What Are Long & Short Odds?
Last Updated on December 1, 2023
By Jacob Potter 
Long and short odds can be difficult to understand for relatively new bettors, so you’ve reached the right page if you’re looking to understand everything you need to know about long and short odds.
What Are Long & Short Odds?
Long Odds
Long and short odds are also known as odds on, and odds against, but they mean the same thing. Long odds are typically shown on a betting site on a betting market where the outcome isn’t very likely. A good example of long odds being offered would be if a football team in the National League were set to face Manchester City of the Premier League. Manchester City would be the big favourites to win that match with the quality they have in their team, and so the team in the National League that they were taking on would be available to win at long odds with the majority of leading betting sites.
Short Odds
Short odds are usually available on outcomes that are more than likely to happen during a certain event. Short odds are typically priced under Evens (1/1 or 2.0) and can be found on many different betting markets within a bookmakers’ sportsbook. A good example of short odds being available would be for a player of Novak Djokovic’s quality taking on a player that is playing his first professional match. Djokovic has won plenty of Grand Slam titles and when performing at the top of his game, it would be a huge upset if he was to lose against someone playing their first professional match. Therefore, this difference in quality will be recognised by a betting site, as they’ll offer very short odds on Djokovic winning the match.
It can be difficult to maximise your potential return on short odds in the short term unless you’re staking a considerable amount of money. However, over the long run, if you’re a skilled bettor that looks into statistics and the purposeful meaning behind each betting selection, then you could see a sizeable amount of profit in the long term, which is exactly what any punter should be striving for.
Examples Of Long & Short Odds
Long Odds
Short Odds
What To Do
As previously mentioned, it can be difficult to win a significant amount of money from short odds bets, but over time, if you’re consistently winning, then you could see a return of a good amount of funds depending on how much you’re staking on each bet. Skilled bettors often look into various statistics on certain betting markets, as they look to potentially capitalise on long odds that are being offered by a betting site on a selection that wins more times than not.
However, these are relatively rare to find with the majority of bookmakers in the lead-up to an event taking place, although some eagle-eyed punters can find value in certain betting markets and odds as soon as they’re released by the operator. Long odds provide more value to punters who are potentially looking for a big-price winner in the short term, but it’s hugely important to remember that long-odds bets are much less likely to win than short-odds bets.
You can find out more about other strategies on our page for how to bet online and a more in-depth look with our odds explained page.
