Guide
Decimal vs. American odds, explained
How to read odds from any crypto book and convert between formats in your head.
Most crypto sportsbooks default to decimal odds, while American bettors are used to seeing moneyline-style numbers like +150 or -200. Almost every book lets you switch formats in a settings menu, but knowing the conversion means you can sanity-check a number on sight, without waiting for the page to reload.
What decimal odds actually mean
A decimal number is your total return per 1 unit staked, including your original stake. Odds of 2.00 mean a $10 bet returns $20 total — $10 profit plus your $10 back. Odds of 1.50 return $15 total on a $10 stake: $5 profit. Anything below 2.00 means the bet is considered more likely than not to win; anything above 2.00 means it's considered an underdog.
What American odds mean
American odds are built around a $100 reference bet. A positive number like +150 shows how much profit a $100 stake would earn — $150 profit, $250 total. A negative number like -200 shows how much you'd need to stake to profit $100 — $200 to win $100, $300 total.
Converting between them
| From | To | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Decimal | American (favorite, decimal < 2.00) | -100 / (decimal - 1) |
| Decimal | American (underdog, decimal ≥ 2.00) | (decimal - 1) × 100 |
| American (positive) | Decimal | (American / 100) + 1 |
| American (negative) | Decimal | (100 / |American|) + 1 |
Worked example: decimal odds of 1.91 (a typical -110 line). Since 1.91 is under 2.00, use the favorite formula: -100 / (1.91 - 1) = -100 / 0.91 ≈ -110. That matches the standard -110 you'd see at most American sportsbooks for a near-even-money line.
Why this matters for chains
When you're stacking legs into a parlay, every leg's decimal odds multiply together directly — there's no clean way to multiply American odds the same way without converting first. If you're comparing the same parlay priced on two different crypto books, converting everything to decimal first is the fastest way to spot which book is actually offering the better combined price.