Ever asked the question, ‘Are high odds good or bad?’ Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Thankfully, we’ve got a handy guide below that’ll tell you exactly what high odds mean!
High odds are either great or rubbish depending on whether you fancy winning your bets or making a spectacular return. Confusing, right? Well, our guide shows you why high odds can be good AND bad. Plus we can even show you some bookies who’ll give you great odds and massive bonuses. Keep reading to find out more!
What are high odds? Here’s a good high odds example
So, odds basically reflect the probability of something happening. If there is something that has little chance of happening, it has high odds. So if you make a prediction that York City are going to win the next FA Cup, then this would have high odds.
High odds can exist for many different bet types. It could be a bet that the England cricket team would score over 1,000 runs in their next Test match, or that Iga Swiatek would win her next tennis match 6-0, 6-0. Obviously, you can also get high live betting odds too.
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So are high odds good or bad?
Sorry, but we’re going to sit on the fence on this one. High odds are good because you can get a big return if your high odds bet wins. But at the same time, high odds are bad in that you are less likely to win when you bet on them. Still confused? Let’s take a closer look.
Why high odds are good
So let’s say that you wanted to bet on Crystal Palace to win the next Premier League title. This bet had high odds of 501.00. In comparison, a bet that Liverpool would be the next Premier League champions had low odds of 3.00.
If you bet £10 on Crystal Palace, your profit would be £5,000. However, if you bet £10 on Liverpool, your profit would be just £20. So it’s a less likely bet to win, but your returns could be much more impressive.
Why high odds are bad
High odds betting is incredibly risky. This is because high odds basically means that there is little chance of something happening. Using the above example, while there is a slight chance of Crystal Palace winning the next Premier League title, it would be very surprising. Just remember that Leicester City defied the bookies when they won the Premier League at odds of 5000.00.
Why good odds are better than high odds
High odds are clearly attractive, but their risky nature means that they should be treated carefully. All of this is just another reason why it’s far better to bet on good odds, rather than high odds. There’s something of a misunderstanding about high odds in that they are always good. This obviously isn’t true, as there’s very little chance of you winning your high odds bets.
Betting on good odds is a much smarter move. But what are good odds? Well, they aren’t necessarily low odds because the returns that you get from low odds are fairly rubbish. Instead, good odds can be seen as odds that are particularly generous. These are usually those odds that are way better than what you get elsewhere. For example, if you saw bookie A with odds of 2.00 for Chelsea to beat Arsenal, and bookie B had odds of 3.00 for the same result, then you should put your bets down with bookie B. After all, you are getting better returns with bookie B’s odds with the same level of risk.
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A quick word about expected value
‘Expected value’ is a theory that a bunch of punters use that allows them to spot whenever any bookies have any ‘value bets’. These are those bets that are way more generous than the bookie meant them to be, and they’ll give you much higher odds than they should.
We could go into the mathematical formulas of expected value, but it’s beyond boring. Instead, it just means when the bookie has got it wrong, and you can swoop in and get much better odds that you ordinarily would.
Just so you know, you’ll probably have a better time finding these value bets whenever the bookie has just released its odds. This is because it won’t have had a chance to compare its odds to the competition to see how out of line they are.
Finding bookies with high odds
Finding a bookie with high odds is as easy as falling off a log. This is because all bookies will feature very unlikely bets like Stockport County winning the Champions League or a footballer saying something interesting in a post-match interview.
However, it’s much harder to find bookies with consistently good odds. Thankfully, we’ve drawn up a shortlist of UK bookies like 888 who are well-known for their consistently competitive odds. These will make sure that you get more from your winning bets regardless of whether you are backing the outright favourite, the complete no-hoper, and everywhere in-between.
Just so you know, each bookmaker featured here has UK
Gambling Commission LCCP
(licence conditions, and codes of practice). This makes it legal for the bookie to give you betting odds and it’ll actually pay you if you manage to win your bet.
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Getting fair odds for your sports - Finding the sweet spot
Hey, we’ve got an outrageous idea! Why not actually enjoy sports betting without getting caught up too much in trying to outwit the bookies. Sure, there’s no harm in hunting around for the best odds, but it’s far more fun to concentrate on making your predictions for the big game.
After all, successful sports betting is all about balancing risk and reward. So rather than chasing the short odds of the outright favourite, or the high odds of the no-hoper, why not find the middle ground to see which ‘dark horses’ could give you a fair chance of winning along with some decent returns for your efforts.
Acca betting - The pinnacle of high odds betting
If you want to dance with death and try truly high odds betting, you’ll need to put down some accumulator bets. This is where you are betting on multiple selections and all of them have to win in order for you to win your bet. So an example could be in Super League rugby where you bet on Castleford, St Helens and Wigan all to win on the same weekend.
The advantage is that the odds for all these selections combine to produce some very high odds that have little chance of winning, but could produce spectacular returns if you got lucky. Obviously, it goes without saying that acca betting produces way more losers than winners.
Risks of high odds betting
Sadly, high odds betting is risky by nature. While there’s always the chance that something could happen like Leicester City wins the Premier League at odds of 5000/1, such events are pretty rare. This means that if you insist on betting on high odds, you’ll lose most of your bets and throw all of your money away.
But what about that theory that just one big win on high odds can cancel out lots of little losing bets on low odds? Sorry, but this is total b*llocks, and chasing after your losses is about as sensible as sticking a knife into a toaster.
A quick word about enhanced odds and odds boosts
We’ve found lots of bookies like William Hill who put on enhanced odds deals or odds boosts. These simply increase the odds for specific markets making them higher than they were before. They are great ways to get more from your sports bets and the good news is that they don’t come with any crappy wagering requirements.
Let’s take an example. Imagine a bookie had odds of 10.00 for England to beat Australia in the next Ashes cricket Test series. Well, a decent odds boost deal might boost these odds up to 11.00, meaning that you’d get more from your bets in the unlikely event that England actually played some decent cricket.
Conclusion - Your resource for finding perfect odds high or low!
We realise that it might be frustrating not to get a clear-cut answer to whether high odds are good or bad, but that’s kind of what makes sports betting so interesting. After all, you’ll get to endlessly quiz yourself over whether you want to play it safe or whether you want to add extra risk with higher odds.
Plus at least now you know that it’s far more important to find bookies with good odds rather than chasing after high odds that you have no hope of winning. So make sure that you bookmark this page to ensure you’re always playing at those UK bookies with amazing odds!
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Are high odds good or bad? FAQ
❓What is an example of bad odds?
Read our guide that answers the question, ‘Are high odds good or bad?’ with some concrete examples. This means that you could go to any one of the bookies from our
list of BOG bookmakers
and know whether the odds are worth betting on. A great way of understanding the fundamentals of sports betting!
👀What does ‘the odds are high’ mean?
We’ve created a handy guide that is perfect for anyone who wants to know if high odds are good or bad. This means that you just have to read our guide and then you’ll instantly know what high odds means. From here, you can go on to read some of our more advanced guides so that you know
how to meet wagering requirements
and much more!
🔎What are the lowest odds possible?
Not only will we give you a solid answer to the question, ‘Are high odds good or bad?’ but we’ll see what the lowest possible odds are. After all, such information is essential for anything from putting down your basic bets to figuring out how to use
bookmaker free bets. So read our guide to find out more about this important issue.
⚡What is a high odds ratio?
We couldn’t have a discussion about whether high odds are good or bad without giving you a few examples of a high odds ratio. This will help you see what kinds of odds offer you the greatest kind of risk compared to reward. From here, you can go on to explore some more advanced topics that’ll show you
how to cancel a bet online
and much more. All you need to take your sports bets to the next level!
☝What is the basic odds meaning?
Read our guide that addresses the question, Are high odds good or bad? Then you’ll be on your way to understanding the basic meaning of what odds are. The good news is that the answer is simpler than the answer to the question, ‘What is request a bet insurance?’ which means you’ll soon be having a great time betting on your favourite sport.
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18+ | New UK players only | Min deposit req. £10 | Certain deposit methods excluded | Place 1 sport bet (3+ selections) | Excl Horse Racing | Min stake £10 | Max stake £20 | Min Odds 2/1 (3.0) | Max FreeBet £20 for football only | FreeBet valid for 7 days | FreeBet stake not returned |
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18+ Opt in, bet £10 on any football (odds 1/1+) within 3 days of sign up. Get 2x£10 and 1x£5 Free Bets for set football markets + £5 Slots Bonus on Big Bass Splash, 30x wagering, max redeem £125. Bonuses expire in 14 days. Click for T&Cs. GambleAware.org
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New customers only. Register (excl 05/04/25), deposit with Debit Card, and place first bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get 3 x £10 in Sports Free Bets & 2 x £10 in Acca Free Bets within 10 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility exclusions & T&Cs Apply.
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