What Sports Betting Odds Format Should I Use?

One of the things that often puts newcomers off from joining sports betting sites is the odds format that’s displayed on the website they have just landed on.

There are three main betting odds formats, and depending on where you live will determine which odds format you will most likely see. For example, when Canadian sports bettors visit trusted sites like comeon.com, they should see the decimal odds format.

Online betting sites targeted towards the US market typically display their odds in the American/moneyline format, and those focusing on the UK market will display their odds in the fractional odds format.

If you want to know which odds format you should use when betting online, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s everything you need to know so you can choose the right format that will be the easiest for you to understand.

Which odds format should I be using when betting online?

If you happen to land on a sports betting site and the odds displayed on that site are something that you are not familiar with, you may find that it’s because your Virtual Private Network (VPN) is connected to a specific server/region, and the site you have landed on is geo-targeted to players in that market.

In other words, to see the correct odds format that people in your country are more accustomed to using, try switching off your VPN and revisiting the site. This should fix the problem, so the odds that you now see displayed on that site are ones you are more familiar with.

A handful of iGaming sites also now have a feature that enables fully registered members to choose their preferred odds format at the click or tap of a button.

The three main odds formats in sports betting are the following:

● Decimal odds – this particular format is used almost everywhere, including Canada, most European countries, Asia, Australia, South America, Africa, and many other countries
● American/moneyline odds – used in North America (mainly the United States) but also in parts of Canada
● Fractional odds – the preferred odds format that’s mainly used in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland)

If you can get to grips with one of these standard betting odds formats, it can help you understand the implied probability rate (the chance of that outcome actually occurring) and help you place more informed bets.

Examples of what the different odds formats look like

Let’s just say that you are about to put a bet on a market with 1.29 decimal odds. These odds are the same as saying -350 in American/moneyline odds or 2/7 in fractional odds. These odds mean this outcome has a whopping 77.80% chance of occurring (IPR – implied probability rate).

A bet with 2.00 decimal odds (so a 50% IPR) is the same as saying 1/1 (EVENS) in the UK fractional odds format and +100 in the American/moneyline odds format.

Finally, an outsider/underdog/longshot that doesn’t stand a chance of winning and may only have a 0.1% implied probability rate would appear as 1,001.00 in decimal odds, 1,000/1 in fractional odds, and +100,000 in American/moneyline odds.

Final note

To place strategic bets with a much better chance of winning, avoid placing too many bets with ‘long’ odds and a low IPR, and perhaps bet on the favourites with a much higher IPR. In other words, do your research and gamble sensibly and responsibly.

With that in mind, you must also remember that betting on any favourite will not always guarantee a return. Sometimes, the favourites lose to the underdogs who upset the odds that were initially set before the event started.