Understanding American Odds

• Understanding American Betting Odds
• American Odds To Probability
• How To Calculate American Odds
• Understanding Odds In Horse Racing

Here is some information by our tipsters about sports betting. Understanding American Odds As the name suggests, American odds are most popular in the United States. Working differently for favorites and underdogs, they're also known as 'moneyline' odds. American odds for betting on the favorite work by showing how much. Understanding American OddsAmerican odds can be either positive or negative.Positive American odds are used when the potential profit on a bet is larger.

Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don't understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.

Sports Betting Odds Explained

Many people don't know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.

American Style Sports Betting Odds

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:

Understanding American Betting Odds

American Odds

• Matchup Odds
• New England Patriots +120
• Pittsburgh Steelers -140

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.

In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).

The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.

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Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds

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.

American Odds To Probability

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.

Most Popular Odds Formats

Decimals Odds – There's a huge push these days to make decimal odds the universal betting format. Betfair is leading this push and now only offers odds in decimal format, while some, but not all, Asian bookies are now supporting this format as well. In any case to explain Decimals odds are listed as how much a bet will return per 1 unit wagered. For example odds of 1.942 returns 1.942 units for each unit wagered. Unit refers to currency. If betting in Euros a €100 bet returns €194.2. If betting in Indian Rupees a ₹1000 returns ₹1942, if betting in USD a $10 returns $19.42. You see no matter what you bet if the odds are 1.942 just multiply your stake by that amount. Note: the return also includes the amount you staked, as in this already built in and your return is win + stake.

American Odds – American odds are used in the US and Canada and are often times referred to as moneyline odds. With this odds format the odds can be expressed as either a positive or negative number. In the case the odds are positive this is how much a $100 bet would pay in winnings. For example $100 staked at +144 is risk $100 to win $144 profit. When the odds are negative this how much you'd need to stake to win $100. For example -200 requires risk $200 to win $100.

Fraction Odds – Fraction are sometimes referred to as UK odds because this where they're the most frequently used. To calculate the amount of winnings solve the fraction and then multiple. For example 11/10 is 11 divided by 10 = 1.1, so if you stake £50 the payout is £10*1.1=£55 in winnings plus your £50 stake.

How To Calculate American Odds

Hong Kong Odds – This odds format works very similar to decimals odds, but the difference is the return is not included in the odds. Therefore if the decimals odds are 1.91 the Hong Kong odds are 0.91, if the decimal odds are 3.50, the Hong Kong odds are 2.50. So the decimal odds represent how much a better will be returned in winnings, and he also additionally gets back his stake on the side.

Understanding Odds In Horse Racing

Indonesian Odds – This odds format works exactly like American Odds except the odds are always priced as a single digit with decimals. For example, if American odds are +300, Indonesian Odds are +3.00. If American Odds are -250 Indonesian odds are -2.50. So, in this odds format +3.00 is risk 1 to win 3, and -2.50 is risk 2.5 to win 1. You also get back your stake on the side.

Malay Odds – In this odds format once again numbers can be negative or positive, but this is a little more confusing than other formats for reasons negative odds represent an underdog. For example if the Malay odds are -0.2500 this means you need to risk 0.25 to win 1, and is the equivalent of +400 in American odds, 4.000 in both Indonesia and Hong Kong odds, and 5.00 in decimal. Now when the number is positive the odds work just like Hong Kong Odds. Meaning odds of +0.86 is risk 1 to win 0.86 profit.

Now that you understand betting odds formats around the globe, no site servicing your country is off limits. Once again be reminded that no matter what sport you're betting the more betting websites you shop, the better odds you'll receive.