Indiana Sports Betting Odds
You’ll find real-time odds for major sporting events at Indiana online sportsbooks. Use the drop-down menu to change your sport (see NFL odds, NBA odds, NCAAB odds, NCAAF odds and more) or to see the moneyline or totals odds. Click on any live odds to go directly to the online sportsbook and make your bet/claim any bonus bets or bonuses.
Calculating Odds
Understanding how odds work is the first step in becoming a sports bettor. Before you consider making your first sports bet, understanding what the odds mean and how they payout is crucial. It’s a simple concept to figure out, but it may be confusing at first when you see the various numbers next to a particular game or event on the betting board. We will explain the basics of sports betting odds to help you get started in the growing industry and get you on the right track. We also have a dedicated live odds feed to compare the odds across Indiana sportsbooks.
There are two major ways sports betting odds are listed. One is called American odds, and the other is often called fractional odds. Depending on what sports you’re betting on, it would make sense to familiarize yourself with them.
American odds
You are likely looking at American odds when you see the pluses and minuses in front of numbers on the betting board. Given the name, this method is used most often in, you guessed it, the United States. Here are a few examples of what American odds look like:
An easy way to understand this is that the plus sign shows an outcome that is less likely to happen than the minus sign, which signifies that side is favored or more likely to occur.
- Indianapolis Colts odds to win the AFC South (-120)
- Indianapolis Colts odds to win the Super Bowl (+2500)
So what do the numbers mean? How do we calculate them?
When using American odds, it’s easy to remember to calculate odds by using $100. If you decide to bet on the Indianapolis Colts to win the AFC South with -120 odds, that means you would need to bet $120 to gain a $100 profit. In this scenario, the oddsmakers tell us they think it’s more likely than not that the Colts win the division, making the potential payout for your wager less than a longshot winning the division.
In the second example, the Colts winning the Super Bowl, oddsmakers think there’s a significant chance that will not happen. With the plus sign in front of the number, we use the $100 amount as a way to determine payouts. If you bet $100 on the Colts to win the Super Bowl at +2,500, your $100 bet turns into $2,500 in profit if the outcome occurs. The payout is much more since it’s less likely to happen than Indianapolis winning the division.
Fractional odds
Now that you’ve seen how to calculate American odds let’s dive into fractional odds. Occasionally you’ll see that Team X has 10/1 odds to win the championship. You can also see this type of odds in horse racing. You can easily use this simple formula to calculate the odds in a bet you are considering placing:
- B / (A+B) = %
If we refer back to our Indianapolis Colts example to win the Super Bowl, the Colts would be listed at 25/1 odds to win it all. In the formula, 25 is A and 1 is B, which, when entered into the formula will look like this:
- 1 / (25+1) = 3.8%
In this example, the Colts odds at 25/1 mean the oddsmakers are saying there is a 3.8% chance that will happen. If you were to bet $100 on something at 25/1, you’d multiply $100 by 25 for a net profit of $2,500. The payout is quite large because the oddsmakers determined it is very unlikely that Indianapolis will win the Super Bowl. You would be rewarded if you cashed in on a long shot like the Colts in this scenario.
How to Calculate Point Spreads
Betting the point spread is a common way to wager on sports. When you hear somebody say a team is favored by a certain number of points, that number refers to the point spread on the game. The idea is that the oddsmakers even the playing field by giving the lesser team a certain amount of points to start the game. For example, if the Indiana Pacers are favored by 5.5 points over the Boston Celtics, the spread would look like this using American odds:
- Indiana Pacers -5.5 (-110)
- Boston Celtics +5.5 (-110)
The Pacers are expected to beat the Celtics by at least 5.5 points in this scenario. Most sportsbooks and oddsmakers will typically try to set their numbers so that each side will get around 50% of the action. In this scenario, they would like half of the bettors to take the Pacers at -5.5 as the favorite and the other to take the Celtics at +5.5 as the underdog.
Why is that? It’s because of the vigorish. The vigorish is most commonly known as the vig or the juice. The vig gives sportsbooks a big advantage over the betting public because it takes a portion of your bet the second you place the wager. You’ll notice that there is a -110 next to both the -5.5 and +5.5 numbers. That is the standard vig number when betting point spreads. It may fluctuate depending on the sportsbook or point spread, but -110 is the standard.
For this reason, sports bettors need to win bets more than 50% of the time successfully. If you bet the same amount on point spreads every time and get half of your bets right, you are losing money, as unfair as that may seem. Like in our earlier examples, the minus sign means you’ll need to bet that number to gain a $100 profit. A $110 bet on the Pacers to cover the -5.5 point spread would net a $100 profit. That extra $10 goes to the sportsbooks for the vig fee.
How to Calculate Total Points
Point totals are also commonly referred to as betting the over/under in a particular sporting event. In this wager, you are betting on how many total points the two teams will score in a game, no matter who wins or how many points a certain team wins by. Instead, you simply add the two teams’ scores at the end of the game to determine if your bet was a winner. Calculating point totals are very similar to calculating point spreads. Just like in point spreads, the vig is typically set at -110 for both sides, whether you’re betting on the over or the under. An example would look like this if you’re betting on the Indianapolis Colts against the Green Bay Packers:
- Over 44.5 (-110)
- Under 44.5 (-110)
Whether you decide to take the over or the under, a $110 bet would gain a $100 profit if you predict the outcome correctly.
How to Calculate Moneyline Odds Payouts
For beginners, the moneyline is simply placing a bet on which team will win a certain game or event no matter by how many points and no matter how many points the two teams combine to score. The biggest difference between the moneyline and point spreads or win totals when it comes to odds is the vig, which could vary significantly. Instead of the typical -110, you will see on both sides next to point totals and point spreads; the moneyline odds could range greatly depending on which side you take. This all depends on the expected outcome of the game or event. If an underdog wins a game, it is expected to lose by a significant margin; the moneyline payout could be quite large. On the other hand, your payout will be much smaller if you bet on the team favored by a large margin.
In this example, let’s go to college football and bet on Notre Dame in a hypothetical matchup with its annual rival USC. Notre Dame is coming in as the better team, so its number will be significantly less than that of USC. Here’s a look at the potential moneyline scenario:
- Notre Dame moneyline (-200)
- USC moneyline (+300)
Since oddsmakers decided Notre Dame is the better team when compared to USC, the payout will be less for the Fighting Irish. A $100 bet on USC would net a $300 profit if the Trojans pull off the upset, while those backing Notre Dame would need to place $200 to win a $100 profit.
How to Calculate Futures Bets
Instead of betting on a particular game or event, some sports bettors like to bet on an outcome that is months away from happening. This wager can be a season-long bet you placed before the season started, like wagering on which player will win the Heisman Trophy. With so many outcomes to choose from in this bet, every single option will often be at plus value, meaning you get a fairly significant payout if you pick the right player to win the Heisman. For example, here’s a look at what the Heisman Trophy odds might look like:
- Justin Fields +300
- Trevor Lawrence +400
- D’Eriq King +800
- Spencer Rattler +800
- Sam Ehlinger +1,200
- Mac Jones +1,800
- Sam Howell +2,000
- Kyle Trask +2,200
As you’ll notice, every player has plus value because predicting who wins the Heisman Trophy is difficult. It seems obvious to take one of the top players right off the board, but we’ve seen in the past that longshots do have significant value to place a bet on. In 2019, Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy despite being listed at +2,000 to win it. He eventually won it in a landslide after leading the LSU Tigers to a national championship. Those who bet $100 on Burrow to win it went away with a $2,000 payout.
How to Calculate Parlays
Parlays involve bets on multiple outcomes to take place. It’s an all-or-nothing style of betting that requires every prediction to come true. It’s a bit of a risky bet as you will need plenty of outcomes to occur for it to be successful. Because of this, the payouts can be quite large, as you can bet a small amount of money and gain a significant amount in return.
Let’s say you would like to wager on a three-team parlay on an NFL Sunday. After looking at the board, you identified three outcomes you predict will be correct and placed them into a single bet:
- New England Patriots -7.5 (-110) vs. Oakland Raiders
- San Diego Chargers +3.5 (-110) vs. Denver Broncos
- Indianapolis Colts/Houston Texans over 43.5 (-110)
Notice that each item is set with -110 odds. Instead of betting $110 to gain $100 like all the previous examples, a $110 bet would net a $655.26 profit. The payout makes parlay bets attractive, though they are challenging to win consistently.
If any of these outcomes does not occur, you lose your parlay bet.
How to Calculate Props
Prop betting refers to something happening that doesn’t involve the final result of a game or event. An example of this would be how many receiving yards a particular player ends up with or which player scores the first basket of the game.
You will often hear about prop betting during the Super Bowl since it features a ton of action on prop bets. The Super Bowl is the biggest sports betting event of the year, and props play a significant role. Sports bettors could choose bets based on a skill like which quarterback will have the most passing yards. Other bettors will attempt luck-based bets to make for a more entertaining experience. Some examples of these types of bets include how long it will take to sing the National Anthem or the color of Gatorade that gets dumped on the winning coach after the game.
In our example, let’s go with the Gatorade color prop bet. After your “research,” you decide to go with blue. The betting odds could look something like this:
- Clear +150
- Orange +200
- Red +300
- Blue +300
With blue coming in at +300 odds, your $100 bet would net a profit of $300.