Decimal Betting Explained
To calculate your potential winnings, you simply multiply your stake by the decimal odds. The decimal odds reflect your total returns, meaning both your profit and original stake. So if you win a £10 bet with 2.5 odds, you’ll get £25 back – your £10 stake plus £15 profit. Decimal odds are actually superior to fractional betting as the layers can now go to a hundredth of a unit when offering odds.For example you can take a price of say,2.61 which has no accepted fractional equivalent - the nearest is 13/8 with odds of 2.625. Work out singles at decimal odds. For example, betting on a market priced at 2.5 means you would win two and a half times your stake if your bet were to win. This means you’d win $2.50 for every $1 you wager. Another example of decimal odds in action would be betting on NHL game with odds of 9.0. Explaining Decimal Odds Decimal odds are the most common way online bookmakers present their odds to customers. Decimal odds are often called European odds, as they are most commonly used by sports bettors in Europe, Australia, and Canada.
In association with SportingbetWithout odds there would be no betting and without understanding odds there will be no winning customers. The odds are quite simply the price, they are used to calculate exactly how much you will receive if your bet wins. Generally speaking the odds don’t change no matter how much (or little) you want to stake on a selection.
There are two main types of odds. Fractional and Decimal. There is no monetary difference between the two and no reason to choose one over another. They are simply different ways to display the same thing.
Fractional Odds
Fractional odds are displayed as 10/1 or 7/2. There are several ways to try and understand them but the easiest way is “how much you will win”/”how much you stake”. So for example if you stake £1 at 10/1 you will win £10 (remember that’s your profit, you will receive your pound back too!). If you stake £2 at 7/2
Sports Betting Explained In Detail
then you will win £7 and get your £2 stake back.You can see odds which appear to be the wrong way round for example 1/10 or 2/7. These are what are referred to as ‘Odds-On’ selections and you would have to stake £7 to win £2. You will see odds of this type when there is a strong favourite to win. For example when Chelsea lined up against Ipswich in the FA Cup, the Blues were as short as 1/10 to win the game.
Most online betting sites will show you your potential winning on the betslip but it’s crucial to understand the odds in order to get value. To be a winning punter, you not only have to back winners but you have to do so when the price accurately reflects the chance of winning. It’s very easy to say that Chelsea would beat Ipswich but are you willing to stake £100 to make a profit of just £10?
To calculate your potential returns from fractional odds:
((Stake /denominator) x numerator ) + stake
For example, £10 staked at 7/2:
((£10/2) x 7) + £10 = £45
Now fractional odds are confusing and just by writing the above section I am wondering why on earth anyone still uses fractional odds! In the opinion of this bookmaker, decimal odds are far easier to understand. If I asked you quickly to say which is the bigger price, 7/4 or 9/5? You’d have to think about it, right? But if I asked which is the bigger number 2.75 or 2.80? It’s not so hard.
So the equation for calculating returns from decimal odds (which are written as 1.80 or 4.50) the equation is so much simpler:
Stake x Odds
For example, £10 staked at 4.5:
£10 x 4.5 = £45
With decimal odds your stake is automatically included in your returns and it makes for a far easier calculation. Decimal odds of 2.0 represents even money (1/1) and anything less than 2.0 is an odds on bet. So for example 1.50 will see you win half your stake and to continue the example of Chelsea from above, Chelsea were priced at 1.10 to beat Ipswich Town.
You will never see odds of less than 1.00 but you can see 1.01 for example when a good team is winning 2-0 at home with ten minutes to play. You would need to be mighty brave (and in my opinion mighty stupid!) to back selections at 1.01. You’d have to be confident that backing this 100 times would be successful 100 times in order to stay in profit and having seen many late goals and dodgy referees decisions, 1.01 is to be avoided like the plague.
If you need to convert fractional odds into decimal odds, it’s easy enough. Just divide the fractions and add one (the one represents your stake). So for example to convert 7/2
into decimal odds, you would divide 7 by 2 and add 1, which gives you 4.5. It’s easy enough but if that all seems to complicated then just search for “odds converter” and let someone else do the work for you!The format for betting odds can vary depending on which part of the world you live in. The two most common options used are Decimal and American odds. But what is the difference, how do you calculate returns for each format and convert from one to the other? Read on to find out.
Before we delve into examples on how to calculate bet returns that have been presented in different odds formats, it is important to note that, irrespective of which odds format you use, the potential profit is the same, the presentation just differs.
Odds expression indicating return relative to 100 unit base figure. With money odds, whenever there is a minus (-) you lay that amount to win a hundred dollars, where there is a plus (+) you win that amount for every hundred dollars you bet.
Calculating profits with Decimal odds
Decimal odds are predominantly used in continental Europe, Australia and Canada. The format is a simple numerical representation of the potential return of a bet, which includes the stake amount.
The potential return on a bet quoted in Decimal odds is extremely easy to calculate by simply multiplying the amount you wish to bet by the Decimal odds offered – just remember that the return includes your stake. Here is an example of Decimal odds in a 1X2 soccer market from Pinnacle:
Calculating the potential return for a $100 Bet on Chelsea at 2.270:
Odds x Stake = 2.270 X 100 = 227
As this includes your original $100 stake amount, the potential profit is $127.
Calculating the potential return for a $100 bet on Liverpool at 3.390:
Odds x Stake = 3.390 x 100 = 339
Calculating profits with American odds
American odds are unsurprisingly the default format used in America. They start either with a positive or a negative sign, e.g. -110, or +120. A negative number indicates the amount you must stake to make $100 profit (or the equivalent in your chosen currency) and a positive number indicates how much you might profit if you bet $100 (again, this would be the equivalent in your chosen currency).
Using the example above, if you bet $124 on the Washington Redskins -2.5 handicap with American odds of -124 and they cover the spread, you will make $100 profit (plus your original $124 stake). If you bet $100 on the Dallas Cowboys +2.5 handicap with odds of +112 and they cover the spread, it will return $112 profit (plus the original $100 stake).
As with any odds format, the potential return and profit from a bet is relevant to the stake amount. Using a $100 bet example is the easiest way to calculate profits with American odds, but below is a simple formula to work out potential returns for any stake.
Negative American odds calculation:
(100/Odds) x stake
Positive American odds calculation:
Odds x (stake/100)
If we use the odds from the above example, you could bet $13.75 on the White Sox at -129 and your potential profit is $10.66:
Using the same example for positive odds, you could bet $15 on the Royals at +119 and your potential profit is $17.85:
Odds x (Stake/100) = 119 x (15/100) = 17.85
Odds conversion table
Betting Odds Explained
American odds | Decimal odds | American odds | Decimal odds |
-101 | 1.990 | +100 | 2.000 |
-105 | 1.952 | +105 | 2.050 |
-110 | 1.909 | +110 | 2.100 |
-120 | 1.833 | +120 | 2.200 |
-130 | 1.769 | +130 | 2.300 |
-140 | 1.714 | +140 | 2.400 |
-150 | 1.667 | +150 | 2.500 |
This table can be used to convert one type of odds format into another. If you have a specific bet or odds you wish to convert, use Pinnacle's Odds Converter.
Whether you use the Decimal or American format, you’ll get the best betting odds with Pinnacle, the ultimate bookmaker with the highest limits and lowest margins.
Decimal odds video explainer
Found this article useful? Why not check out our video that details Decimal and American odds.
American odds video explainer
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