American odds and decimal odds are two ways of showing the same price.
They tell you how much a winning bet returns. EdgeHunters supports both formats, so you can use whichever one you are used to.
Odds are the price of a bet. They show the payout if the bet wins, and they also tell us what probability the market is implying.
Decimal odds
Decimal odds show the total return for every $1 staked.
If you bet $100 at decimal odds of 2.50, the return is:
$100 × 2.50 = $250 total return
That $250 includes your original $100 stake, so the profit is $150.
- 2.00 means $100 stake returns $200 total.
- 1.50 means $100 stake returns $150 total.
- 3.00 means $100 stake returns $300 total.
American odds
American odds use plus and minus numbers.
Positive American odds show the profit on a $100 stake.
+150 means a $100 bet makes $150 profit if it wins.
Negative American odds show how much you need to stake to make $100 profit.
-200 means you need to stake $200 to make $100 profit.
Quick comparison
| American odds | Decimal odds | Example |
|---|---|---|
| +100 | 2.00 | $100 stake returns $200 total |
| +150 | 2.50 | $100 stake returns $250 total |
| +200 | 3.00 | $100 stake returns $300 total |
| -110 | 1.91 | $110 stake returns about $210 total |
| -200 | 1.50 | $200 stake returns $300 total |
How to convert American odds to decimal odds
EdgeHunters does this for you, but the formulas are simple.
Positive American odds
Decimal odds = (American odds ÷ 100) + 1
Example: +150 becomes 2.50.
Negative American odds
Decimal odds = (100 ÷ the number after the minus sign) + 1
Example: -200 becomes 1.50.
Why decimal odds are useful
Decimal odds make the maths cleaner because they show total return directly.
If the stake is $100 and the odds are 2.40, the total return is simply:
$100 × 2.40 = $240 total return
That is why a lot of Matched Betting, arbitrage and +EV calculations use decimal odds in the background.
Odds also imply probability
Odds are not just payouts. They also imply how likely an outcome is.
Implied probability = 1 ÷ decimal odds
- 2.00 implies a 50% chance.
- 1.50 implies a 66.7% chance.
- 3.00 implies a 33.3% chance.
This becomes important later because +EV Betting is about finding prices where the odds are better than the true probability suggests they should be.
Use whichever format you prefer
American odds are common on US and Canadian sportsbooks. Decimal odds make the calculations easier.
EdgeHunters supports both. You can switch formats inside the tools, and the calculations still work the same way.
You can also use the free Odds Converter to convert prices quickly.
The key takeaway
American odds and decimal odds show the same thing in different formats.
The format is not the important part. The important part is understanding that odds are prices, and prices are where the edge lives.
Next up: What is laying? The betting-against mechanic that helps Matched Betting work.
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