Types Of Sporting Odds

By Author: Thomas Lindblom
Total Articles: 200
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While all of the major online sportsbooks such as Bet365, Betfair, Bluesquare, Whills, Corals, Paddy Power, VC Bet, Stan James and Ladbrokes will have a feature installed on their website that allows you to convert between decimal odds and fractional odds (the two major international types of sporting odds), it is still useful to learn how to do that yourself. The software might not always be able to do that and of course when you are on the road and using a brick and mortar bookmaker, you will need to understand what each format is telling you so that you can make the appropriate bets.

Decimal odds are expressed in the form X.YZ (with X possibly equal to Y and Z, but not always) and is basically the different bookmakers telling you exactly what the multiplying factor is on the amount of money that you bet. In other words, when you go to Bluesq and place a bet at 1.37 odds, what you are actually doing is being informed that your money bet will be multiplied by 1.37 if you happen to win your bet. Another way of looking at it is that for every $1.00 that you bet, you will win $1.37 total if you happen to win the bet.

Decimal ...
... odds are not to be confused with fractional odds, which is perhaps the odds format that the most people are familiar with. This is the odds format used in online casinos exclusively so if you were to play at Bluesq Casino or Paddy Power Casino instead of their sportsbook websites, you would not have the option of converting to decimal odds. However, that doesn't really matter because fractional odds tell you the exact same thing.

Fractional odds are expressed in the form X/Y (X can equal Y, but does not have to) with X units being the amount of money that you can win for every Y units that you put up. In other words, if you want to double your money, then you would place a bet at 1/1 odds. This means that 1/1 odds, also known colloquially as even money, corresponds to 2.0 in the decimal odds format. 2/1 odds, which pay you $2 in profit for every $1 bet, corresponds to 3.0 in the decimal odds format. Now that you know the basics about the two major types of sporting odds, converting between them or even just using what you are given initially should be a breeze.