Fixed Odds Betting - Fully Explained with Examples

Fixed odds betting is the most common form of sports betting, where you know your potential payout before the event begins. his article explains how fixed odds betting works, provides examples, and compares it to other types of betting like spread betting and parimutuel betting.

Claudia Hartley

Sports Betting Writer

Last Updated: 2024-08-05

Fact checked by:

Louis Hobbs

Lead Journalist

6 minutes read

Image Credit: Unsplash

Table of Contents

If you’ve ever placed a bet, then it’s a good chance that it was a fixed odds bet. It might be a phrase that you’ve not heard before, but it’s the most common way of betting on sports across almost all online sportsbooks.

Fixed odds betting involves taking a price with a bookmaker, making your bet, and being paid out according to the odds that you took. We’re going to take a look at exactly how fixed odds betting works, alongside some examples.

What is Fixed Odds Betting?

Fixed odds betting is any type of betting where you know the odds that you’ll be paid out at before the event begins. It could be a horse race, a football match, or a baseball game. Any instance where you place your bet and you’re guaranteed to get the odds that you took is a fixed odds bet.

Fixed Odds vs. Other Betting Types

Fixed odds betting is certainly the most dominant kind of betting. However, there are other options for placing your bets. Let’s take a look at some of the different kinds of betting and how they stack up against fixed bets.

Spread Betting

Spread betting is a popular type of betting where how right you are, affects how much you’ll win. You choose your market (such as the total number of goals in a match). Then, you buy if you think the market’s prediction is too low, and sell if you think it’s too high.

All of the money wagered goes into a pool and your profit or loss depends on how much the final result differs from the market’s prediction. If you’ve correctly bought and the result is much higher than the market predicted you can win a lot, but if you’ve sold and the result is much higher you can lose a lot.

Parimutuel Betting

Parimutuel betting is sort of halfway between spread betting and fixed odds betting. It’s particularly common in horse racing where you place your bets with the Tote. Here you wager on an outcome just as you normally would, like which horse will win the race. All of the other people who’ve placed a bet with the Tote will have their stakes pooled together.

Once the betting has closed, odds are calculated based on how much money has been placed on each horse. The horses with the largest amount of money placed have shorter odds, and vice versa. The Tote (or betting exchange) will also take a commission. Once the race is finished, the payouts are calculated, with winners sharing the pool based on their own stake and the calculated odds.

Best Odds Guaranteed

Some sportsbooks offer a bonus that’s known as best odds guaranteed. It’s particularly prevalent in horse racing markets, but also sometimes available in other sports. This is where you take a fixed odds bet and if the price lengthens before the event begins, then you’re paid out at the longer price.

Examples of Fixed Odds Betting

You’ll find fixed odds betting in all sports, but let’s take a horse race as an example. Below are the different ways that you’ll see fixed bets presented.

Odds against: the most common odds for fixed odds betting are odds against bets, this is where you multiply your stake by the odds. For example, a long priced horse as 20/1 will give you a £200 return for a £10 stake, because 20x10=200.
Even money: here, you win exactly the same amount as your stake, if the horse wins. These odds can be written as 1/1 in fractional odds, 2 in decimal, or +100 in moneyline.
Odds on: these odds are reserved for horses who are very much the favourite. Here, you win a fraction of your original stake. So if a horse has odds of 1/5 and you bet £100 then if the horse won, you’d receive a fifth of your stake (£20) plus your original £100 stake.

Examples of Dutch Betting

One of the aspects of fixed odds betting that bookmakers don’t necessarily like so much, is that it can be taken advantage of. If you notice that different bookmakers are pricing an event differently then it’s possible to place a bet on every outcome in that event and still make a profit. This is called dutching. It’s very similar to match betting, but instead of backing one outcome and then laying it elsewhere, you bet on all outcomes, without laying any bets.

How a Dutch Bet Works

1.    Find two sportsbooks with fixed odds on the same event that differ significantly from one another.
2.    (Optional) See if you qualify for a free bet at either of the sportsbooks.
3.    Choose a sport where there are only two to three possible outcomes is. So finding fixed odds on football would be a good start.
4.    Select your match and enter the prices into a dutch betting calculator.
5.    Use the outcome from the calculator and your free bet to place your wagers. You should be guaranteed a small win.

Claudia HartleySports Betting Writer

With a decade of experience in the sports betting industry, Claudia can spot a value bet from a mile off. She prides herself on not just being a sports writer, but a fastidious researcher too.