What betting costs

A bookmaker does not need to know who will win. Its odds add up to more than 100% chance, and that excess, the margin, is the share of every bet it keeps on average. You will find no predictions and no bookmakers here: you type in the odds you see, and see what they cost.

How the margin works

Odds of 2.00 mean that every €1 brings back €2 if you win: the fair chance would be 50%. In a match between two equal sides, a fair market would price both at 2.00. A bookmaker prices them, say, at 1.90 and 1.90: the chances add up to 105.26%, and whichever side you pick, you lose €5.00 of every €100 on average.

In an example 1X2 market we typed ourselves, with odds of 2.10 3.40 3.60, the overround is 4.81% and it keeps 4.59% of every bet. In an accumulator of four such matches it keeps 17.7%.

What you will not find here

Predictions for matches, or "safe" results. Odds do not say who will win; they say what the bookmaker keeps.
Bookmakers' names, live odds or links to place a bet.
Sums for someone who believes they know the chance better than the market: here every result is measured at the market's own chances, with the margin taken out.