Although it might seem complicated at first betting odds are actually very easy. You just need to know what of the 3 odds formats you are looking at. After a while you will probably have a preferred format, and as most bookies offer all 3 formats you can just change your default odds format for those bookies.

However, it is always good to know how to read all the odds formats, as you never know where or when you might come across them.

The 3 odds formats are decimal odds (also called international odds), fractional odds (also called UK or English odds) and American odds. So let’s look at these betting odds explained.

Decimal (International) Odds

Decimal odds are written as follows: 3.5 or 6.3 or 1.9 and it explains the multiple of the payout you get.

For instance, if you stake $100 and your bet wins you will get the following payouts: at 3.5 = $350, 6.3 = $630 and 1.9 = $190.

However, $100 of that payout is your stake paid back to you, so in order to work out the profit of each bet you just need to deduct 1 from the odds. So your profit for the above bets will be:

  • (3.5 – 1) x $100 = $250,
  • (6.3 – 1) x $100 = $530 and
  • (1.9 – 1) x $100 = $90

So the closer to 1 you get the less profit you make and at odds of 1 (illogical and highly unlikely) you will not make any profit, but just get your stake back when you win.

Fractional (English) Odds

Fractional odds are the traditional way of displaying odds: for instance 3/1 or 9/4 or 1/3.

You basically read it as $3 profit for every $1 stake, $9 for every $4 stake and $1 for every $3 stake.

Let’s take our example of a $100 stake and work out the profit you will get from each bet:

  • 3/1 will give you $100 / 1 x 3 = $300
  • 9/4 will give you $100 /4 x 9 = $225

  • 1/3 will give you $100 / 3 x 1 = $33

American Odds

American odds work a little differently from the above two as you also need to take into account the + or – sign in front of the odds.

If there is a + sign in front of the odds it indicates how much you will win (profit) for every $100 staked. So +240 means you win $240 for every $100 staked, etc.

If  there is a – sign in front of the odds it indicates how much you need to stake to win (make a profit of) $100. -240 in this case will mean that you win $100 for every $240 staked, etc.

The Odds Side By Side

Here is a small table of all 3 formats side by side, showing you what each odd format will look like.

Assume $100 stake in all bets: 

 Decimal  Fractional American  Profit 
 1.5  1/2  -200  $50
 2  1/1  +100  $100
 3  2/1  +200  $200
 3.25  9/4  +225  $225
 5  4/1  +400 $400 

 

Hopefully the above has explained the different betting odds formats to you. Remember, reading them becomes a lot easier with practise.

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