BETTING
Betting & Odds
We explain the arithmetic behind a published price and reproduce no sportsbook line: this site takes no wagers.
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Photo: DigiGal DZiner, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source file
Odds, lines and the arithmetic behind them, written for readers in the United States. Rules differ state by state; nothing here is a recommendation to place a wager, and nothing on this site is licensed to accept one.
What this section is for is reading a number correctly. A price in American format converts to a decimal and to an implied probability by arithmetic that never changes, and the conversion table on this page is that arithmetic, computed here rather than copied from a sportsbook: decimal is one plus the stake multiple, implied probability is 100 divided by the decimal. Everything downstream — why a run line looks unlike a point spread, why a basketball total moves with pace rather than with scoring talent, why a football line changes between one Sunday and the next — follows from that.
Sources are named on every page and they are all public: league rule books, official injury reports and published statistical glossaries. Where a figure cannot be traced to one of those, it is not printed. The age limit for sports wagering in the United States is 21+ and availability is decided state by state. If gambling stops being entertainment, the National Problem Gambling Helpline is 1-800-GAMBLER — free, confidential and open around the clock.
Price conversion
| American | Decimal | Implied | Stake to win $1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| -300 | 1.33 | 75.0% | 3.00 |
| -250 | 1.40 | 71.4% | 2.50 |
| -200 | 1.50 | 66.7% | 2.00 |
| -150 | 1.67 | 60.0% | 1.50 |
| -130 | 1.77 | 56.5% | 1.30 |
| -110 | 1.91 | 52.4% | 1.10 |
| +100 | 2.00 | 50.0% | 1.00 |
| +110 | 2.10 | 47.6% | 0.91 |
| +130 | 2.30 | 43.5% | 0.77 |
| +150 | 2.50 | 40.0% | 0.67 |
| +200 | 3.00 | 33.3% | 0.50 |
| +250 | 3.50 | 28.6% | 0.40 |
| +300 | 4.00 | 25.0% | 0.33 |
| +400 | 5.00 | 20.0% | 0.25 |
Arithmetic, not a quoted price: decimal = 1 + stake multiple, implied probability = 100 / decimal. No sportsbook line is reproduced on this site.
In this section
−15004Pace and Efficiency: Reading an NBA Box Score ProperlyWe read a box score the way the arithmetic asks: per possession, not per game.NBA
10005The Run Line, and Why Baseball Prices Look DifferentWe explain why a fixed run line moves the price instead of the handicap.MLB
1.506What Five Cents Costs: −110 Against −115We put −110 next to −115 and show what five cents costs over a season.
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