Q. I have a couple of questions about wagering on boxing.
by Budman
You have Hopkins -700. Eastman +450 up this week. Let's say I bet $50 on Hopkins or vice-versa. What would my pay out be? Is this over a certain number of rounds? Like by Decision K.O. or Draw does that effect the payout? I know these seem to be silly questions but I always used to bet with a local bookie and it was always like 2-1 or other odds. Or the win would have to occur within a certain number of Rounds etc.
Bookie: Budman, thanks for the question. There can be slight differences between the way an offshore presents its odds and the local way of doing it, so questions like yours are exactly the kind we appreciate.
When reading a moneyline the minus sign marks the favorite, and can be translated with the words, “this is how much you’d have to risk to win a hundred dollars.” So as Hopkins is a heavy favorite to retain his middleweight title1 against the challenger from the United Kingdom you’d have to bet $700 on him to win $100.
On the other side of the wager the numbers with a plus can be translated with the words, “This is how much you’d win if you bet $100.” So if you bet $100 on the challenger you’d win $450 if the upset occurs.
You ask about a $50 bet. The easiest way to get this figure is to enter the bet into your BetUS.com account. The pay-off will then occur, and if you don’t want to make the bet just don’t confirm it.
To go through the math, for a dog all you have to do is multiply the money line over a hundred by the amount bet. The calculation for the underdog looks like this: $50 x 450/100 = $225. For a favorite you multiply a hundred over the moneyline. That calculation looks like this: $50 x 100/700 = 7.14. Your winnings on a $50 bet on a –700 favorite, then, would be $7.14.
The line you see is a two-way line. In other words, if one fighter does not win the money is refunded.
You can also bet if the fight will go over or under a certain number of rounds. In this case most experts agree the fight is likely to go the distance, so the over-under number of the twelve round fight looks like this:
Over 11.5 –225
Under 11.5 +185
Translation: If you want to bet the fight will last longer than half-way through the eleventh round you have to bet $225 to win $100. If you want to take a chance that one of these light punchers will be able to take the other out before half-way through the eleventh round, you get the dog price of $185 in winnings for every $100 wagered.
