• The unit size of 100 is used just for simplicity. In no way does that mean you have to be risking that amount. For Djokovic, you could risk 50 to win 60, risk 25 to win 30, risk 10 to win 12, and so on. To convert any odds formats check out Pinnacle’s odds converter.
• Let’s take decimal odds of 4.5, this is the equation: 4.5 – 1 = 3.5 35/10 - 7/2. If the decimal price is 1.25, you convert it into fractional odds like this: 1.25 – 1 = 0.25 25/100 - 1/4. Here’s a list of some of the most common fractional odds and their decimal equivalents (for a more in-depth list click here).
• Of course, betting the New York Yankees at -1.5 to bring down the odds from -190 to -110 isn’t too fun when they win 4-3 and you don’t cash a bet. Betting on the point spread is the most.

• 2 To 1 Odds Mean

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.

Thus, odds of 3 to 1 mean the first party (the bookmaker) stakes three times the amount staked by the second party (the bettor). What is Probability? At the most basic level, betting provides you with the ability to predict the outcome of a certain event. If your prediction is correct, you will win money. Betting odds of 4/1 would equate to 5.0 in decimal terms, 5/1 would be 6.0, and so forth. See the chart below for a breakdown of betting odds in both fractional and decimal format, showing forecasted returns to £5 level stakes for the key prices in a market.

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:

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.

Ready To Start Betting?MyBookie and BetUS are my two favorite sportsbooks and make betting very easy. You will also get a Free Money Bonus at each sportsbook if you follow either link above.

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.

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.

American odds are read differently for favourites and underdogs:

Favourite (odds that start with -): odds are the amount you need to stake to win 100
Underdog (odds that start with +): odds are the amount you would win if you bet 100

Example:

Odds = +180
Stake = 100
Total Payout = 180

As the name implies, American odds are most commonly used in the USA and Canada. They are much less common in Europe, falling in favour to Decimal or Fractional odds. Let’s take a look at a matchup between Nadal and Djokovic; assume an oddsmaker set the odds like this:

Nadal -152
Djokovic +120

The first thing to note is the “+” and the “-” before the number for each market.

If a market has a “+”, that means it is the underdog. That is, it is the market perceived to have a lower chance of winning the matchup.

If a market has a “-”, then it is the favourite, perceived to have the higher chance of winning the matchup.

In this example, Djokovic is the underdog, and Nadal is the favourite – pretty straightforward, right?

The numbers after those symbols are used as an indicator of how likely the teams are perceived to be to win or lose.

For favorites, the number is the amount you would need to risk in order to win 100. In the case of Nadal, you would need to risk 152 to make a profit of 100. If Nadal wins, your 152 is returned to you, plus your 100 profit. But if Nadal loses, then you lose the 152 you risked. Easy enough.

For underdogs, the number is the amount you would win if you risked 100. If you risked 100 on Djokovic then you would win 120 if he won the matchup, and of course you would get your initial 100 returned on top of that. Even easier!

The unit size of 100 is used just for simplicity. In no way does that mean you have to be risking that amount. For Djokovic, you could risk 50 to win 60, risk 25 to win 30, risk 10 to win 12, and so on.

2 To 1 Odds Mean

To convert any odds formats check out Pinnacle’s odds converter.