American Odds – Understand Easily How American Odds Work

 

American odds, as the name suggests, are commonly used in the United States of America and are sometimes referred to as US odds.  They are also known as ‘lines’ or ‘money line odds’.  Reading and understanding American odds can be very confusing, especially if you are based in mainland Europe or the United Kingdom.  In fact, they are often considered to be more confusing than fractional odds but thankfully, our simple guide below will allow you to understand American odds easily.

 

Positive or Negative

The first thing to understand with American odds, is that they can either be positive or negative.  So, when looking on a bookmakers website at odds, say for an NFL match, you could see odds showing either -150 or +150.

Odds which start with a negative sign (-), are showing you what you will need to stake in order to make a profit of $100.

Odds which start with a positive sign (+), are showing you how much potential profit you can make from a stake of $100.

 

Example

If the Green Bay Packers were playing the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL match, the odds for this match may be as follows:

Green Bay Packers (+120) vs Seattle Seahawks (-140)

So, if you wanted to place a bet on the Seattle Seahawks, using the information above, shows you would need to place a bet of $140, to win $100 profit.  If you wanted to stake a lower amount, the same principle applies.  For example, if you were looking to make a profit of $10, you would need to stake $14.  All we have done, is take a zero off both amounts by moving the decimal place.

If you wanted to place a bet on the Green Bay Packers, using the information above, shows that a $100 stake would lead to a return of $120.  If you wish to stake a lower amount, such as $10, this would result in a return of $12.

 

The Calculation

Here are two simple calculations, you can use when betting with American odds.

Positive money line odds:  Odds x (Stake/100)

Negative money line odds:  (100/Odds) x Stake

 

Let’s use the above examples again here, in order to see these calculations in action.

Green Bay Packers:  120 x ($100/100) = $120

Seattle Seahawks:  (100/140) x $140 = $100

 

Converting to Decimal Odds

As American odds can be difficult to understand in comparison to Decimal odds, you can always convert them.  The majority of good online bookmakers will do this automatically for you but if you would like to do it yourself, you can, by using the calculation below.

For odds of -140 we need to do the following:  (100/140) + 1 = 1.71

For odds of +120 we need to do the following:  (120/100) + 1 = 2.2

So, if you are ever unsure what the American odds actually mean in terms of your potential winnings, you can always convert them to decimal odds using the above calculations.

 

Conclusion

You now have a good understanding of how American odds work and what they mean.  If you are betting on American sports, such as NFL, Baseball or Basketball, you will find this guide very helpful.  Below is a recap of the key points to remember, which you can easily refer back to if required.

 

• American odds can either be positive or negative

• Odds which start with a negative sign (-), are showing you what you will need to stake in order to make a profit of $100

• Odds which start with a positive sign (+), are showing you how much potential profit you can make from a stake of $100

• Positive money line odds calculation: Odds x (Stake/100)