How do American Odds Work?
When browsing online betting sites, customers have the option of various odds formats. Traditionally, prices have been shown as fractional odds but a lot of people prefer to show them as decimal odds nowadays due to the fact it can be easier to work out potential profits offered.
However, an alternative is to have the prices shown as American odds - so how do they work?
American Odds Explained
It goes without saying that American odds are how prices tend to be displayed in the US. However, many of the biggest and best UK betting sites will now also let users see American odds. These look very different to how the same price would look as decimal or fractional odds, though the potential profit is always the same.
For American odds, users will see a number shown with either a positive sign, the +, or a negative sign, which is the -, so there is no decimal point or slash involved for these odds. The important thing to remember is that $100 - or the equivalent in whatever currency you are choosing to use - is always used as the baseline metric when American odds are displayed.
When the number is negative, for example, -100 in American odds, this number is the amount of money that would need to be staked in order to achieve $100 profit - or your chosen currency.
When the number in is positive, so +100 for example, this is the profit that would be achieved in the event of a $100 bet being placed.
Evens, which is 1/1 in fractional odds, would be -100 in American odds or 2.0 when shown as a decimal. It all sounds quite complicated for those who are more used to decimal or fractional odds. Yet over in the US, American odds are very much the norm. It just depends on what you are used to when browsing your preferred betting site.
American odds can be particularly handy for handicap betting, which are common markets that are offered for a lot of the most popular sporting competitions in the US like the NBA and NFL.
Example of American Odds in Practice
To help explain how American odds work, let's use the example of a Premier League football match between Liverpool and their rivals Everton. Speaking of, you can find the best odds for the English competition on our odds comparison page.
Liverpool are the favourites according to the bookies, with a price of -135 offered for the Reds to come out on top in the Merseyside derby. As we mentioned above, a negative sign in front of a number means that players must stake £100 to achieve a profit of the number shown in the American odds format, so £35 in this example.
Everton are the underdogs, so let's say the price given for the Toffees is +350 in American odds. This means £350 would be won by anyone who bets £100 on the Goodison Park side to win.
American odds are deemed very fast and convenient by a lot of people, but it is fair to say that fractional prices and decimal odds are still going to be preferred by many UK sports fans. Ultimately, it is just down to personal preference whether American odds are the best format.
Steven is an experienced iGaming content writer who has been working in the industry since 2018. He is passionate about sports betting and enjoys writing about all aspects of the industry, including bookmaker reviews, betting tips and strategies, and news and analysis. If you have any questions about online gambling in the UK, please don't hesitate to contact him.