Find the Best Odds: How to Compare Margins at Sharp Bookmakers and Exchanges
The short answer
The best odds sit where the margin is thinnest, so compare the margin inside a price, not the biggest number on the screen. Sharp bookmakers run thin margins, and exchanges such as Betfair Exchange and Orbit Exchange charge a commission on winnings instead. AsianConnect, BetInAsia, MadMarket and Sportmarket each reach Pinnacle, Betfair Exchange and Orbit Exchange through their platforms. Below we work out a margin step by step, set a margin beside a commission and show how to compare prices on one screen.
What makes odds the best
Three things decide it. The first is the cost inside the price, which is what this page measures. The second is the maximum the operator accepts on that market, and the third is whether you can open an account there and keep using it. The margin comes first below, then the maximum, then the way in through a broker (the panel above shows the four that get you there). Every price here is decimal, so 2.00 means a 100 stake comes back as 200, stake included.
A bigger number is not a better price.
We compare the cost before we compare the odds, every time. A price that looks higher on an exchange can pay less than a lower bookmaker price once the commission is out, and the margin tells you what a whole market costs, which is a better guide than any single figure. If brokers are new to you, the basics of betting brokers explains the account you will be using.
Working out a margin
The margin is what a bookmaker keeps inside its prices, and you find it by turning every price into a chance. Divide 1 by the price and you have the chance it implies; a 2.00 says one in two. It is the oldest and dullest sum in betting, and the only one you need for the rest of this page.
The picture shows what the sum finds: the chances behind a bookmaker's prices add up to more than the whole.
Take a two-way market priced at 1.62 and 2.40. Four steps get you from the prices to the fair odds.
Turn each price into a chance
1 divided by 1.62 is 0.6173, and 1 divided by 2.40 is 0.4167.
Add them up
0.6173 plus 0.4167 is 1.0340. What sits above 1 is the margin, here 3.4%.
Take the margin out
Divide each chance by the total: 0.6173 divided by 1.0340 gives 0.5970, and 0.4167 divided by 1.0340 gives 0.4030. The two now add up to exactly 1.
Turn them back into odds
1 divided by 0.5970 is about 1.68, and 1 divided by 0.4030 is about 2.48. Those are the fair odds, the prices with no margin in them. The shortcut gives the same answer: multiply each price by the total, 1.62 × 1.0340 and 2.40 × 1.0340.
The same sum works with three outcomes, and the questions at the foot of the page run one. Taking the margin out in proportion, as here, is the simplest method and the only one we use. If the best prices you can find across several operators add up to less than 1, that is a different trade, set out in arbitrage betting explained. Lines in Asian handicap are priced in pairs and read the same way.
Why margins differ
Operators are paid in different ways, and the price shows it. A mainstream bookmaker lives on customers whose bets lose over time, so it keeps a wide margin and trims the stakes of the few who win. A sharp bookmaker lives on volume, so it can keep the margin thin and take big stakes at it. The thin end of the market sits with the operators built for volume. An exchange has no margin at all; it takes a commission, and the next section deals with that. Sharp betting basics explains what makes an operator sharp, and the page on Asian bookmakers lists the ones that work this way.
The table below prices one even market three ways. The prices are invented to show the arithmetic; real prices differ by market and by day.
| Price | Chances add up to | Margin | A winning 100 stake returns | Average return per 100 staked at 50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price A: 1.96 on each side | 102.0% | 2.0% | 196 | 98 |
| Price B: 2.00 on each side, 3% commission on winnings | 101.5% | 1.5% | 197 | 98.5 |
| Price C: 1.90 on each side | 105.3% | 5.3% | 190 | 95 |
Small gaps, repeated bet after bet.
Read the table on a market where each side has a true chance of 50%. A 100 stake comes back as 98 on average at price A, 98.5 at price B and 95 at price C, and that gap is what you buy or lose when you choose where to bet.
Margin or commission
An exchange puts no margin in its price. It takes a commission from your winnings instead, so you take the commission out of the odds before you compare them. We use 3% here to keep the sum simple.
Suppose a bookmaker offers 1.96 on an outcome. To pay as much at a 3% commission, an exchange price has to reach 1.99: 1 + 0.96 / 0.97 = 1.9897, which rounds to 1.99, and 1 + 0.99 × 0.97 = 1.9603 confirms it, while 1.98 falls short at 1 + 0.98 × 0.97 = 1.9506. Look back at the table: price A pays 98 on average and price B, with its commission, pays 98.5, so a margin and a commission can land within half a point of each other.
The commission is the one charge a winner sees written down. The margin appears on no statement at all.
On BLACK at BetInAsia the commission on exchange bets is already in the price you are shown, and bets on the connected bookmakers carry none. On Sportmarket's platform the bookmaker and exchange fees are built into the odds, and the betslip price does not change at settlement. On those two the number on the screen is the number to compare. Rates differ from one exchange to the next, and exchange commission and depth sets out each route.
Best odds and the longest account
A price only counts up to the maximum. Every operator sets its own, market by market, and the screen shows it before you stake (Maximum Order on BLACK, the betslip on Sportmarket).
A price you cannot stake is just a number.
We would take 1.96 on the whole stake over 2.05 on a fraction of it, and we would rather bet where the stake we want fits under the maximum, whatever the market. Every bettor has met the generous price that turns out to be capped at a token stake. It looks fine until you type in your amount. The page on how mainstream bookmakers cut stakes follows the cuts step by step. For the other side of the question, maximum stakes at brokers covers what you can place.
Reaching the venues
The venues behind this page are Pinnacle and Sbobet among the bookmakers, and Betfair Exchange and Orbit Exchange among the exchanges. A broker is the way in: one wallet, then a platform for each operator. There is a guide to each, on how to bet on Pinnacle, how to access Sbobet, reaching Betfair Exchange and getting onto Orbit Exchange, and access by broker carries the full grid.
| Operator | AsianConnect | BetInAsia | MadMarket | Sportmarket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian bookmakers | ||||
| Pinnacle | PS3838 | PS3838 | Probet42 | PS3838 |
| Sbobet | - | BLACK | Edge | Available |
| Exchanges | ||||
| Betfair | Piwi247 + OrbitX | Sharp Exchange | Sharp Exchange + Edge | FairExchange |
| Orbit Exchange | OrbitX | Sharp Exchange | Sharp Exchange | FairExchange |
Platform name the tool you useOn request opened on demand- not listedSource: Bet Brokers access matrix
We pick the broker by the screen where we compare prices, which is the next section. How the four brokers differ sets them side by side.
Comparing prices on one screen
Compare in decimal. Hong Kong odds are a format, not a place: they leave the stake out, so 0.96 in Hong Kong is 1.96 in decimal (1 plus 0.96). Decimal is the only format where the number on the screen is the one you multiply your stake by, so we convert first and compare after. Each broker gives you its own way to put prices side by side.
- AsianConnect. Asianodds88 compares odds in real time, and the Payout Calculator & Odds Converter handles Decimal (Euro), Indo, Hong Kong, Malay, Fractional and American. See what AsianConnect offers.
- BetInAsia. The BLACK betslip shows the odds and limits of every connected bookmaker and exchange, with Maximum Price, Minimum Price and Average Price. More on BetInAsia and the BLACK slip.
- MadMarket. Total, Average & Best in Edge shows the average price, the best price and the maximum stake, and the site carries free Margin and Odds Converter calculators. Read about MadMarket tools and Edge.
- Sportmarket. Fees are built into the odds, the betslip price stays the same at settlement, and the betslip shows which bookmakers can cover your stake in full or in part. The page has Sportmarket details.
Compare before you stake, file after. Memory flatters every bettor, which is why the price you took belongs in your notes next to the closing price; tracking your bets shows how.
Questions people ask
Which betting site gives the highest odds?
No site has the highest odds on every market. The best price on an outcome sits wherever the margin is thinnest at that moment, so the method beats any name: put the offers for one market side by side, take the margin out of each, then take the commission out of any exchange price. We start with Asian bookmakers and exchanges.
What is a bookmaker's margin?
It is the charge built into the prices. Divide 1 by the odds of each outcome, add the results, and whatever sits above 1 is the margin. Take 2.50, 3.40 and 2.90: 0.4000 plus 0.2941 plus 0.3448 makes 1.0389, a margin of 3.9%. Overround and vig are the same number under other names, and a tennis match needs only two prices.
Are exchange odds better than bookmaker odds?
Not by default. An exchange price is worth what is left after the commission, and only for the money waiting at that price. On a thin market a price that looks better covers part of your stake, and the rest is matched at worse odds or not at all. The exchange guide shows how market depth works.
Why do sharp bookmakers run thinner margins?
A sharp bookmaker earns its living on volume rather than on each customer, so it has no need of a wide margin. A margin is paid on every bet, which means the same margin brings in far more on heavy turnover than on light. Our page on how sharp bookmakers work covers the rest.
How do I access Pinnacle or Sbobet?
Through a broker. You open the account, fund the wallet, then open the platform account that reaches the operator. AsianConnect shares one wallet across every bookmaker and exchange you activate; at BetInAsia and MadMarket you transfer money from the wallet to the platform account. Pinnacle comes through all four brokers, and Sbobet through BetInAsia, MadMarket and Sportmarket.