Take a Look at Fractional, Decimal and American Betting Odds Variations
Online sport betting does not use a single fixed system to display the odds for wagers. There are three main representation systems used online and which system is used will depend on what audience the sports betting site caters to.
Sites generally use the Fractional or Decimal system for the European, Asian and Pacific market while the American market only uses the Moneyline or American system.
When looking at the different methods for displaying odds there isn’t really much common ground that you can infer what each one means so it is beast to read the guide below to fully understand these three methods for displaying odds.
The Traditional System
The Fractional odds system is quite a traditional way to display odds. It is mainly used in the UK and Ireland. The odds are displayed as a fraction that you know from school maths.
As an example you may see odds displayed as 8/1. What this fractional figure means is that if you wager 1, you will see a return of 8. The reverse is also true, so if the team you are betting on is a favourite the odds may be 1/8, meaning of you bet 10 your return will be 1.25.
These winnings are calculated to exclude your initial stake, so it refers only to the money yo0u can expect back from the payoff of the wager, not your total received cash. In other words the fractional system displays your profit return.
Players may also see these odds displayed as 8-1 or 1-8 and read as eight to one.
The Simple System
The decimal odds system is generally used in Europe, Canada, New Zealand and of course Australia. This system is regarded as the simplest display of sports betting odds. This form of odds display is slowly becoming more and more popular thanks to the exclusive use of this system on betting exchanges.
So let’s take the decimal odds of the above fractional example. A figure of 8/1 will be displayed as 9. A figure of 1/8 will be displayed as 1.125.
Now you may notice that the odds are one more than they should be, that is because decimal odds also includes your original stake, so the decimal odds display the exact total you can expect in return , so with the above examples it will be 8 plus 1 and 0.125 plus one.
To get the decimal value of a fractional odd, simply divide the first number by the second and add one.
When you want to figure out your return on a bet, simply multiply your decimal odd with your stake and you have your payout.
The American System
The American System or Moneyline system is still the standard system in America but it seems a bit complex at first. Moneyline odds will either be a positive or negative figure. Using our above example, an odd of 8/1 will be displayed as +800.
This is because the figures used are designed with a $100 bet in mind. So the positive +800 means you will win $800 on a $100 bet.
A Negative figure will display how much you need to wager to win 100. So from this you can see that a positive moneyline odd means that the team is less favoured as the odds that they will win are higher. Negative odds will mean that a team is the favourite so the return on the bet will be lower.