Decimal Odds

Decimal odds are the most widely used odds type and are offered by almost all bookmakers. Decimal odds show you how much money will be returned from a 1 unit stake. If a team is presented with odds @2,40 you will get 2,4 units back from a stake of 1 unit. Decimal odds are in most cases presented with an accuracy of two decimals for example @2,40 or @1,80

Example: Arsenal to win vs. Manchester Utd @1,80

stake: 100 units

return: 100 x @1,80 = 180 units

profit: 180 - 100 = 80 units

Fractional Odds

This way of presenting odds is common with UK bookmakers. The main difference between fractional and decimal odds is that while decimal show you how much money will be returned from a 1 unit stake the fractional odds tell you how much profit there is from a 1 unit stake.

Example: Arsenal to win vs. Manchester Utd @4/5

stake: 100 units

profit: 4/5 x 100 units = 80 units

return: (4/5 + 1) x 100 = 180 units

Conversion from fractional odds to decimal odds is easy: simply add + 1 to the fraction. With the example above odd @4/5 is equal to (4/5 + 1) = 0,8 + 1 =@1,80

American Odds

American odds are different from the two other types explained and are either positive or negative for example - 140 or + 300. They show you how much you will have to stake in order to achieve a profit of $100 or how much profit you will have if you stake $100.

Negative odds will show you how much you will have to stake in order to achieve a profit of $100. If a team is presented with odds - 140 you will have to stake $140 to get a $100 profit.

Positive odds will show you how much profit you will have if you stake $100. If a team is presented with odds + 300 you will have $300 profit for a stake of $100. Namely, + 300 is equal to decimal odds @4,00 or fractional @3/1.

Undoubtedly, decimal way of presenting odds is the best and is by far the most common. Fractional way of presenting odds is not to be discarded but it`s a waste of time to calculate with fractions. American odds are inappropriate to present and awkward to use.