Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of Sports Bet Listings. On this page you will find as a quick explanation of the different odd formats with links to more detailed pages for each style of betting odds, as well as links to our various live sports odds pages.
Learn how to read the odds at VegasInsider.com. We provide betting resources to understand sports betting odds, point-spread odds, moneyline odds, over-under total odds, futures odds, halftime odds and much more for your sports betting needs. Understanding Decimal Odds. There is a lot of jargon used in sports betting and it can be quite confusing, especially for a novice, but once you get to grips with the basic terminology, your betting experience will be enhanced.
How Sports Betting Odds Work
The sports betting odds (also known as lines) are the most important factor when deciding if you want to place a wager on a specific outcome. In general, the less likely the outcome, the higher the potential payout and vice versa. Value is found in betting lines where you feel the likelihood of the outcome occurring is greater than the odds and potential payout suggest. In order to find these good value betting lines you first need to understand how to read sports betting odds and that is where we come in.
There are three styles of sports betting odds. The American style is the most common odds format used in North America, while the decimal odds style is the most common form used in Europe. The fractional odds format isn’t very common anymore, but it is the easiest for verbalizing odds (eg. 2 to 1). Below you will find a short description of each odds format. Click on the links to visit the more detailed dedicated pages.
American Odds – This is the most common odds format used by North American bettors. It involves positive (+) or negative (-) signs indicating whether the potential payout will be greater than or less than the wager amount. Positive (+) signs indicate the payout will be more (used for underdogs), while negative (-) signs indicate the payout will be less (used for favorites). A number greater than 100 is then displayed beside the sign. Beside positive (+) signs the number indicates how much a $100 wager would win and beside negative (-) signs the number indicates how much must be wagered to win $100.
Decimal Odds – This odds format is the easiest to use for calculating the potential payout of a wager. The number beside an outcome (eg. 2.65) is multiplied by the amount wagered to find the total potential payout. To calculate the winnings you then simply subtract the amount wagered from the potential payout.
Fractional Odds – This odds format is the easiest to verbalize and is easy to understand when the odds can be simplified. The numerator (top number) is the amount you will win by wagering the denominator (bottom number). For example, 3/2 fractional odds mean that a wager of $2 will win you $3 for a total payout of $5.
If you want more information on any of the odds formats outlined above be sure to click on the links to visit the more detailed explanation pages.
Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.
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Sports Betting Odds Explained
Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.
American Style Sports Betting Odds
Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:
![Sports Betting Decimal Odds Sports Betting Decimal Odds](/uploads/1/3/6/6/136667625/225906296.jpg)
American Odds
- Matchup Odds
- New England Patriots +120
- Pittsburgh Steelers -140
Sports Betting Decimal Odds
The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.
The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.
The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.
A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.
![Sports Betting Decimal Odds Sports Betting Decimal Odds](/uploads/1/3/6/6/136667625/864610024.jpg)
Examples:
Sports Betting Odds Explained
A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.
Examples:
Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.
In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).
The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.
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Sports Betting Decimal Odds Percentages
Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds
Betting Odds Explained
Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. Shuffle poker chips. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:
If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.
If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits. Msw odds nba.
Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.