Betting Odds Explained

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Betting Odds differ around the world’s best betting prediction sites, but it is all just different ways of expressing fractions.

American Odds – most common in The US based betting prediction sites

In the United States, odds are a fraction of $100.  The easiest way to think about it is to follow the graphic above, whereby-

  • +100 means you double your money
  • +150 means you earn 150% of your money in profits
  • -150 means you would have to place $150 in order to win $100. This can be harder to understand, but 100/150 = .667, hence a $100 bet won at -150 would pay out $167

So, we can see that negative odds pay out less, meaning that the team are the favorites.  The most common betting odds in US betting are -110, with the 10 (about 10%) representing the ‘vig’ or ‘juice’, expressions for the Sportsbook or bookies’ profits.  In theory, the sportsbook takes 10% of every bet. However, see or article for other ways they also make money-How do Sportsbooks make their money. You need to use the best betting prediction sites to beat these! We hope you will find all you need to know right here-you could start with our article on How to become a profitable sports bettor!

Fractional Odds (UK etc.)

In other markets (e.g. UK) fractional odds are more common. You will find these on many English-based online sports betting sites. Rather than express the odds as a proportion of 100, they come as a proportion of 1. That is why a soccer match might be priced at 2/1. This means you would earn winnings of $2 for every $1 you bet.  This results in fractional prices such as 5/2, 7/4 etc. An outsider might be priced at 100/1 in a sport such as golf, with large fields. This is easier to understand than the American odds equivalent of +10000!

Continental Odds (Europe etc.)

In Continental Europe, odds come in decimal places, so the odds of winning might be 2.25 (to 1). Note that in continental odds, the odds refer to the total payout, and not just the winings. Here are the calculations for the same bet under the 3 approaches, to make this easier to understand

Let us say you find yourself on one of the best sports betting prediction sites like here. You find very simple bet whereby you double your money if you win. So, you bet say $100 and if you lose you end up with nothing. If you win, you end up with $200, being your stake of $100 plus your winnings of $100. Here are how these to express these odds under the 3 systems-

American odds – +100

Fractional odds – 1/1

Decimal Odds – 2/1

This is a link to a useful online calculator to better understand these odds and differences. You can use this to convert odds from any source into normal American style odds.