If you are used to using decimal odds or UK fraction odds, the American format for betting odds may be a little confusing at first.  Represented as either positive or negative odds, each way of calculating payout and profit needs some explanation for anyone trying to read them for the first time. 

As is the case with the metric system, the U.S. likes to do things their own way.  If you want to make bets at US based online sportsbooks, you will need to learn how to calculate payouts for there are no conversions from US odds like there are between the decimal and UK format.  First of all, odds read positive or negative, which is dictated by a positive or negative number. 

To calculate payout for US positive odds of 250, use the following formula where X is the stake amount: X(1 + (odds/100)).  A $150 stake with odds of 200 would look like this:
$150(1 + (2 ÷ 100)) = $450. 

For calculating the profit without determining the payout first, use the following formula where Y is the stake amount:  Y (odds/100).  For a $150 bet with US odds 200, this would be calculated as such:
$150 (200 ÷ 100) = $300. 

If negative odds are presented, use the same calculations except that the the odds will now serve as the denominator in the formula. (keep in mind to not make the odds value negative when doing the calculation)  To calculate the payout where X is the stake amount, use the following formula:
X(1 + (100/odds)).  For a $10 bet with negative odds of -200, the calculation will look like this: 
$10(1 + (100/200)) = $10(1 + .5) = $10(1.5) = $15. 

To calculate the profit without first determining the payout, simply do not add the one.  The formula is as such, where Y is the stake: Y(100/odds) = Profit.

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