We’ve all heard the phrase ‘Odds-On’ either in Horse Racing, Football, and even on the X Factor, there’s always someone, or something that is considered to be ‘Odds-On’. It’s part of our every day language but what does it really mean?

Today the phrase is used to indicate a ‘nailed on’ favourite, a team or player who is almost certain to win. You will hear football commentators saying “Manchester City will be odds-on to beat Newcastle at home” or “Messi is Odds-On to score tonight” However, it doesn’t necessary mean that Manchester City are technically ‘Odds-On’ with the bookmakers. So what exactly makes a bet Odds-On?

We’re far more used to seeing ‘odds against’, we just don’t refer to them as such. Examples of ‘odds against’ would be 11/10, 6/5 or 3/1 in betting terms you’re winning more than you’re risking. £10 at 3/1 will give you a £30 profit if the bet comes in.

“Odds-on” is the opposite of “odds against”. It means your bet will return less than the amount you’ve risking. Odds such as 1/3 or 4/6 are Odds-On, using the example of 1/3 (the reverse of 3/1) I will show you how much you could win with an Odds On bet. £10 staked at 1/3 odds will give you a total profit of £3.33 if it wins. Obviously you’re risking £10 to win £3.33 but remember that football teams are usually Odds On for a reason – they’re more likely to win!

Below you can see examples of Odds On bets from the Bundesliga, the odds circled are the odds-on prices.

The returns with Odds On wagers are smaller than odds against but that doesn’t automatically make them bad bets.

For example, in a recent Premier League game, Arsenal are odds-on (2/5) to beat Everton at home. If you placed £20 on Arsenal and they won, you’ll get £28 returned in winnings. In total you would walk away with £8 profit on your bet.

So, if you wagered £20, you would win £8 – £2 profit for every £5 you wagered, provided of course Arsenal actually beat Everton. So yes, you still make money even when the odds look ridiculously short.

Most of us are not high rollers. We like to dabble and have a few quid on a game to make it more interesting. By offering low odds on the standard win markets a bookmaker is gently nudging us in other directions.

What happens in the end is that we start to believe the low odds are ridiculous and go off hunting for something better and ultimately riskier, we end up putting our money on some random player to be the first goalscorer at 10/1 because we think that offers better value.

But think logically for a moment. Firstly there has to actually be a goal scored. Assuming that there is, only one of the 22 players on the filed can actually be the first goalscorer. So now you only have a 1 in 22 shot that you’ve picked the right player.

However, as a football match can only end in one of THREE ways. Home win, a Draw or Away Win, your chances of being right are more than seven times greater than correctly picking the first goalscorer.

Don’t get confused by Odds-On bets, you still actually win money. Yes, it’s less than a 10/1 winning bet, but you’re still beating the bookies. Having said that, if betting Odds-On is not for you and you’re looking for a bigger payouts then do consider the benefits of the accumulator bet.

Take the four Odds-On teams in the image from the Bundesliga above, each team is considered is ‘sure thing’ to win. However, individually none of those odds excite you, why risk £90 to win £10?

The Accumulator bet allows you to roll all four games into one big bet. You can see from the betting slip image below, that by combined those four teams you could now risk £90 to win £335.