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Do you get confused looking at all the different types of odds? +200, 1.55, 3/4 - it gets confusing! In this guide, we will break down the difference between American, Decimal, and Fractional or UK style odds, with examples to help you understand and win.
Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:
The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.
The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.
The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.
A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.
Examples:
A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.
Examples:
Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.
Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:
If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.
If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.
Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.
Fractional (or UK-style) sports betting odds are mostly used for types of racing events, but you will often see them used in futures lines for other sports as well – especially in Europe. The fractional system expresses odds in mathematical ratios or fractions.
An even-money bet is expressed as a 1/1 ratio and is typically just called “even.” The way you pronounce other types of fractional odds is as follows:
Like the American system, the profit is calculated using fractional odds, but not the total payout. The following equation is used to calculate earnings using the fractional system (a = the first number in the fraction; b = the second number in the fraction):
Amount Wagered * (a/b) = Potential Earnings
Like before, you may then add the Amount Wagered to the Potential Earnings to calculate the total amount received upon winning your bet.
EXAMPLE:
When the first number is smaller than the second, that bet is “odds on” or the favorite in the contest. For example, if Manchester City is playing Watford, the former might be a 4/5 favorite. Calculating a winning bet on City would look like this:
$100 * (4/5) = $100 * (0.8) = $80 won
And since you also get back the money that you wagered, you cash out $180.
EXAMPLE:
On the other side of that same match-up, when the first number is larger than the second in the fraction, that bet is the underdog. So, Watford’s odds would be represented as 5/4. The equation would work the same way:
$100 * (5/4) = $100 * (1.25) = $125 winnings
And since you also get back the money that you wagered, your total payout is $225.
So there you have it - that is how you can read American, Decimal and Fractional.
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