Betting Odds Explained: How Do Betting Odds Work January 2026

There are different types of odds formats used in sports betting, including decimal odds, fractional odds, and American odds. While both types of odds can be used to express the same price, the main difference is that decimal odds focus on the total return you could receive if your bet wins, while with fractional odds, it is easier to calculate your profit. This type of odds comes from the United Kingdom, and you will still find it employed in many sports betting markets, though across Europe, decimal odds are more popular than fractional.

The reason for this is that a betting record is not simply about being able to check at a glance whether you are probability calculator in profit or making a loss for the year. If you made the same wager at decimal odds, you would be quoted a figure of 4.0 rather than 3/1. The decimal equivalent would be 4.0 and, in this case, multiplying your stake by the odds shows your total return. For example, if a team is available to bet at 3/1, you can multiply your stake by the first number to calculate your profit. The advantage of decimal odds is that they enable more precision in setting a price and are also more straightforward to understand.

How To Convert Decimal Odds To Percentage Chance

• Whether it’s a good bet or not depends on the value – or in the other words, if they odds are higher than they should be.
• They are always shown as a single number with a decimal point.
• One other thing to note is that if you are in a hurry and don’t have time to do the calculation, there are several free online calculators that will do the conversion for you.
• The concept of implied probability is worth keeping in mind when you try to assess the value of odds from a bookmaker.

First single & E/W bet only. Registration required. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. What ever type of bet you would like to place, from accumulators to Super Yankees, we have you covered! To begin, select from 30+ calculator types. As all professional gamblers will tell you, in order to make a long-term profit, you will need to consistently find ‘value’.

How to interpret betting odds and their probabilities

So a $100 bet at American odds of +270, would see you win $270 in profit (plus you’d bet your $100 back too for a total return of $370). You can see the bracket parts (£200) refers to the profit you make on the bet, whereas the non-bracket part of the equation simply returns your betting stake to you (£50) This is the case for every fractional odds calculation but it gets more complicated when the unit stake is not one (such as when it is 13/8 or similar). As odds are displaying the implied probability of a particular event occurring, there is an equivalence between the three. So, odds tell you how much chance there is of one of the possible outcomes happening based on implied probability.

Sometimes this means you can get better odds than are available from traditional bookmakers. On a betting exchange, you can set your own odds for an event or accept odds set by another user. A final option is to investigate the odds on betting exchanges like Betfair. More favourable odds will mean you’ll get paid out more if a bet you place wins, and lose less if your bet loses. Instead bookmakers adjust true odds, lowering them by a specific percentage to secure their profit margins.