Hong Kong Odds Review

Betting odds are a numerical expression of an event happening, typically in a sporting event or horse race. The Hong Kong odds represent the likelihood of something happening and something not happening. The most basic betting market is for the toss of a coin in which both outcomes have an even chance of happening and not happening.

There are six different odds formats, which are mainly used in countries of their origin. The methods by which odds are expressed are as follows:

• Hong Kong
• Decimal
• Fractional
• American
• Indonesian
• Malay

Hong Kong Odds show the winnings from a 1 unit bet, and the figure is always positive and 1.000 or bigger or smaller. These odds are the equivalent of odds against and odds-on in fractional odds. Even money is shown as 1.000 because a €/$/£100 bet returns €/$/£200 which is a profit of €/$/£100 plus the stake.

Odds Conversion

The art of bookmaking is to create a market that attracts business while having a built-in profit margin for the bookmaker. A market is said to be over round when the odds represent a book of over 100%. There is no direct calculation for the Hong Kong Odds odds profit margin in a three-way market. An odds conversion table shows the odds expressed in Hong Kong Odds and fractional formats.

 

Outcome 1	1.0000	1/1	100 divided by (1 + 1) / 1)) = 50.00
Outcome 2	2.0000	2/1	100 divided by (2 + 1) / 1)) = 33.00
Outcome 3	3.0000	3/1	100 divided by (3 + 1) / 1)) = 25.00

TOTAL: 108.00

This book has an over round or theoretical profit margin of 8.00%.

Conversion Table

Here is an odds conversion table for odds-on, Evens and odds-against.

Hong Kong	0.5000	1.0000	2.0000
Decimal	1.50	2.00	3.00
Fractional	1/2	Evens	2/1
American	-200	+100	+200
Indonesian	-2.0000	1.0000	2.0000
Malay	0.5000	1.0000	-0.5000

Examples

Here are examples of Hong Kong Odds for three of the most popular betting sports and the most basic betting market which is the win single:

Football

Home Win	2.0000	2/1	100 divided by (2 + 1) / 1)) = 33.00
Draw	2.2500	9/4	100 divided by (2 + 1) / 1)) = 33.00
Away Win	1.5000	6/4	100 divided by (2 + 1) / 1)) = 33.00

TOTAL: 103.77.

This book is over round or has a profit margin of 3.77%.

Tennis

Player 1	1.0000	1/1	100 divided by (1 + 1) / 1)) = 50.00
Player 2	1.2500	4/5	100 divided by (4 + 5) / 5)) = 55.56

TOTAL: 105.56.

This book is over round or has a profit margin of 5.56%.

Horse Racing

Horse 1	2.0000	2/1	100 divided by (2 + 1) / 1)) = 33.33
Horse 2	4.0000	4/1	100 divided by (4 + 1) / 1)) = 20.00
Horse 3	3.3333	10/3	100 divided by (4 + 1) / 1)) = 20.00
Horse 4	8.0000	8/1	100 divided by (10 + 3) / 3)) = 23.09
Horse 5	7.5000	15/2	100 divided by (8 + 1) / 1)) = 11.11
Horse 6	9.0000	9/1	100 divided by (9 + 1) / 1)) = 10.00

TOTAL: 109.30.

This book is over round or has a profit margin of 9.30%.

The same calculation applies regardless of the total number of potential outcomes. As a rough guide, a typical betting market will be compiled with a profit margin of about 1.5% to 2% per runner or possible outcome.