To make the most of the tools and utilities available on this site then it is important to have a basic understanding of the principles of bookmaking and how the traders go about setting the odds for an event.

Online bookmakers generally offer three different ways of expressing the odds on an event and these are mostly determined by the region of the world you're in. The UK has traditionally used FRACTIONS to display the odds so if you placed £10 on at 6/4 then you would recieve £15 winnings plus your £10 stake returned to make a total return of £25.
The European method is to express the odds as a DECIMAL which includes the stake. So if you placed £20 on a selection at 3.0 then your returns would be £60. The final method of displaying odds is US style - positive prices (1/1 or 2.00 or above) represent the amount won from a 100$ stake. Negative prices (Below 1/1 or 2.0) represent the stake required to win 100$. To get a better understanding of how these prices differ then see the odds converter in the Betting Tools section.

Choosing a bookmaker to use should be determined by what types of bets you intend to make as some specialise in certain sports and offer more expansive markets and reduced profit margins. All the bookmakers advertised on this site are well established and more importantly trusted sites that you can use and offer a good customer service. All of the books listed offer varying bonus policies, varying limits, varying markets and even varying sports - so you have the opportunity to shop around for the best sports gambling establishment for your particular interest and betting style.
Don't be afraid to open accounts with a number of bookmakers to take advantage of all the new account and bonus offers available. This will also allow you to take the best price available for your selection and the easiest way to find this is by using one of the odds comparison sites like bestbetting. Opening 8 or 9 different accounts would not be condidered unusual these days.

Odds are created based on the probability of any given outcome and this is determined by any number of factors which include form, weather, home advantage, injuries etc. For example if there is a 50% likelihood of the home team winning the match then this would make the true odds of 1/1 or 2.0. This is calculated by dividing 100 by the decimal price of 2.0 (100/2).
The bookmaker then adds a set percentage to this probability which is their profit margin and this is sometimes called the 'juice' or 'vig'. This profit margin varies according to the market on offer and can be anything from 5% up to 60 or 70%. If the profit margin on the 1/1 shot was 10% then this now makes the probablity 60% which translates to a revised price of 4/6 and this is how the bookmaker makes a profit. The bookmakers goal is then to take money in the correct proportion (based on the odds) so that no matter the result then they will make a profit.

Traders working for individual sportsbooks have varying opinions on the outcome of an event based on their experience, knowledge and information gathered. Certain bookmakers will have customers who consistently bet on the same outcome eg Man Utd to win, so they shorten the book in that favour.
Traders move the odds or handicap for a number of reasons and these include balancing their books when money is biased to one selection. They can also do this to attract money on a particular selection if it's receiving no support. The odds can also be affected when the factors originally examined have altered such as weather conditions or injuries. The main objective of the bookmaker is to take equal action on all selections based on the odds offered while making both sides attractive to back.

There are a number of different options available if you don't want to give your debit/credit card details every time you open an account with a betting site. Here are some of the alternative payment options that are available to you.

Based in the Isle of Man, Neteller provides an excellent free online money transfer service. By acting as a sort of online wallet, funds can be accessed and transferred at any time. After opening a Neteller account customers can deposit, withdraw and transfer funds. Customer details are kept private from the merchant with Neteller acting as a central body to and from which each payment is made.

This is a free web-based bank account that operates on the same lines as a debit card. You register your details with FirePay and then money can be deposited into your account and used to pay for goods and services online. The benefit for customers are they can move their money around online gaming sites without giving out all their details.

A similar service to Neteller, Click2Pay is a fast and secure internet online wallet service used mainly by US and UK customers. A variety of currencies accepted including £GBP, €Euro and $US, handy for UK customers who like dealing in pounds

A worldwide payment service where customers have an account accessed using email and password verification. Users of the service can make deposits into their registered account using credit card or bank transfer. Ecocard then act as an intermediary between the gaming site and the customer, transferring funds back and forth for a small fee.

Providing a service where money can be sent from a credit card and transferred to and from an online bank account via email. Moneybookers is regulated by the FSA and supports over 20 currencies providing a convenient service for European gamers.

A safe and secure method of transferring money from a bank account to a directly to gaming site. A money or wire transfer company like Western Union will handle the transaction for a fee. This is a tried and tested payment method and is commonly accepted by online gaming sites.

This is a similar form of payment to a cheque. A money order can be requested at either a Bank or Post Office by making a deposit and they will generate a non personalised cheque for a fee. This can be sent to open an account with an online gaming company.

A single bet is a bet that a particular selection will win an event. This is by far the most common bet taken by a bookmaker. To settle a single bet, you simply take the basic factor, and multiply by the stake. For example, £5.00 win at 3/1 is calculated as 5 x 4.00 = £20.00

Calculate the each-way basic factor by multiplying the fractional odds by the 'place factor' and add on either one or two, depending if the selection was placed, or actually won.

For instance, in an eight runner race, the second placed horse was 15/1. The win part of an each-way bet on this horse is a loser, and the place part is calculated as 15/1 multiplied by the place factor (1/5 for 8-runner races), plus one (to include the place part of the bet's stake), and works out as 15 / 1 x 0.2 + 1 = 4.00

If the same horse won, the each-way factor would be calculated as 15/1 multiplied by the win-and-place factor (the place factor, plus one, in this case 1.2), plus two (to include both stakes) as 15/1 x 1.2 + 2 = 20.00. This new each-way basic factor is then multiplied by the each-way stake to get a settlement figure.
Examples:
£2 each-way, 14/1 winner in a 12-runner handicap - 14/1 x 1.25 + 2 = 19.5 x £2 = £39.00
£1.40 each-way, 8/1 second place in a 9-runner race - 8/1 x 0.2 + 1 = 2.6 x £1.40 = £3.64

A double is a bet that two selections will win their respective events, and the winnings from the first selection are re-invested on the second. A treble is the same thing, but with three selections. An accumulator is a generic term that refers to any number of selections, where the money from each selection is re-invested on the next runner.
Settling simple multiple bets, such as doubles, trebles and accumulators is done by multiplying together the basic factors of each of the selections, and then multiplying by the stake
Examples:
£10 double, two winners at 11/8 and 4/1. - 2.3750 x 5.0000 = 11.875 x £10 = £118.75
£2.50 treble, three winners at 2/1, 3/1 and 4/1. - 3.0000 x 4.0000 x 5.0000 = 60. x £2.50 = £150.00

Each-way accumulators are settled as two bets. A win accumulator, and a place accumulator. The win accumulator is settled in exactly the same way as above, and the place accumulator is similarly settled, but using the place odds instead of the win odds.

Remember, place odds are calculated from the win odds by multiplying by the place factor, typically a quarter or a fifth. So the place odds for 11/2 at a quarter of the odds would be 11/8, which yields a basic factor of 2.375.
Where an each-way accumulator contains one or more selection that is only placed, then the win part of that accumulator is a loser, and you only have to calculate the place part
Example: A £2.50 each-way treble, with one winner at 5/1, and two placed runners at 13/2 and 8/1. In this example, all place odds are 1/5.
The each-way odds are therefore 5/5, 13/10, and 8/5, which yield basic factors of 2.00, 2.30, and 2.60. The calculation is therefore 2.00 x 2.30 x 2.60 = 11.96 x £2.50 = £29.90

Full cover bets involve multiple selections in different events, with all possible combinations of doubles, trebles, four-folds (four selection accumulators), five-folds, and so on, up to and including an accumulator on all of the selections. All of the individual bets are at the same stake. There are two main groups of full-cover multiples; The difference being whether or not they contain singles. The most common types of these bets are the Lucky 15, and the Yankee. Both of these bets have four selections, the difference being that the Lucky 15 includes singles, and the Yankee does not.

Many people attempt to settle these bets by settling each and every bet included within them. This is a futile move, as a bet with as few as six selections can have as many as 63 possible bet combinations. So, the settler needs a shortcut. Remember all those years ago, during mathematics classes, where the teacher droned on for hours about multiplying out equations like (A + 1)x(B + 1)x(C + 1) ? The solution to this type of bet lies within that method. If you multiply out (A + 1)x(B + 1)x(C + 1) you get ABC + AB + AC + BC + A + B + C + 1. This just happens to be nearly the combination of bets in a multiple bet, with singles, but with an extra '+1' on the end. So all the settler has to do to settle these bets is take all of the winning entries, calculate the basic factors as above, add one to each of those basic factors, multiply them all together, and subtract the extra one that this process introduces. The result, when multiplied by the stake unit is the correct settlement for the bet.

Example: A £2.00 win Lucky 15 with four winners, at 8/1, 5/1, 13/2, and 7/1. The basic factors are 9.00, 6.00, 7.50, and 8.00. Add one to each of these (10.00, 7.00, 8.50, and 9.00), and multiply the results together and you get 5335. Subtract the odd one, and you have 5334. Multiply by the stake unit, and you have a quite impressive £10,668.00, plus whatever bonuses your bookmaker chooses to offer on that type of bet.

Multiple bets which do not include singles are settled in a similar way, differing only in that you have to deduct the singles from the figure. If the bet above had been a Yankee, youwould deduct the original basic factors (9.00, 6.00, 7.50, and 8.00) before multiplying by the stake. Each-way bets of either type are settled in a similar way, but in two parts. The win part, and the place part, using the place basic factors (the original fractional price divided by four or five as appropriate, plus one).