Decimal Odds
Welcome to Decimal Odds, your one-stop guide to all things relating to decimal odds and the role they play in the world of betting. For those of you who are brand new to the topic of decimal odds we will start out by explaining what decimal odds actually are and why they are so important to those who enjoy betting on horse racing and other sports.
One of the largest sportsbook makers based in the UK, operating more than 1,650 betting shops.
Founded in 1934, William Hill has turned into the largest betting operator in the UK and Ireland.
Other pages on this site will then show you how to use decimal odds to calculate the profit that a bookmaker has factored into a particular market (the overround), how to convert old-style fractional odds into decimal odds format and how to use decimal odds to help you take a ‘dutching’ approach to profitable betting.
Decimal Odds and Overround
This page explains what overround is and how it affects your chances of winning when betting.
Decimal Odds and Dutching
Dutching involves a simple equation that allows you to increase your chances of winning.
Converting Decimal Odds
A simple ‘how to’ guide on converting fractional odds into decimal odds and a table of all common odds.
Let's start at the simplest end of the subject by explaining what decimal odds actually are. In a nutshell, decimal odds are simply decimal numbers that give a person who wants to place a bet a precise idea of how profitable the bet would be if it succeeded.
Because knowing how profitable a wager is likely to be is essential to anyone who likes to place a bet, decimal odds are vital to the modern world of betting. Although decimal odds are more commonly used online than offline (especially in the UK, where fractional odds are still used in many offline betting establishments) it is widely accepted that decimal odds are the modern standard.
To find out how much you would get back from a successful bet (including your returned stake) all you have to do is multiply the decimal odds by your stake.
For example, if you bet £25 on a football team that is quoted at decimal odds of 2.25, your total return in the event that your team win the match would be:
£25 x 2.25 = £56.25
Because your original stake was £25, the above return would give you a bottom-line profit of £31.25.
You can calculate your potential profit only from any given bet (instead of the total return which includes your original stake) by deducting 1 from the decimal odds before performing the calculation given a moment ago. For example, if you wanted to calculate your profit only from the same £25 bet at decimal odds of 2.25, it would be:
2.25 – 1 = 1.25
£25 x 1.25 = £31.25
As you can see, both calculations are very easy to use, so our advice is to choose whichever approach you prefer (calculating total returns or pure profit) and stick with it for as long as it remains useful.
Working with decimal odds often involves simple calculations like these, and whilst you can easily perform simple calculations such as £10 x 2.00 = £20 in your head, more awkward stakes and decimal odds can be more tricky (for example try calculating £13.50 x 2.75 = £37.12 in your head). For this reason, it is a good idea to have a pocket calculator handy to help you out, especially if you intend to use decimal odds when you are away from your computer.
With this basic understanding of decimal odds under your belt, we can now move on to discuss some of the other decimal odds topics that we mentioned earlier. So welcome once again to this Decimal Odds site and feel free to explore all of the decimal odds information that is provided.
