How American odds work
American odds are written with a sign in front — −147, +165 — and are read around a base of 100. The sign tells you which side of even money you are on.
+165 · risk 100 to win 165, returning 265.
The 100 is a unit of arithmetic, not an amount you have to bet. At −147, five euros wins about 3.40.
These two are separate examples rather than the two sides of one game. The two sides of a real game never pay that well at the same time, and the article on the vig explains why.
Minus is the favourite, plus is the underdog
A minus price means the market rates that side more likely than not, so you have to put up more than you stand to win. A plus price means the opposite. −100 and +100 are the same price — even money, decimal 2.00 — and the notation simply switches sign as it crosses it.
Converting either way
- Plus to decimal: divide by 100 and add 1. +165 → 1.65 + 1 = 2.65.
- Minus to decimal: divide 100 by the number and add 1. −147 → 0.68 + 1 = 1.68.
- The other direction is in how decimal odds work.
Where you will meet it
American odds are the standard notation in the United States and are widely used in Mexico. We publish in decimal by default because the arithmetic is shorter; you can switch the display in Settings → Language and region. Whichever format you read them in, the price on a pick is your bookmaker's price for that exact side, and the minimum price is a floor expressed in the same terms.
Any American price converts in the bet calculator, along with what it pays and what it implies.
Work it out. The odds converter turns any American, decimal, fractional or percentage price into the other three.
The archive
What the published price did in US sports
11,262 games in US sports that are over and carried a price when we wrote them up, between November 24, 2025 and November 6, 2026. Each count sits beside what it is out of, and the share is the one divided by the other.
| What | How often | Out of | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| The shorter price won | 7,058 | 10,936 | 64.5% |
| The favourite covered the handicap | 3,373 | 7,003 | 48.2% |
| The total went over | 5,518 | 11,236 | 49.1% |
| The home side won | 6,361 | 11,262 | 56.5% |
How they ended
Over 16,021 finished games in US sports whose result line says how it ended — the feed's own one-line verdict, not a reading of the play.
| What | How often | Out of | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Went past regulation | 1,212 | 16,021 | 7.6% |
| Settled on a shootout | 161 | 16,021 | 1.0% |
| Called before the end | 9 | 16,021 | 0.1% |
286 games landed exactly on the number — the handicap or the total — so they are in the counts they are out of and in neither result.
The prices counted here are DraftKings', as they stood when we last wrote each game up — one snapshot per game, near kick-off for almost all of them, and never a closing line. So this says what the published line did, not how it moved on the way there.
A season that happened. Nothing here predicts the next game, and none of it is advice.
Counted November 6, 2026.
Today's free pick, for your email
Team, bet, price and the hash it was sealed under, on this page the moment you send. Lose or win, it stays public.
or by email
Public record of the main pick, losses included: 115 won, 44 lost. See every pick
One free pick a day by email until you unsubscribe, in one click. 21+.