What are decimal odds?

Decimal odds, such as 2.50, show the total return per unit staked, including your stake. Multiply your stake by the decimal to get the total return, then subtract your stake to find the profit.

How do I calculate my payout?

With decimal odds, multiply your stake by the odds. A $100 bet at 2.50 returns $250, which is your $100 stake plus $150 profit. For accumulators, multiply the odds of each selection together first.

What is implied probability?

It is the chance of an outcome that the odds suggest. Divide 1 by the decimal odds and multiply by 100. Odds of 2.00 imply a 50% chance, odds of 4.00 imply 25%.

What is value in betting?

Value is the gap between your own estimate of an outcome's likelihood and the bookmaker's implied probability. When you think an outcome is more likely than the odds suggest, the bet may carry value.

Odds move as money comes in, as news breaks and as the event approaches, with prices shifting to balance risk. A shortening price suggests confidence in that outcome; a drifting price suggests the opposite.

What is the vig or margin?

It is the bookmaker's built-in edge, visible when the implied probabilities of all outcomes add up to more than 100%. A lower margin means odds closer to the true chance of each outcome, which is better for you.

Which odds format should I use?

Whichever you find easiest. Decimal is the simplest for quick payout maths, fractional is traditional in the UK, and American is common in the US. The underlying maths is identical.

How-to

How to read betting odds

Decimal, fractional and American odds explained, with payout maths and the idea of value.

What odds actually tell you

Odds do two jobs at once: they show how much a winning bet pays, and they imply how likely the bookmaker thinks an outcome is. A lower price points to a likelier outcome with a smaller payoff; a higher price points to a less likely outcome with a bigger payoff. Once you grasp that link between likelihood and reward, every bet becomes a question of whether you agree with the bookmaker's estimate.

1xBet shows decimal odds by default, and you can usually switch between decimal, fractional and American formats in the settings. The maths underneath is the same; only the notation changes.

The three odds formats

The same price written three ways.

Decimal

Shown as 2.00. Multiply your stake by the decimal to get the total return, which includes your stake. The easiest format to use.

Fractional

Shown as 1/1. The fraction is your profit relative to your stake, so 1/1 means you win your stake as profit on top of the returned stake.

American

Shown as +100 or -100. Positive numbers show profit on a $100 stake; negative numbers show the stake needed to win $100.

Calculating your payout

With decimal odds, the calculation is simple: total return equals stake multiplied by odds. A $100 bet at odds of 2.50 returns $250, which is your $100 stake plus $150 profit. To find just the profit, subtract your stake from the total return.

For accumulators, multiply the decimal odds of each selection together first, then multiply by your stake. Two selections at 2.00 and 3.00 give combined odds of 6.00, so a $100 stake returns $600, but remember every selection has to win for the bet to pay.

Implied probability

Odds imply a probability, and you can work it out: divide 1 by the decimal odds, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage. Odds of 2.00 imply a 50% chance, odds of 4.00 imply 25%, and so on. This is the bookmaker's estimate of how likely an outcome is.

Compare that implied probability to your own. If you think an outcome is more likely than the odds suggest, the bet may carry value. That gap, between your estimate and the price, is the single most important idea in betting, and it is what separates a thoughtful bettor from someone who just backs big names.

Odds move, and that matters

Odds are not fixed. They move as money comes in, as news breaks and as the event approaches, with prices shifting to balance the bookmaker's risk. A shortening price usually means money or confidence is backing that outcome; a drifting price means the opposite.

Watching odds move is part of finding value, especially live. If you can act before the market catches up with a development you have noticed, you take a better price than the players who follow.

The margin (vig)

Bookmakers build a margin into their odds, sometimes called the vig or juice, which is how they aim to profit regardless of the result. You can see it when the implied probabilities of all outcomes add up to more than 100%. That overround is the price of having someone take the other side of your bet.

A lower margin is generally better for you, because the odds are closer to the true chance of each outcome. Shopping between markets and bookmakers for the best price is one of the few reliable edges available, so always take the best number you can find for the same selection.