Quick Start: Understanding Odds (US)

What are Odds in Sports Betting?

Odds are how likely an event or outcome is to happen. Odds also show you how much money you could win from a wager. In our DraftKings Sportsbook, you can tap on any set of odds, represented by the green numbers (ex. +130), to bring up your bet slip. This will calculate your potential payout for you.

Here at DraftKings, there are three betting odds formats:

• American
• Decimal
• Fractional

American Odds

American odds show the amount you must wager, or the amount you can win, based on $100 increments.

American odds are traditional in the United States, and displaying odds in the American format is the default setting for DraftKings Sportsbook. 

When using the American odds format, wagers are based on a $100 standard betting unit. For a few examples:

• If the odds offered on a particular selection are -110, that means in order to ‘win’ (profit) $100, you would need to wager $110.
• If the odds are +110, it means that if you wagered $100, you would ‘win’ (profit) $110.

Please view What is a moneyline bet? for a detailed example of using American odds. 

Decimal Odds

Decimal odds represent the total return for every $1 wagered, including the money you risked.

An American moneyline at -110 is 1.91 in decimal odds. For every $100 you’re betting, you’re getting 91 dollars back, plus the original stake.

Calculating payouts with decimal odds is simple, you can simply multiply your wager by the decimal odds. Betting $100 on 1.91 odds you will receive a payout of $191, getting your original $100 wager back plus the $91 in profit.

Any odds under 2.0 will represent a favorite. Any odds over 2.0 will be an underdog.

Fractional Odds

Fractional odds are typically written with a slash (/) or hyphen (-) and represent the amount you would win next to the amount you would need to bet. 

For example, fractional odds of 10/11 represent that you will win $10 against every $11 you wager. 10/11 fractional odds are the same as -110 in American odds, which are the same as 1.91 in decimal odds, all in different odds formats.

To calculate your payout profit using fractional odds, you can use the following formula:

(Numerator x Bet amount) ÷ Denominator = Winnings

A $100 bet at 10/11 odds would follow the formula as:

(10 x $100) ÷ 11 = $91

A winning $100 bet at 10/11 will payout $191, winning your original $100 wager back plus the $91 in profit.

Changing Odds Formats

Now that you know the differences between the different Odds formats, you can change your odds type at any time by using the odds selector in Settings under "My Account". 

Once you've set up your Odds format, you can begin to bet on our homepage at https://sportsbook.draftkings.com If you want a walk through of the process for placing a bet on DraftKings Sportsbook, you can read through our page on How do I place a bet on DraftKings Sportsbook? If you have any specific questions not covered here, you can always reach out to our support team by submitting a request via our Contact Support form or by reaching out with the additional ways to contact DraftKings Support.