All smart bettors know that odds are the key to sports betting. Teams, racers, and other sports contestants, are assigned odds by bookmakers, which indicate not only the likelihood of that party winning, but also how much will be paid out if that bet is successful. Hence, it is very important that a bettor pays attention to assigned odds, and makes every effort to get the best odds possible.

But, if odds are assigned based on the likelihood of a team winning, doesn’t that mean that all bookmakers give the same odds? No, and this is what makes sports betting so interesting. Different bookmakers may come up with different odds, because, at the end of the day, odds are only a guess on a potential outcome of an event.

One person may think a team is likely to win, while another person may come to a different conclusion. There are, after all, a great many factors to take into consideration. In other words; there is no such thing as certain odds.

Different Odds Mean Different Payouts

The thing a bettor should be most concerned about is that different odds mean different payouts. And this means, of course, that a bettor should be trying to find the odds most in favour of their chosen bet.

If it is decided that a bet will be placed on Team A, the most favourable payouts should be sought out for Team A. And, it need not be said, a good bettor will search high and low for the bookmaker that gives the most favourable odds. And any smart bettor will certainly do the same.

Don’t worry, though, this doesn’t mean hours of searching around the internet, visiting multiple online bookmakers. Thankfully, in this age of technology there are many websites concerned with listing all odds given by the most popular bookmakers. Smart bettors will visit such websites first, find the most favourable odds for a chosen bet, and place a bet with that bookmaker. Finding the right sportsbook can be tough; fortunately there are cricket betting sites that make it a lot easier, a lot faster.

Multiple Accounts

The downside of the situation is that a bettor may find themselves in a situation where creating multiple online accounts is needed, in order to take advantage of specific odds. There is no rule against having multiple accounts, but a bit of extra effort may be required, especially where keeping track of multiple accounts is concerned.

It is still, however, very much recommended that a bettor at least have accounts at all the most popular current online bookmakers.

Changing Odds

It should also be kept in mind that online bookmakers may change odds for teams, in the weeks building up to a game. This may happen as new information becomes available, and the bookmaker’s opinions changes on potential outcomes.

A bet placed with specific odds will, however, be paid out according to those odds, as they were officially at that time the bet was placed. This can make the task of finding good odds difficult, given that odds can change dramatically if a player is injured, or any other major event occurs prior to a game. For this reason it is not recommended to place bets too far in advance.