Odds determine your potential payout on a winning bet. If you're looking to make a single wager against the spread in a football or basketball game, the odds for an individual bet at most sports books are -110. That means that you have to lay $110 to profit $100, and collect $210. You need to lay $11 to win $10 and collect $21. Etc.
But betting odds go well beyond individual wagers. It's important to know what your odds are when making a future bet on a team to win their championship. It's also important to analyze the odds on parlay bets to make sure that you are getting the best bang for your buck. From parlay calculators to odds conversion charts, there are plenty of tools available for bettors to analyze their odds.