Betting Odds Explained
Have you ever looked at the odds on a betting market and did not have the first idea of what they meant or how to calculate what you would win if you were to place some money on the bet?
This page is is here to help you! You do not have to be a wizard at maths to work out what return you would get on a bet. On this page you will see fractional odds which most traditional book makers use and decimal odds which the online betting exchanges and the tote use. You will also see the probabilty percentage of those odds to win and what return you would recieve from a specific stake.
To work out fractional odds is quite simple once you know the method to use. With the wonders of modern technology the majority of people now have a calculator on their mobile phone so working out the fractional odds is literally at your finger tips.
If you staked £20 on a bet which had fractional odds of 15/8 ( pronounced 15 to 8 ) you would work it out as follows: 15 ÷ 8 = 1.88 x £20.00 stake = £37.60 win. With fractional odds you would also get your stake returned so the total return for this bet would be £57.60.
Working out decimal odds is a bit easier. It is a simple calculation which involves multiplying your stake by the decimal odds. If you staked £20 on a bet which had decimal odds of 2.88 you would work it out as follows: 2.88 x £20.00 Stake = £57.60 win. As you can see the amount won is the same as the total return on the fractional odds bet, this is because they are exactly the same odds but with the decimal odds the stake return is incorporated with in bet.
You may also hear the terms odds on and odds against. Odds on means that your bet has more than a 50% chance of winning, you can see all the odds listed below with a 50% or more chance of winning. Odds against means that your bet has less than a 50% chance of winning, you can also see in the table below all the odds listed with a 50% or less chance of winning.
| Fractional Odds | Decimal Equivilant | % Probability Of Win | Stake and Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/100 | 1.01 | 99.01% | £100.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/50 | 1.02 | 98.04% | £50.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/33 | 1.03 | 97.09% | £33.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/25 | 1.04 | 96.15% | £25.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/20 | 1.05 | 95.24% | £20.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/18 | 1.06 | 94.34% | £18.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/14 | 1.07 | 93.46% | £14.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/12 | 1.08 | 92.59% | £12.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/11 | 1.09 | 91.74% | £11.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/10 | 1.10 | 90.91% | £10.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/9 | 1.11 | 90.09% | £9.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/8 | 1.12 | 89.29% | £8.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 2/15 | 1.13 | 88.5% | £7.50 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/7 | 1.14 | 87.72% | £7.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 2/13 | 1.15 | 86.96% | £6.50 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/6 | 1.17 | 85.47% | £6.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 2/11 | 1.18 | 84.75% | £5.50 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/5 | 1.20 | 83.33% | £5.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 2/9 | 1.22 | 81.97% | £4.50 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/4 | 1.24 | 80.65% | £4.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 2/7 | 1.28 | 78.13% | £3.50 staked = £1.00 return |
| 30/100 | 1.30 | 76.92% | £3.33 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/3 | 1.33 | 75.19% | £3.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 4/11 | 1.36 | 73.53% | £2.77 staked = £1.00 return |
| 2/5 | 1.40 | 71.43% | £2.50 staked = £1.00 return |
| 4/9 | 1.44 | 69.44% | £2.25 staked = £1.00 return |
| 40/85 | 1.47 | 68.03% | £2.12 staked = £1.00 return |
| 1/2 | 1.5 | 66.67% | £2.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 8/15 | 1.53 | 65.36% | £1.88 staked = £1.00 return |
| 4/7 | 1.57 | 63.69% | £1.75 staked = £1.00 return |
| 8/13 | 1.61 | 62.11% | £1.64 staked = £1.00 return |
| 5/8 | 1.63 | 61.35% | £1.60 staked = £1.00 return |
| 4/6 | 1.66 | 60.24% | £1.50 staked = £1.00 return |
| 8/11 | 1.72 | 58.14% | £1.37 staked = £1.00 return |
| 4/5 | 1.80 | 55.56% | £1.25 staked = £1.00 return |
| 5/6 | 1.83 | 54.64% | £1.20 staked = £1.00 return |
| 10/11 | 1.91 | 52.36% | £1.10 staked = £1.00 return |
| Evs | 2.00 | 50.00% | £1.00 staked = £1.00 return |
| 11/10 | 2.10 | 48.08% | £1.00 staked = £1.10 return |
| 6/5 | 2.20 | 45.45% | £1.00 staked = £1.20 return |
| 5/4 | 2.26 | 44.25% | £1.00 staked = £1.26 return |
| 11/8 | 2.38 | 42.02% | £1.00 staked = £1.38 return |
| 6/4 | 2.50 | 40.00% | £1.00 staked = £1.50 return |
| 13/8 | 2.63 | 38.05% | £1.00 staked = £1.63 return |
| 7/4 | 2.76 | 36.23% | £1.00 staked = £1.76 return |
| 15/8 | 2.88 | 34.72% | £1.00 staked = £1.88 return |
| 2/1 | 3.00 | 33.33% | £1.00 staked = £2.00 return |
| 11/5 | 3.20 | 31.25% | £1.00 staked = £2.20 return |
| 9/4 | 3.25 | 30.77% | £1.00 staked = £2.25 return |
| 12/5 | 3.40 | 29.41% | £1.00 staked = £2.40 return |
| 5/2 | 3.50 | 28.57% | £1.00 staked = £2.50 return |
| 13/5 | 3.60 | 27.78% | £1.00 staked = £2.60 return |
| 11/4 | 3.75 | 26.67% | £1.00 staked = £2.75 return |
| 14/5 | 3.80 | 26.32% | £1.00 staked = £2.80 return |
| 3/1 | 4.00 | 25.00% | £1.00 staked = £3.00 return |
| 100/30 | 4.33 | 23.26% | £1.00 staked = £3.33 return |
| 7/2 | 4.50 | 22.22% | £1.00 staked = £3.50 return |
| 4/1 | 5.00 | 20.00% | £1.00 staked = £4.00 return |
| 9/2 | 5.50 | 18.18% | £1.00 staked = £4.50 return |
| 5/1 | 6.00 | 16.67% | £1.00 staked = £5.00 return |
| 11/2 | 6.50 | 15.42% | £1.00 staked = £5.50 return |
| 6/1 | 7.00 | 14.29% | £1.00 staked = £6.00 return |
| 13/2 | 7.50 | 13.36% | £1.00 staked = £6.50 return |
| 7/1 | 8.00 | 12.5% | £1.00 staked = £7.00 return |
| 15/2 | 8.50 | 11.72% | £1.00 staked = £7.50 return |
| 8/1 | 9.00 | 11.11% | £1.00 staked = £8.00 return |
| 17/2 | 9.50 | 10.51% | £1.00 staked = £8.50 return |
| 9/1 | 10.00 | 10.00% | £1.00 staked = £9.00 return |
| 10/1 | 11.00 | 9.09% | £1.00 staked = £10.00 return |
| 11/1 | 12.00 | 8.33% | £1.00 staked = £11.00 return |
| 12/1 | 13.00 | 7.69% | £1.00 staked = £12.00 return |
| 13/1 | 14.00 | 7.14% | £1.00 staked = £13.00 return |
| 14/1 | 15.00 | 6.67% | £1.00 staked = £14.00 return |
| 15/1 | 16.00 | 6.25% | £1.00 staked = £15.00 return |
| 16/1 | 17.00 | 5.88% | £1.00 staked = £16.00 return |
| 17/1 | 18.00 | 5.56% | £1.00 staked = £17.00 return |
| 18/1 | 19.00 | 5.26% | £1.00 staked = £18.00 return |
| 19/1 | 20.00 | 5.00% | £1.00 staked = £19.00 return |
| 20/1 | 21.00 | 4.76% | £1.00 staked = £20.00 return |
| 25/1 | 26.00 | 3.85% | £1.00 staked = £25.00 return |
| 28/1 | 29.00 | 3.45% | £1.00 staked = £28.00 return |
| 33/1 | 34.00 | 2.94% | £1.00 staked = £33.00 return |
| 40/1 | 41.00 | 2.46% | £1.00 staked = £40.00 return |
| 50/1 | 51.00 | 1.98% | £1.00 staked = £50.00 return |
| 80/1 | 81.00 | 1.23% | £1.00 staked = £80.00 return |
| 100/1 | 101.00 | 0.99% | £1.00 staked = £100.00 return |
