Fixed-Odds Betting - betting against the bookmaker

If someone offers you 10/1 on a bet they are offering you 'fixed-odds'. When expressed in this format a £1 bet would win back £11 in total. That is £10 worth of winnings and your £1 back on top of that. Fixed odds bets are also quoted in decimal format (sometimes called European or Continental odds) too. Here an equivalent bet would be priced at 11. With this format the number tells you the total amount money you get back.

With fixed-odds betting punters are pitting their wits directly against the bookmaker. The bookmaker sets the odds and pays up when the punter wins. Because of this bookmakers who offer fixed-odds need to be very careful about the odds they offer. Typically a bookmaker will try and 'balance' their books so that they don't risk losing overall whatever the result of the sporting event.

In contrast to this, with betting exchanges such as BetFair and pool betting operators such as Jackpool, the punter is not betting against the bookmaker but against other players. At Jackpool we provide a betting service for punters who enjoy following major sporting events. It makes no difference to us what the result of the events are and who actually wins the pool. Our business is about providing a top class betting service for all our customers and ensuring all our games are run fairly and consistently.