Decimals vs Fractions

Right, hands up if you did maths at school?

All of you ... great.

Right, hands up if you loved Maths at school?

Hmm… not so many….

Final question is hands up if you loved fractions at school? 

Awkward... That’s just us then.

The reason we are asking is not that we are being nosy (well, it is still kind of interesting though to maths geeks like us J) but we do regularly get people asking about odds and fractions, specifically to do with gambling. It’s confusing. We get it (but only on a good day). It is clear though that whilst on paper it seems very easy, it confuses people every single time.

Fractional odds are the ‘traditional’ odds use widely in both the United Kingdom and Ireland, and are what you will remember historically. Everyone has heard of 2/1, 3/1 etc., and it’s how we have been led to believe all bookmakers work. However, as with all good things they do come to an end and with gambling becoming more ‘world-wide’, the decimal odds that have been used in Europe, the Americas and Australasia’s are now becoming common place in the UK Market.

For the purposes of this blog, we won’t venture in to other things like Moneyline Odds; we’ll save that for a rainy day!!!

The common mistake everyone seems to make is that if there are odds of 3/1, the decimal equivalent is NOT 3. In betting you are entitled to your stake back if you win, meaning that whilst you win 3 times your stake, you actually get 4 back. So 3/1 = 4.0.

For easy amounts, as in the above example, it’s not that hard to work out. It does get more complicated when you revert decimal odds back to fractions, or your fraction is a bit more complicated.

We have scoured the bookies site so you don’t have to, and can tell you that the majority of them do have tables on their sites for converting fraction odds back to decimal odds. We also think, on a practical basis, that when you trying to work out odds on separate races, trying to find a site to convert them back to fractions, so you can get your little old head around it, seems to take it all one step too far.

Some bookies are very kind, and do allow you to see the odds in either the Decimal Odds or the Fractional Equivalent when viewing their site and odds.

So, now you know the difference. We hope you can see the difference and now work it out … but if it’s still all a bit beyond you then you know what? Give us a call, as we offer a managed service which means we have to worry about whether our calculator has batteries, and you have to worry about what you will be spending your investment returns on. Not a hard decision is it??