Betting odds come in a variety of different formats and the one most commonly used varies according to what part of the world you happen to be in. Here we explain the difference between fractional betting odds, mainly used in the UK, decimal, used in Europe and Australia, and American odds, used… well, have a guess.

Fractional Betting Odds

1. Take for example how the following moneyline bet odds would be displayed for the following sporting event: Chicago Bears -196. Washington Redskins +170. Since this is a moneyline bet, these odds represent the implied probability each team has to win the game. American odds can be broken down into two categories: favorites and underdogs.
2. American Odds Explained Step by Step. American odds will always appear with a plus or minus sign. Bets with a plus sign before them represent how much you can win. Ex: +120 means that for a $100 dollar bet you can win $120 dollars. Bets with a minus sign before them represent how much you have to bet in order to win $100 dollars.

The ability to read odds is helpful when you want to wager on events that are covered by international sportsbooks. So, here you have all sports betting odds explained one by one. To read American betting odds (or money line odds) you need to know how to differentiate them from the others. Luckily, American odds are easy to.

Until betting exchanges started using decimal odds fractional odds were the only type ever seen and used in the UK. For example, in a snooker match where both players are evenly fancied the odds would be 10/11 on each player. This means that for each £11 you bet you would get £10 winnings plus your stake of £11 for a total return of £21. Where the profit is less than your stake (in simple terms, the number on the left is smaller than the one on the right) this is “odds-on” and can be expressed as “10 to 11” or “11 to 10 on” – both mean the same thing.

If one snooker player is a big favourite they may be priced at 1/6 (also called 6/1 on), meaning a bet of £6 makes £1 profit, whilst the outsider may be 4/1, meaning a bet of £1 makes a profit of £4 plus your stake back for a return of £5.

Decimal Betting Odds

With decimal odds the prices are quoted to include your stake back, so the number given is your total return, not the profit and is expressed as a decimal, not a fraction. This is calculated by turning the fractional odds to decimal and adding on one (the one being your stake). So 10/11 is 10 divided by 11 plus one – or 1.909. Thus, if you bet £1, you get £1.91 back.

For the big favourite at 1/6, your decimal odds are: one, divided by six, then plus one, so 1.17 (the exact price can vary very slightly depending on if the bookie rounds the price up or down and how many decimal places they use). Similarly for the outsider the price would be four divided by one, plus one – so 5.00. Converting fractional to decimal when the original is “to one” – e.g. 4/1 or 8/1 or 100/1 – is very easy because you just add one on. So 100/1 is 101 in decimal odds.

American Betting Odds

American odds start with either a + or a – sign. The former means that is what you would win (profit) from a $100 stake, whereas the latter shows how much you would have to stake to win $100.

So, in our examples, 10/11 is the same as 1.91 is the same as -110 (so betting $110 will give a profit of $100), whilst 1/6 is the same as 1.17 is the same as -600. Our snooker outsider is 4/1, thus 5.00 in decimal and +400 in American odds.

The fractional odds of 1/1 are called “evens” in the UK, often “even money” in the US and are expressed as +100 in American odds (and 2.00 in decimal).

Reading sports betting odds can seem complicated at first glance.

-110

11/10

1.91

Fractional Betting Odds Explained

What do they all mean?

American Betting Odds Explained Betting

All of the above numbers represent different ways to display betting odds, however they all represent the same thing.

All betting odds represent the implied probability to win a bet. The way that number is displayed is where things can differ.

Types of Betting Odds

There are three main ways to display betting odds:

• American
• Decimal
• Fractional

Each of the odds formats represent a chance of winning, just displayed in a different way.

Most sports betting sites will give you the option in how you display your sports odds, so it is important to understand how to read them.

All sports betting types will have odds attached to them: point spread, money line, total, futures, props, and more.

How to read American odds

In the United States, it is standard to use the American odds format (shocking!). Each bet will always have a plus (+) or minus (-) in front of a number greater than 100.

Take for example how the following moneyline bet odds would be displayed for the following sporting event:

Chicago Bears -196

Washington Redskins +170

Since this is a moneyline bet, these odds represent the implied probability each team has to win the game.

Betting Odds Explained Baseball

American odds can be broken down into two categories: favorites and underdogs.

How do Plus and Minus odds work?

Favorites Odds

When a bet is a favorite, it means the implied probability (win percentage) is greater than 50%. Favorites will always have a minus (-) sign and will always be “negative odds”. Ex: -150.

Favorite odds can be read as “to win $100”.

Meaning if the odds of a bet were -150, you would need to bet $150 to win $100. Note that you do not need bet in $100 increments.

This same ratio would apply to different bet sizes: Bet $15 to win $10, bet $1.50 to win $1, etc.

If you were to read betting odds of -150 out loud, you would say “minus one fifty”.

Underdog Odds

The other side of American odds are underdogs. Underdogs have an implied probability of less than 50%.

Underdog odds are always represented with a plus sign (+) in front of the number and will always be “positive odds”. Ex: +150.

Underdog odds are interpreted different than favorites. Underdog bets are betting $100 “to win” whatever the odds are.

In the +150 example, you would bet $100 to win $150. Again, you can bet any amount you would like. It doesn’t have to be $100. Ex: bet $10 to win $15, bet $1 to win $1.50, etc.

How to read decimal odds

Decimal odds are the easiest odds type to interpret. They are used by most people outside of America, most notably Europe. The Decimal format are also the easiest odds type to convert to an implied win percentage.

Decimal odds tell you what your return will be given your bet amount (or “stake”).

For example, if you bet $10 on the New York Knicks to win at odds of 2.25, your return (or “total payout”) would be $22.50 if they won.

Return does not take into account your original bet amount. Therefore your profit, or “to win” amount, would be $12.50 ($22.50 return – $10 wager).

Note that the return aspect is the key difference between Decimal and American odds. The Decimal format will tell you your return, while the American format will tell you your “to win” amount.

How to read fractional odds

Fractional odds are simply decimal odds represented as a fraction. For example, 3/1 odds are the decimal equivalent of 4.

The biggest difference between fractional and decimal is that fractional tells you the potential profit while decimal tells you the return.

Going back to the previous example, a $10 bet at 3/1 odds would represent $30 in profit.

A $10 bet at the equivalent odds of 4 in decimal format would return $40. Subtracting your $10 bet from the return would give you your profit of $30.

Fractional odds can be read as the first number being the potential profit while the second number is the amount you will need to risk for that profit.

For example, fractional odds of 23/20 would represent a bettor needing to risk $20 in order to profit $23.

Fractional odds are most common in horse racing and futures markets.

Related: Find more sports betting guides here