Odds formats: American, decimal and fractional

Three formats, one price

Take a regular-season game between Vancouver and Calgary. A sportsbook prices Vancouver as the favourite and Calgary as the underdog. Here is the Vancouver price written three ways:

• American: -150
• Decimal: 1.67
• Fractional: 4/6

All three mean the same thing: a $10 bet on Vancouver returns $16.67 if Vancouver wins, which is your $10 stake plus $6.67 profit. The format changes how the number looks, not what you get paid. Most sportsbooks let you switch the display in your account settings, so pick the format you read fastest and stay with it.

American odds

American odds, also called moneyline odds, are built around $100. The sign in front of the number tells you which way to read it.

Negative numbers: the favourite

A minus number shows how much you have to stake to win $100 profit. At -150 you stake $150 to win $100, so $15 wins $10 and $10 wins $6.67. The bigger the number after the minus, the bigger the favourite: -300 means staking $300 to win $100.

Positive numbers: the underdog

A plus number shows the profit on a $100 stake. At +130 a $100 bet wins $130, so a $10 bet wins $13 and returns $23 with the stake. The bigger the number after the plus, the less likely the sportsbook thinks the result is.

Even money and -110

+100 is an even-money bet: $10 wins $10. Some sportsbooks print it as "EVEN" or "EV". You will see -110 often: it is the standard price on both sides of many totals and point spreads. At -110 you stake $11 to win $10, so a $10 bet returns $19.09. That extra dollar on every $11 is how the sportsbook is paid, which the margin section below explains.

Decimal odds

A decimal price is the total amount you get back for every $1 staked, stake included. That makes the arithmetic simple: multiply your stake by the price.

• $10 at 1.67 returns $16.67, so $6.67 is profit.
• $10 at 2.30 returns $23.00, so $13.00 is profit.
• $10 at 2.00 returns $20.00, the same as +100.

A decimal price below 2.00 is a favourite, above 2.00 an underdog. A price can never be below 1.00, because 1.00 would only give your stake back. Decimal odds are also the easiest format for parlays, because you multiply the prices of the legs to get the parlay price.

Fractional odds

Fractional odds are the British format, still common in horse racing and on UK-facing sites. The fraction is profit divided by stake.

• 5/2 means $5 profit for every $2 staked. A $10 bet wins $25 and returns $35. That is 3.50 in decimal and +250 in American.
• 4/6 means $4 profit for every $6 staked. A $10 bet wins $6.67 and returns $16.67, the same as -150 (1.67).
• Evens, or 1/1, is +100 (2.00).
• 10/11 is the fractional version of -110 (1.91).

You will rarely see fractions at the sportsbooks on our Canadian list, but knowing them helps when you read a British preview or compare a horse-racing price.

How to convert between formats

Four short formulas cover every conversion you need.

1. Negative American to decimal: divide 100 by the number without the minus, then add 1. For -150: 100 / 150 = 0.667, plus 1 = 1.67.
2. Positive American to decimal: divide the number by 100, then add 1. For +130: 130 / 100 = 1.30, plus 1 = 2.30.
3. Decimal of 2.00 or more to American: subtract 1 and multiply by 100. For 3.50: 2.50 x 100 = +250.
4. Decimal below 2.00 to American: subtract 1, divide 100 by the result and put a minus in front. For 1.50: 100 / 0.50 = -200.

For fractions, divide the top number by the bottom number and add 1 to get the decimal price: 5/2 is 2.5 plus 1, or 3.50.

One catch: rounding. If you convert the rounded 1.67 back, you get about -149, not -150. Sportsbooks calculate returns from the exact price, so a $10 bet at -150 returns $16.67 whichever format you display. Small differences of a cent or a point after conversion are rounding, not a different price.

Implied probability: what the price says about the chance

Every price can be turned into the chance the sportsbook is pricing in. This is the part of a price worth learning first, because it lets you compare the price with your own view of the game.

• From decimal: divide 1 by the price. 1 / 1.67 = 60%. 1 / 2.30 = 43.5%.
• From negative American: divide the number by the number plus 100. For -150: 150 / 250 = 60%.
• From positive American: divide 100 by the number plus 100. For +130: 100 / 230 = 43.5%.
• From fractional: divide the bottom number by the sum of both. For 4/6: 6 / 10 = 60%.

Implied probability is also your break-even rate. A bet at -150 has to win 60% of the time just to cover its cost over many bets. A bet at -110 has to win 52.4% of the time. If you think Calgary wins this game about half the time, +130 looks interesting, because the price only asks for 43.5%. If you think Calgary wins one game in three, it does not.

The bookmaker's margin

Add the implied probabilities of both sides of a game and you will not get 100%. The extra is the sportsbook's margin, also called the vig, the juice or the overround.

Worked example: Vancouver -150 (1.67), Calgary +130 (2.30)

• Vancouver: 60.0%
• Calgary: 43.5%
• Total: 103.5%

The 3.5 extra points are the margin. To see the price without it, divide each side by 1.035. Vancouver becomes 58.0% and Calgary 42.0%, which are fair prices of about -138 (1.72) and +138 (2.38). In other words, the sportsbook pays +130 on Calgary where a no-margin price would be +138, and asks you to lay -150 on Vancouver where a no-margin price would be -138.

Worked example: a total at -110 on both sides

Over 6.5 goals at -110 (1.91) and Under 6.5 goals at -110 (1.91) add up to 52.4% plus 52.4%, or 104.8%. If the sportsbook takes the same amount on both sides, it keeps about 4.5% of everything staked, whichever side wins. That is why -110 is called the standard price: it is a coin flip with the margin built in.

Three-way markets carry it too

On a 60-minute line, where a tie after regulation is its own result, the margin is spread over three outcomes. Illustrative prices of Vancouver +105 (2.05), tie +350 (4.50) and Calgary +200 (3.00) add up to about 104.3%. Futures with 32 teams, such as the Stanley Cup winner, usually add up to much more, because the margin is spread across every team in the market.

The margin is the reason no system of picks beats the sportsbook by default. Over many bets you pay it on every one, and in a parlay you pay it on every leg, which is why the parlay guide shows the margin growing with each leg you add.

Using odds to compare sportsbooks

The same result is rarely priced the same everywhere. Vancouver might be -150 (1.67) at one sportsbook and -135 (1.74) at another. On a $10 bet that is $16.67 back against $17.41, a difference of $0.74. On one bet it is small. Over a season of hockey bets, taking the better price on the same pick adds up to more than most tips are worth.

Comparing in implied probability makes it clearer: -150 asks for 60.0%, -135 asks for 57.4%. The second sportsbook is asking you to be right less often for the same win.

Odds on the different hockey markets

The formats work the same on every market, but the shape of the prices differs:

• Moneyline: one price per team, usually one minus and one plus number. The NHL betting guide explains it with more examples.
• Puck line: the goals are fixed at 1.5 and the price moves, so a moneyline favourite at -150 can be +160 (2.60) on the -1.5 line. Our puck line guide works through it.
• Totals: usually close to -110 (1.91) on both sides, with the line set at 5.5 or 6.5 goals.
• Parlays: the prices of the legs are multiplied, which is easiest in decimal.

If a term on the bet slip is new to you, the glossary explains it in a line or two.

What odds do not tell you

Odds are the sportsbook's price, not a forecast you can rely on. They move with injuries, the confirmed starting goalie and where the money is going, and a price on a Canadian team can be shorter than the team's real chance because so many Canadians bet on it. A long price is not good value just because it pays a lot, and a short price is not safe just because the team is favoured.

Read the market rules too. Whether a hockey bet includes overtime and the shootout is written in the market name or the sportsbook's rules, and it changes what you are actually betting on.

Bet within a budget

Knowing how to read odds makes it easier to see what a bet costs; it does not make winning more likely. Set a budget before you bet, use the deposit limits in your account and stop when the budget is spent. Betting is for adults only: 19+ in most provinces, 18+ in Quebec and Manitoba. Our responsible gambling page lists free, confidential help for every province we cover, and the sports betting hub covers the sportsbooks on our Canadian list.