Why Do We Calculate Betting Margins?
We are just 17 days post World Cup (who’s counting?) and oh, boy! What a tournament to remember. There was an abundance of scintillating football full of VAR controversy, heartbreak (it’s not coming home) and incredible goals.
But, asides from the wonderful football on display, you may have noticed the surge in advertising from most of the big betting sites. In that, you may have seen several bookies claiming to have the best odds throughout the tournament. But, how do we know who has the best if they all make the same claim?
Well, this is where the betting margin comes in. Betting sites make their profit by offering odds that are higher than the actual probability of an event occurring. This margin is like the added price a betting site “charges” you to place the bet.
This is why we calculate the betting margins for all the best betting sites. Then, we can find out if they truly have the best odds throughout a tournament or any event for that matter.
With only a few days until domestic football returns to England, you will want to start looking for which betting site will be best for the new season. Of course, there is a lot more to it than just their betting margins. You will want a solid betting site with great betting offers, a wide range of markets and events, free live streaming etc.
But, you need to see the importance of their betting margins as a key factor in your ultimate decision. Firstly, let’s look at how to calculate betting margins and then compare the margins of a few of the best betting sites.
How Do We Calculate Betting Margins?
To calculate margins for football (1×2 market) as we take a look at the first game of the EFL Championship this Friday.
(1/home odds) *100 + (1/draw odds) *100 + (1/away odd) *100 = Betting margin
Bethard-Reading (3.20) – Draw (3.20) – Derby County (2.40). Betting Margin= 4.17%
Unibet- Reading (3.25) – Draw (3.15) – Derby County (2.35). Betting Margin= 5.0%
Paddy Power- Reading (3.10) – Draw (3.00) – Derby County (2.40). Betting Margin=6.99%
bwin- Reading (3.10) – Draw (3.00) – Derby County (2.40). Betting Margin= 7.26%
As you can see Bethard has the best betting margins for the first game of the new football season. Bethard also advertised as having the best odds during the World Cup and more often than not, had the best odds.
They are a promising new betting site that only launched in the UK in June this year, with the highly influential figure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic backing the brand.
