Math Question

[Son of Sam]

I apologize in advance as I am sure most in here will find this question remedial in nature.

What is the formula used to determine multiple teams vs the field. I will use the NBA odds to win as an example. Right now Pinny has Clev +181 and LAL +259 individually, but if you wager on them together in the Big2 vs Field you lay -183. At first glance I thought it was taking the NO price of both and parlaying that together but I didn't come up with the right number.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[andywend]

SonofSam,

Just convert the moneylines into percentage chance.

In your example above, Cleveland (+181) equals 35.5% chance. LA Lakers (+259) equals approximately 28% chance.

When you add them together you come up with 63.5% chance which equals approximately -173.

Based on the odds given, you would be slightly better off betting on both teams to win individually as opposed to betting on them as the Big2 @ -183.

[Son of Sam]

Thank you very much Andy.

[andywend]

Good luck with your wager and it seems to make sense.

If either Cleveland or the Lakers make it to the finals, they should be at least -200 over any team they face (except each other and you win your bet in that scenario).

Since they are both favored to win their respective conferences, I would lock it down before the price changes.

[Justin7]

You also need to consider the bookmaker's hold.

If you want to use the prices to estimate the odds of a team winning, use Pinnacle's moneyline calculator. Put in all the entries to figure out the house hold. If the house hold is 10%, you want to decrease the cumalitive odds of all teams winning by 10%.

for example, if a future offered
LA Lakers -110
Cleveland -110

-110 / -210 suggests each team will win 52.4%.

If you use Pinny's calculator, it will show the house edge at about 5% (of volume risked). To convert each future into an accurate win percentage, you need to divide that 5% hold equally among the teams - in this case, dropping each team's win by 2.5% (or 2.4%).

[MonkeyF0cker]

You also need to consider the bookmaker's hold.

If you want to use the prices to estimate the odds of a team winning, use Pinnacle's moneyline calculator. Put in all the entries to figure out the house hold. If the house hold is 10%, you want to decrease the cumalitive odds of all teams winning by 10%.

for example, if a future offered
LA Lakers -110
Cleveland -110

-110 / -210 suggests each team will win 52.4%.

If you use Pinny's calculator, it will show the house edge at about 5% (of volume risked). To convert each future into an accurate win percentage, you need to divide that 5% hold equally among the teams - in this case, dropping each team's win by 2.5% (or 2.4%).

That's if you're willing to assume that NBA futures are efficient. Meh. No thanks.