Product
American Odds
Definition
The US odds format, quoted as a positive or negative number relative to 100. Plus figures show profit on a 100 stake; minus figures show the stake needed to win 100.
Why it matters
American odds, also called moneyline odds, are the standard in US sportsbooks. A price of +250 means a 100 stake wins 250 profit. A price of -150 means 150 must be staked to win 100. The negative side always marks the favourite, and the crossover point is +100 or -100, an even-money proposition. The format encodes both direction and magnitude in a single number, which is why it survives on US screens even though it is awkward to compute with.
For anyone working across markets, the conversions matter. A positive American price converts to decimal by dividing by 100 and adding one, so +250 is 3.50. A negative price converts by dividing 100 by the absolute value and adding one, so -150 is 1.667. Implied probability for a negative price is the absolute value divided by that value plus 100, so -150 implies 60%. The rapid growth of US online sports betting since 2018 has made fluency in all three formats a basic requirement for traders, affiliates and analysts covering more than one region.