The 1st complaint I hear from most new sports bettors is that they simply don’t understand odds. If you were to spend about 10 minutes reading through this guide I promise you’ll have a strong understanding of odds in sports betting.
Sports betting odds will be displayed in three formats at online sportsbooks (American, Decimal & Fraction). Some of the global sportsbooks will let you switch between the three odds formats based on your preference while other bookies may only offer one of the formats.
Understanding American Sports Betting Odds
- New York Yankees -150 vs. Cleveland Indians +140
With American sports betting odds the favoured team will have negative odds and the team that is the underdog will have positive odds. Negative odds represent how much you need to bet to win $100 profit on the bet while positive odds represent how much you can profit on a $100 bet. This means that bettors would have to bet $150 to profit $100 on the Yankees or they could bet $100 to win $140 on the Indians.
Understanding Decimal Sports Betting Odds
- New York Yankees 1.67 vs. Cleveland Indians 2.4
Decimal odds are also very easy to use and many UK / European sportsbooks use decimal odds exclusively. To determine how much you can make on a bet using decimal odds you need to multiple the odds by 100. The number equals your total profit plus your initial bet. For instance, if we bet $150 on the Yankees (150 x 1.67 = 250.5) we’d be able to win $100 profit. The $250.50 that you’d win includes your $150 wager plus $100 profit.
Understanding Fraction Sports Betting Odds
- New York Yankees 4/6 vs. Cleveland Indians 7/5
Fraction odds aren’t used that much anymore, but some British bookies still use this odds format. To calculate your winnings with fraction odds you need to remember that the 1st number in the fraction is your profit and the 2nd number is how much you need to wager. For instance, the Yankees at 4/6 means we need to bet $6 to win $4. If we bet $150 on the Yankees (25 x 6) we’d win $100 profit (25 x 4).
Converting Sports Betting Odds
As you can see the odds in my examples above all mean the exact same thing. If we bet $150 on the Yankees at -150 odds, 1.67 odds or 4/6 odds we’ll always win our $100 profit because the odds are the same. Converting odds isn’t that vital to understand since most sportsbooks display odds in all three formats for bettors nowadays.
If you do need to convert betting odds you can use one of the many calculators found online. You can convert odds yourself using math, but it takes too much time and isn’t feasible if you’re looking at a lot of odds. After awhile the common odds will become second nature to you and you’ll be able to convert the odds on the fly in your head.
