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Odds formats explained

There are 2 simple rules related to odds that you must never forget:

1. The better the odds' value, the higher the profit in case of winning, but...
2. The better the odds' value, the lower the probability of winning

The odds may be displayed in different formats depending on the country, the bookmaker and the language. The most frequently used formats are European odds, English odds and American odds. It is useful to know how to read these different formats in order to be sure of always betting with the best odds.

European odds (decimal format)

Odds under European format show how many units your bookmaker will give back to you as per unit of your stake.

Let us take the example of a football match between England and Germany.
The bookmaker A suggests the following odds:

For example, if you have decided to bet 100 euros on England winning (with odds of 1.90) and your bet is a winner, the bookmaker will pay you 100 euros x 1.90 = 190 euros, and your profit stands as 190 euros - 100 euros = 90 euros. Similarly, the winning bet on a draw will bring you 300 euros, and a profit of 200 euros. Following the same logic, betting on Germany will bring you 375 euros, for a profit of 275 euros.

Betting on Germany winning the match ensures the highest profit for you simply because the other bettors think this is the least possible outcome for this match.

English odds (fraction format)

UK odds show directly the profit of a bet : how many units the bet will give in profit per unit staked.
They are displayed in fractions :

Be careful : the conversion from decimal to fraction format may be affected by rounding off errors.

American odds (currency format)

US odds can be either negative or positive, and the meaning of the odd changes with its sign :

• a negative odds expresses the number of units that you have to wager in order to win 1 unit,
• while a positive number expresses the number of units that would be won from a 1 unit wager.

That is, the way the odds are split is according to whether you will earn a profit higher or lower than your stake for a winning wager. Bets with negative odds have an high probability of winning since they give a profit lower than the stake. It corresponds to European odds less than 2 and UK odds less than 1/1.

How to bet online ? The Moodds free guide

• - Selecting your bookmaker(s): Who are the best bookmakers on the market?
• - How to open an account?
• - Deposit and withdraw funds
• - Electronic wallets (Moneybookers and NETeller)
• - Betting at the best odds
• - Betting on a single match
• - How does a bookmaker set the odds?
• - Glossary of online betting
• 
  - Go to "How to bet online"