How to interpret Betting Odds like 2/4, 7/5, 11/2, 6/4 Updated for January 2025

Updated: 22nd January 2025

Do you want to know how to interpret betting odds like 2/4, 7/5, 11/2, 6/4?.

If you’re a newcomer in the world of sports betting, you might be surprised to see the odds displayed in a non-traditional format.

It shouldn’t be that confusing once you read our guide.

Apart from the European odds which are most common, there are two other standard odds formats you need to know about – American (Moneyline), and fractional (UK odds).

The American odds are common for the American market – you can probably guess where the other two formats are popular. Below you’ll see examples for each odds format and understand them better.

Moneyline (American) Odds

The American odds format is by far the most confusing for UK punters. Punters from the UK and Europe have a hard time understanding the line format used by Moneyline odds which work perfectly on American sports such as the NFL.

These odds are displayed in a format of +250 or -110.

The + and – symbols in front of the odds indicate whether a team is a favourite or underdog.

The favourites are indicated by the – sign.

For example, betting on a team with odds of -110 shows how much money you need to spend on the wager to win £100.

A £110 bet on the team with those odds yields winnings of £100, but you also get the original stake back, earning a total of $£10.

When it comes to the underdog odds (+ sign), they indicate how much money you can win if you bet £100.

To put things into perspective, a £100 bet on +240 odds means you can win a total of £340 (£100 to win £240 + the original stake).

There’s a third sign associated with Moneyline odds – PK. It’s short for Pick and indicates that neither team is a favourite or underdog.

Decimal Odds

The most popular odds across Europe are quite simply the simplest ones, although one could argue about Moneyline odds being even simpler.

The decimal format (e.g. 1.60) indicates the amount you get paid out if your selection is a winner.

For example, if you place a bet of £100 on odds of 1.60, you will get a payout of £160 (£100 x 1.60).

It’s a pretty simple odds format especially if you’re from Europe.

Decimal odds are similar to fractional odds we’ll be covering below – they equal the decimal value of the fractional odds plus 1.

Fractional Odds

Although they may look complicated to new punters, fractional (UK) odds are pretty simple to understand.

They are displayed in a format of 1/5 or 5/1. The first number is the number of units you get if you bet the second.

For example, betting £20 on a horse to win the race at odds of 5/1 means you’ll be getting a payout of x 5 (£20 x 5 = £100).

If you bet £20 on odds of 1/5, however, you’ll get £1 for every £5 you bet. For example, if you bet £5, you only get £6 in return – not very profitable.

These are the simplest examples of betting on fractional odds – let’s see how it goes for more complex fractional odds.

2/4 Odds

If we convert odds of 2/4 to decimal odds, you get an outcome of 1.50 (-200 in Moneyline odds).

This indicates that the team you’re betting on is the favourite. For every 4 units you bet, you get 2 in return if you predict correctly. That’s 6 units in total you get – your original stake plus the profit.

Let’s try out an example. You wager £10 on Manchester United to beat Newcastle – the odds are 2/4.

The amount you get if United wins is £15. The total profit you’ve made on this bet is £5, but you also get your initial stake as well which is £10 – that brings us to £15.

7/5 Odds

Fractional odds of 7/5 show that you will get 7 units for every 5 you wager. That’s 12 in total – if you convert these odds to decimal, you get 2.40.

If we use the abovementioned example, placing a £10 bet on 7/5 odds brings you to a total return of £24.

That’s a profit of £14 and the initial stake £10 returned. Unless it’s a close match, odds of 7/5 usually indicate a slight underdog.

11/2 Odds

Moving further on in underdog territory, betting on odds of 11/2 means you’ll be getting a hefty 11 units when you bet only 2.

These odds are usually available on long shots since you make a pretty nice profit should you get the prediction right.

Bet £10 on 11/2 odds and you’ll make a profit of £55 for a total return of £65.

Odds of 11/2 are a far cry from the two previous examples, so tread (or should we say bet?) carefully.

6/4 Odds

Odds of 6/4 sit just above 7/5 in the pecking order. “Translated” to decimal odds you get a probability of 2.50.

Using the abovementioned example, a £10 bet on Manchester United to win against Newcastle at odds of 6/4 would bring you to a total return of £25.

The profit is £15 and you also get your initial stake returned.

As you can see, fractional odds are not that hard to understand. UK punters know them by heart and other punters from around the world commonly use them to bet on horse racing.

Now that you know how they work, you shouldn’t be surprised to see them more often. Betting on fractional odds is more fun if you ask us and that’s what betting should represent.

Top Free Bets

Relevant news