Fractional, American and Decimal Odds Are All Used in Sports Betting World

Published on September 17th, 2020 11:55 am EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


What do +100, 2.00 and 1/1 have in common?

All three mean the exact same thing.

In the sports betting world, you will encounter different types of odds depending on where you live.

In Europe, for instance, most people use decimal or fractional odds.

In the United States, most people use either "American" odds or fractional odds.

This is simply a preference choice, as all three types of odds mean exactly the same thing.

Here are the three different types of odds formats that are frequently used by sportsbooks:

Decimal Odds

An example of decimal odds would be 2.00.

In this case, if you bet €100 on an outcome that had listed odds of 2.00, you would receive €100 in profit back if you won the bet.

The easy way to figure out how much you would win with decimal odds is simply multiplying the amount of your bet by the listed odds and then subtracting the amount of your bet.

So, in the case of 2.00 odds, you would receive €200 back from the sportsbook with a correct wager, which would result in a total profit of €100.

American Odds

An example of "American" odds would be +100.

American odds can have a minus or plus sign in front of the number.

If the number has a minus sign in front of it, this means that this outcome is a favourite to win.

If the number has a plus sign in front of it, this means that this outcome is an underdog to win.

If the odds for an event are +150, this means that you would win $150 in profit from a $100 wager.

If the odds for an event are -150, this means that you would have to bet $150 on the event in order to win $100 in profit back.

Fractional Odds

An example of fractional odds would be something like: 7/1

In this case, a successful $100 wager on this outcome would yield a total profit of $700.

Fractional odds are commonly used in Europe, though they are not as popular in the United States.

In terms of figuring out your potential profit, fractional odds is likely the hardest to do off the top of your head.

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If you need a helpful tool to convert different types of odds, please try our Odds Conversion tool.