. An example of an odds conversion is a money line of -200, which translates to decimal odds of 1.5, or ½ in fractional format
Parlay/Accumulator Calculators
A parlay is the term for an accumulator bet, as explained in our glossary page. For those unfamiliar with both, these wagers combine multiple selections into a single bet, which all must win for it to payout. Parlay or accumulator calculators allow you to see the combined payout for multi-leg bets.
They work in such a way that you enter the odds for each selection along with your total stake, and then the calculator calculates your expected payout if you get all your picks right.
Hedge Betting Calculators
Hedge betting calculators can give you an edge, profitability-wise, by allowing you to mitigate losses or secure a profit by placing additional bets on opposing outcomes. That is what hedging is, and this practice gets employed when someone wants to lock in profits regardless of the final result.
The hedge calculator will ask that you enter your initial stake and its odds, and then the odds for the hedge wager. It will then provide the optimal stake for the hedge bet to secure a profit. This type of wagering is ideal when someone wants to limit risk on a bet that is close to winning, and it gets predominantly utilized in future markets.
Arbitrage Calculators
Arbitrage is similar to hedging, but it entails exploiting differing odds across bookmakers on the same event for a profit. Hedging, as explained is risk-reduction through placing additional bets on opposite outcomes.
Arbitrage calculators make it easier for you to calculate the precise stakes needed to ensure a profit by inputting the odds for each outcome from different sportsbooks and letting the calculator tell you what the optimal stake you must place on each outcome. The process will ideally guarantee a profit regardless of the result of the event.
Kelly Criterion Calculators
The Kelly Criterion is a formula from probability theory that has been utilized in the sports gambling landscape as a method to determine the optimal bet size for maximizing bankroll growth while managing risk.
Hence, these calculators determine the ideal sum for staking as a percentage of your bankroll, trying to maximize your growth rate. If you believe that a wager has a 60% winning chance, and you get odds of +200/3.00 on it, then a Kelly Criterion calculator will suggest a distinct bet sum you need to put down on it.
Expected Value Calculators
They are also known as EV calculators; these aid in evaluating a bet’s profitability in the long haul. They show how statistically profitable a pattern is over time. They do that by considering the likelihood of winning relative to the potential payout. It is vital not to forget that EV calculators also exist to discern the quality of bonuses, telling you the likelihood that you can actually get something from a promo offer. However, these work better for casino gambling, as the long-term winning probabilities in gaming products have been determined mathematically by their creators.
Over/Under Calculators
They compute the optimal stake for over/under wagers. As you probably are well aware, these are bets that require you to predict whether the total score of a contest will go over or under a specified number. These tools quantify this probability for live betting based on factors like the current scoring rate, the time remaining in the current quarter, and the current scores of both teams. The problem with them is they work under the assumption that the game pace will remain constant, which is rarely the case.
Implied Probability Calculators
These just flip the odds supplied by a bookie to that operator’s view on what the implied probability of something happening will be, factoring in their margin. Implied probability is the percentage chance of an event happening, and this is useful for spotting value bets when you compare the bookmaker odds to the fair odds (the margin removed). Most bettors use these to evaluate the fairness of odds offered by bookmakers and compare their personal estimates for implied probability to find valuable bets.
ROI Calculators
ROI stands for return on investment, a term popularized by the financial sphere. Most ROI sports betting calculators ask that you input your bet size, the odds of the event you will wager on, and its fair winning probability. Doing that, an ROI calculator will tell you instantly whether your planned gamble has a positive or negative ROI. The first implies good value, and the second is low possibility or profitability. Unlike EV calculators, these measure the profitability by comparing the profit to the initial amount wagered.
Other Type of Calculators
Here are a few more types of betting calculators we have seen – 3-Way No Vig Calculator, Futures Calculator, Martingale Calculator, Confidence Interval Calculator, NFL Prop Bet Calculator, NFL Spread Calculator, Super Bowl Squares Calculator, Reverse Bet Calculator, Dutching Calculator, Teaser Calculator, Round Robin Calculator, Half-Point Calculator, One Sided T-Test Calculator, and Closing Line Value (CLV) Calculator.
How to Use a Betting Calculator
The procedure should be super straightforward, as most of these are rudimentary pieces of software with only a few input fields. The most crucial thing about them is to understand the data you are entering and how to read the produced results.
Accordingly, you should have a quality grasp on the odds format you are using, what winning chances it depicts, and understand how the bet type you are planning to lay down functions. Also, being wise to metrics like total potential returns, profit, implied probability, etc., is essential for accurately reviewing the provided calculations. How correctly you can interpret them.
Therefore, entering numbers in a calculator of your choosing is easy, but before doing so, make sure you are cognizant of all the concepts we have talked about here.
How Betting Calculators Elevate Strategy
They should not only be number crunchers but also assist in developing a disciplined approach to your sports betting hobby. They do that by helping you identify opportunities where the potential payout of a bet exceeds the actual risk. They, too, can inform you on what sized bets you should make based on your bankroll and the perceived likelihood of winning. That helps you avoid over-or-under betting, which can lead to unbalanced bankrolls and increased risk.
As you likely know, effective bankroll management is a cornerstone of profitable gambling. If you can properly calculate potential returns, you can control how much you stake on each bet. Naturally, that refers to it being relative to your bankroll, which reduces the risk of significant losses, possible through payout/ROI calculators. Hedge and arbitrage are indispensable for low-risk, long-term tactics that operators frown upon, and you should only use them for your wagering activities at select sites that let you capitalize on profitable situations through this type of gambling.
Overall, calculators enhance decision-making by providing accurate data for evaluating bets, boosting your chances of success in sports betting.
Pros and Cons of Betting Calculators
Like with everything in life, these tools also have their positive and negatives, and we look at the key ones from both categories here.
The Pros of Betting Calculators
Accuracy
They provide precise calculations if one does not manually enter incorrect data. They remove the risk of human error in complex computing and supply correct information that should then be used correctly.
Efficiency
They are massive time-savers. Even if a person is a math wiz, calculating complex wagers can eat up loads of time. Plus, fatigue and a lack of focus can lead to mistakes. That is not something that comes into play with software, which does not have our flaws regarding mental ability and concentration.
Basis for Strategic Moves
They deliver data-backed insights removed of biases. That can empower you to make well-informed decision driven by things like statistical profitability.
The Cons of Betting Calculators
Over-Dependency
Math and analysis is all fine and dandy, but excessive dependency on numbers can sometime blind a gambler, and lead to an overly mechanical approach to betting, which can also be a hindrance. Over-reliance of these calculators can breed a false sense of security, especially tricking novice bettors that they have quantitative insights that will always street them in the right direction. The truth of the matter is that numbers often have a limited contextual understanding of what is going on, the way that experience bettors can.
May Encourage Risker Betting
That especially holds for parlay and arbitrage calculators, which can emphasize potential gains and profit possibilities. Gamblers, by and large, are impulsive people, and the mentality to go after big wins is something that many possess.
Paralysis by Analysis
Thinking things through is always a good idea, but overthinking can be a problem. The phrase paralysis by analysis refers to the feeling of someone being unable to make a decision on account of them overanalyzing a problem, and factoring in too many elements, which can allow opportunities to slip by, ones that should have gotten acted upon when they presented themselves.
The Verdict on Betting Calculators
They are necessities for those how prefer a numbers-backed way of wagering, instead of leaning on only their knowledge and gut. Since these are free tools, in our eyes, it is a no-brainer that everyone should consult them, at least now and again for attaining a better overview on how things function in this landscape.
As the online gambling arena evolves, we are sure that more calculators will appear as the number of available markets grows, and these, along with AI-driven analysis, will be essentially for strategic/responsible betting for gamblers of all levels, giving them more clarity than ever in raking in returns from this activity..
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is a betting calculator?
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Are betting calculators free to use?
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Do betting calculators guarantee winnings?
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What bets do betting calculators handle?
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What is an arbitrage calculator?
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What is a Kelly Criterion calculator?
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How accurate are betting calculators?
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Are betting calculators useful for live betting?
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Are there betting calculators specifically for certain types of sports?
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Can I use betting calculators for non-sports betting markets, like politics or entertainment?