How to Read the Odds in Sports Betting

For example, -200 means you have to risk $200 to win $100. Most American sportsbooks prefer the use of American odds, but most of them will allow you to choose your desired format. Decimal odds lower than 2.00 often represent the favorites. On the other hand, an underdog will usually have odds that are greater than 2.00. However, due to the built-in edge, betting odds add up to more than 100%. Based on the odds, SportingBet thinks France have a 14.29% chance of winning the 2026 World Cup.

Those betting slips and screens almost always show fractions by default. Short odds like 1/2 (where the first number is smaller) mean you’re betting more than you’ll win—usually a favorite. If you’re new to betting, decimal odds are honestly the least intimidating. You can see what you’ll get back without having to learn dafabet tricky formulas.

Profit Calculation in Fractional Odds

This guide breaks down each odds format with examples and shows you how to convert between them. There are also some strategies for using odds knowledge to spot better betting opportunities and (hopefully) get more out of your wagers. Your total return is your £20 stake multiplied by 3.4 – so £68. This would be £48 in winnings plus your original £20 stake. In betting, odds represent the amount someone can expect to win if their bet is successful. High odds indicate high profits, and a smaller chance of the bet winning, while low odds indicate lower profits, but a higher chance of the bet winning.

You can make the same wagers in land-based casinos and sportsbooks as you can online. In both cases, you usually have the option to bet on the point spread, money line, and total. Sportsbooks also offer markets like prop betting and futures. So what happens if Philadelphia wins by exactly 11 points?

How to read American odds

This means a potential payout of 3x of the initial stake. In fractional odds, +200 is written as 2/1, meaning for every 1 unit wagered, you win 2 units in profit. Some prefer decimal odds because they’re clearer and easier for quick calculations. Others prefer the traditional feel of fractional odds, especially for horse racing or football betting.

• Understanding how betting odds work is crucial to placing informed bets and potentially getting you winning selections.
• Because of the way betting works, betting odds also become a representation of probability.
• The match coefficients immediately transform when a team loses its top athlete through injury.
• To newcomers, betting odds and their varying formats can seem off-putting at first, but once you know your way around them they’re easy enough to understand.
• Betting odds represent the amount somebody can expect to win in the event of their bet being successful.

For more articles like this, visit our blog, The Advantage. Your predicted chances of winning allow you to place wagers at more favorable odds when bookmakers set unrealistic rates. Identifying value bets helps you win more wagers and develop better betting methods. Learning about these probabilities helps you see if a wager offers good value.

We recommend using decimal odds, as you just need to divide 100 by the decimal odds to work out the percentage. Understanding how odds work also means understanding how they relate to probability—or how likely something is to happen. Bookmakers use odds to represent the implied probability of an event. The implied probability for the Dodgers winning is 44%.