Odds Formats Explained

Posted at February 21st, 2011 Add your comment

Understanding the odds is the precondition of betting. The most common mistake about the odds is they represent the possibility of outcome. No, they don’t. Imagine two guys who want to make a football game more interesting for watching and decide to bet which team will take the first throw-in. There is possibility of 50% for both outcomes (team A, or team B) and fair odd is 2.00. Guys decide they will put $50 on it. Winner will take $100, $50 stake and $50 profit (loss of the other guy). If they decide to make same bet online, they’ll find 1.90 odd for the same event (for example). So loser would lose $50, but winner would win $45 not $50. Bookmaker makes a profit regardless of which outcome prevails and there that $5 goes. In betting, odd is amount that bookmaker will pay out on the winning bet. But in general, the higher odd means the lower probability.

Despite all advantages that online betting has, serious problem could be when the odds are presented in a format that you are not familiar with. Imagine you have just opened an account at some fancy bookmaker (new sponsor of your football club), deposited your money, took a look on a game of interest and find Chelsea is at -1.37. What the hell is -1.37?! Welcome to Asia, you’ve just discovered a Malay odds format. That’s the way how they like it and you won’t be even able to change it to more familiar format. Here’s the list and explanations of all odds formats.

1. Decimal Odds

This is probably the most popular format. Decimal odds are favoured in continental Europe, Canada and Australia. They are also known as European odds and continental odds in UK. These odds reflect the payout on a successful bet in decimal form and it’s quite easy to calculate.

Formula: stake x odd = payout

If you put $100 on 1.50 odd, possible payout would be $150. It’s important to bear in mind, payout is stake plus profit which is different from UK odds (profit in this example is $50). These odds are considered to be best for parlay betting (accumulators), since the payout is simply the product of the odds for each outcome wagered on. Also, decimal odds are favoured by betting exchanges because they are most suitable for trading.

2. Fractional Odds

If the decimal odds are the most popular, fractional is definitely the oldest format. Known beginnings are far in the sixteenth century when even William Shakespeare wrote in his Henry IV “if we wrought out life 'twas ten to one”. Fractional odds are popular in United Kingdom and Ireland. They’re also known as British odds, UK odds, or in that country - traditional odds. They are represented as fractions (6/4, 2/1, 1/3...) and indicate the net payout earned relative to the amount staked. Differently from decimal format, they show the possible profit (stake is excluded). Odds of 2/1 (the way to say is “two to one”, or less commonly “two to one against”) imply that the bettor would have £200 profit on a £100 stake. If the odd is 1/2 (“one to two”, or “two to one on”), the bettor would have £50 profit on a £100 stake. Odds of 1/1 are also known as evens or even money.

Converting this format into decimal is very easy, just divide fraction and add 1 (1/2+1=1.50)

Fractional odds are also used in horse racing.

3. American Odds

American odds are, of course, the most popular at US bookmakers but are offered by most online sportsbooks as well. They’re also known as “money line odds” or “lines” and are different for favorites and underdogs.

If the odd is worse than even, the figure is negative and it shows how much money must be wagered to win $100. If the quoted odd is -200 (1.50 in decimal format and 1/2 in fractional), it means you have to put $200 to win $100.

If the odd is better than even, the figure is positive and it shows how much money will be won on a wager of $100. If the quoted odd is 300 (4.00 in decimal format and 3/1 in fractional), it means you will win $300 with a stake of $100.

Conversion American odd to decimal depends on whether it is negative or positive. If it is negative, take -100, divide it by US odd and add 1. (-200 will be -100/-200+1=1.50). If it is positive, just divide it by 100 and add 1 (300 will be 300/100+1=4.00). Same principle is with conversion to fractional format. If US odd is negative, take -100, divide it by the odd and then convert to fraction (-200 will be -100/-200=1/2). If it is positive, divide it by 100 and convert to fraction (300 will be 300/100=3/1).

4. Hong Kong, 5. Indo and 6 .Malay Odds Formats

Good thing with decimal, fractional and US odds formats is wherever you open an account, you will easily find a button to convert one of these three formats to another. Problems appear when you go to some Asian bookmaker because the better odds, higher limits or security reasons. It looks like they’re proud on their odds and you won’t find an option to convert the odds to more familiar style.

Here’s the short review of all three types.

Hong Kong odds are like fractional format, except they’re expressed in decimals. To convert it in decimal format just add 1 (0.50 is 1/2 in fractions and 1.50 in decimals).

Indonesian odds are like US odds. When negative, they show how big wager is needed for a profit of 1 and when positive, they show the profit from a wager of 1.

Malaysian odds are just opposite from US and Indonesian format. For example, fractional 3/2, decimal 2.50, US +150, Indonesian +1.50 is Malay -0.67. And fractional 1/2, decimal 1.50, US -200, Indonesian -2.00 is Malay +0.50.

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