Unfortunately, if a sportsbook were to actually offer those ‘true’ odds, and bettors staked an equal amount of money on both sides, the money paid out to winners would be equal to the money retained from losing bets.
Depending on whether you prefer American, fractional or decimal odds. In that case, the true odds for each player would be +100, 1/1 or 2.0. That means each player has a 1 in 2 or 50% chance of winning. There are just two players who are evenly matched. But over the course of time, the sportsbook will should pay out less in winnings than it takes in bets.Ĭonsider a betting market for a tennis match. This doesn’t mean that a sportsbook will always make money on every event, of course. If the bookie can retain a small percentage of all money taken in bets, it will make good profits over the long term. The ‘hold’ is the percentage of money that a sportsbook builds into each and every sports betting market. Having both options to choose from enables you to get the hold information you need whenever you need it. The first is by using our sports betting Hold Calculator, and the second is by performing the calculation for yourself. We’ll also tell you how to calculate the hold in two different ways. In this guide, we’ll discuss what the hold is and why it’s important.