# How Cricket Odds Work: Read Any Price in Minutes Source: https://cricketin.org/guides/how-cricket-odds-work [By Nikhil Varma](/authors/betting-analyst), Betting and Odds Analyst. [Reviewed by Rajeev Sathe](/authors/editor-in-chief), Editor-in-Chief. Updated 29 Aug 2026. Editorial policy: https://cricketin.org/editorial-policy 18+ Betting money on cricket carries a direct risk of financial loss, and it can become an addiction. Real-money online gaming is banned across India under the PROG Act 2025, which came into force on 1 May 2026. If betting is already costing you money you need, or sleep, or people close to you, the free Tele-MANAS helpline is **14416**, and it runs in 20 languages. Our [page on help for gambling harm](/guides/help-for-gambling-harm-india) lists what else exists. --- Learn to read decimal, fractional and American cricket odds, turn any price into a percentage, and see the fee hidden inside the numbers. A cricket odd is a price. It shows the payout and the chance the seller has put on an outcome. Decimal odds multiply your stake, fractional odds show profit against stake, and American odds use a plus or minus against 100. Divide 1 by a decimal price and you get the chance it implies. This page teaches all three formats in full, gives you a twelve-row conversion table, and shows the four-step check that reveals the fee inside any market. It also sets out what a price never tells you, and why prices move during a match. ## An odd is a price, not a prediction A cricket odd is a price. It tells you two things. How much you get back if the bet wins, and what chance the seller has put on that outcome. Nothing more is hidden in it. The number is not a tip. It is not a forecast from someone who knows the result. It is a price built to earn the seller money on every match. Prices are written in three ways. Decimal, fractional and American. All three say the same thing in different clothes. Once you can move between them, no price on any screen can confuse you. One warning before the maths. Real-money online games are banned across India under the PROG Act 2025, in force since 1 May 2026, and the ban reaches offshore apps too ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). Reading a price is a skill. It is not permission to use one. ## Decimal odds: the format you will see most Decimal odds are a single number above 1. It is the total return per rupee staked, stake included. The formula is short. Total return = stake × decimal odds. Profit = stake × (decimal odds − 1). Decimal odds show the whole payout in one figure ([Wikipedia on the mathematics of bookmaking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_of_bookmaking)). **Inputs.** Stake ₹1,000. Decimal odds 1.90. **Formula.** Total return = stake × odds. Profit = stake × (odds − 1). **Result.** Total return = 1,000 × 1.90 = ₹1,900. Profit = 1,000 × 0.90 = ₹900. **Assumptions.** The odds are the ones you took, not a later price. No tax and no fee is taken out yet. This is a worked example, not a quote from any app. A price of 2.00 doubles your stake. A price of 1.25 adds one quarter. A price of 6.00 pays six times the stake in total, so five times as profit. ### Why decimal is easier for beginners You never have to add your stake back by hand. The figure already holds it. Multiply and you are done. ## Fractional odds: read the two numbers apart Fractional odds look like 9/10, 6/4 or 10/1. They are also written 6-4 or 6:4. The left number is profit. The right number is what you stake to get it. So at 6/4 a winning bet returns the stake plus 6 units for every 4 units risked. A £40 bet at 6/4 pays £100 in total, made of £40 back and £60 profit ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_of_bookmaking)). Two formulas turn a fraction into the rest. Decimal = (a + b) ÷ b for odds written a/b. Implied chance = b ÷ (a + b) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_of_bookmaking)). **Inputs.** Fractional odds 6/4, so a = 6 and b = 4. Stake ₹1,000. **Formula.** Decimal = (a + b) ÷ b. Implied chance = b ÷ (a + b). **Result.** Decimal = (6 + 4) ÷ 4 = 2.50. Implied chance = 4 ÷ 10 = 0.40, which is 40%. Total return = 1,000 × 2.50 = ₹2,500. **Assumptions.** The fraction is shown in lowest useful terms. Nothing here accounts for the seller's fee, which we cover on the [page about overround](/guides/what-is-overround). When the left number is smaller than the right, the outcome is a favourite. 9/10 pays less than your stake as profit. When the left number is bigger, it is an outsider. 10/1 pays ten times the stake as profit. This is the only page in our guides where the fractional format is taught in full. Other pages just link back here. ## American odds: the plus and minus format American odds, also called moneyline odds, use a sign and a number. The favourite carries a minus. The outsider carries a plus ([Wikipedia on sports betting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_betting)). A minus number is what you must stake to win 100. A plus number is what you win on a stake of 100. The 100 is a unit, not rupees. Two formulas cover both cases. For odds of 2.00 and above, American = 100 × (decimal − 1). Below 2.00, American = −100 ÷ (decimal − 1). **Inputs.** Decimal 1.90 for a favourite. Decimal 3.00 for an outsider. **Formula.** Below 2.00: −100 ÷ (decimal − 1). At or above 2.00: 100 × (decimal − 1). **Result.** 1.90 gives −100 ÷ 0.90 = −111. 3.00 gives 100 × 2 = +200. **Assumptions.** We rounded −111.11 to −111, the way screens usually do. Rounding always moves the price a shade against you, never in your favour. Indian screens rarely use this format. You will meet it in match previews written for a global audience. Now you can convert it in one step. ## Implied probability: the chance inside the price Every price carries a chance. That chance is called implied probability. For decimal odds the sum is one line: chance = 1 ÷ decimal odds ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_of_bookmaking)). **Inputs.** Decimal odds 1.90, 2.00 and 4.00. **Formula.** Implied probability = 1 ÷ decimal odds, shown as a percentage. **Result.** 1 ÷ 1.90 = 0.5263, so 52.63%. 1 ÷ 2.00 = 0.50, so 50%. 1 ÷ 4.00 = 0.25, so 25%. **Assumptions.** This is the chance the price implies. It is not the true chance of the event. The gap between the two is where the seller's fee lives. Now add the two sides of a match. Two prices of 1.90 give 52.63% plus 52.63%, which is 105.26%. Chance cannot pass 100%. The extra 5.26% is the fee, and it has a name: overround, also called the margin or the vig ([Whelan, Estimating Expected Loss Rates in Betting Markets](https://www.karlwhelan.com/Papers/Overround.pdf)). That single idea is the most useful thing on this page. Our [full breakdown of overround](/guides/what-is-overround) shows what it costs in rupees. ## One table for all three formats Use this table as a cheat sheet. Every row was worked out with the formulas above. Implied percentages are rounded to two decimals. **Table 1. Twelve prices in decimal, fractional and American form, with the chance each one implies** | Decimal | Fractional | American | Implied chance | |---|---|---|---| | 1.20 | 1/5 | −500 | 83.33% | | 1.25 | 1/4 | −400 | 80.00% | | 1.50 | 1/2 | −200 | 66.67% | | 1.80 | 4/5 | −125 | 55.56% | | 1.90 | 9/10 | −111 | 52.63% | | 2.00 | 1/1 | +100 | 50.00% | | 2.20 | 6/5 | +120 | 45.45% | | 2.50 | 3/2 | +150 | 40.00% | | 3.00 | 2/1 | +200 | 33.33% | | 4.00 | 3/1 | +300 | 25.00% | | 6.00 | 5/1 | +500 | 16.67% | | 11.00 | 10/1 | +1000 | 9.09% | Read the table in either direction. A price of 4.00 says one chance in four. A one in four chance would be 4.00 in a world with no fee. ## What a price does not mean People read far too much into odds. Here is what the number does not say. - It does not say the outcome is likely. A favourite at 1.25 still loses one time in five at that implied chance. - It does not carry inside news. Prices come from models and from money taken, as our page on [how cricket odds are set](/guides/how-bookmakers-set-odds) explains. - It is not a fair coin. The two sides add to more than 100%, so the fee is already inside. - It does not mean value. A short price can be generous and a long price can be poor. Only [expected value](/guides/expected-value-explained) tells you which. - It says nothing about whether you will be paid. That depends on the operator, and on law, not on maths. - A drop in price is not a signal to copy. It often just means money arrived on that side. One more thing it does not include: tax. Winnings from online games are taxed at a flat 30% under Section 115BBJ ([Income Tax Department](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/section-115bbj)). Tax is withheld at source under Section 194BA with no minimum limit ([Income Tax Department](https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/winnings-from-online-games)). Our page on [TDS on winnings](/legal/tds-on-winnings-india) works through that. ## Why prices move during a match A price is not fixed for the day. It moves for two plain reasons. The match changes, and the money changes. Match news moves it first. The toss, the pitch report, an injury, a rain break. Each one changes the chance of a result, so the price follows. Money moves it second. A seller wants a balanced book, which means the amounts on each side match the odds on offer. When one side attracts too much, the price on that side is cut ([Wikipedia on bookmakers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmaker)). A large bet can also be laid off with another firm. In fixed-odds betting the price you accept is the price you keep, even if the market moves after ([Wikipedia on fixed-odds betting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-odds_betting)). That cuts both ways. It locks in a good price and it locks in a bad one. In-play prices move fastest. A T20 innings holds 20 overs, which is 120 legal deliveries ([Wikipedia on Twenty20](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty20)), because an over is six legal balls ([Wikipedia on the over](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_(cricket))). Reporting on India's illegal networks says most bets are placed ball by ball, with odds changing every ball on boundaries, sixes and wickets ([NDTV](https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/inside-the-shadow-economy-riding-ipl-online-betting-networks-11560908)). That is up to 240 fresh prices in one match, and no way to check any of them later. If you want to see the format rules behind those numbers, read our [explainer on T20 rules](/guides/t20-rules-explained). ## Exchange prices look different for a reason On a betting exchange the price is set by users, not by a firm. You can back an outcome, meaning bet it happens. You can also lay it, meaning bet it does not ([Wikipedia on betting exchanges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betting_exchange)). Exchanges charge a commission on net winnings instead of building a wide margin into the price. That is why their overround is smaller ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betting_exchange)). Smaller does not mean zero. A fee is still a fee. Many Indian users meet exchange-style prices through an agent account rather than a website. Our page on [cricket IDs and agent accounts](/guides/cricket-id-and-agent-accounts) explains why that setup removes every record you might need. ## A four-step check for any price Do this with a plain phone calculator. It takes under a minute. - Turn the price into decimal form with the formulas above. - Divide 1 by the decimal to get the implied chance. - Add the implied chances of every outcome in that market. - Subtract 100%. What is left is the fee you are paying. Do it twice on two markets and you will see the fee is not the same everywhere. Match winner is usually the cheapest market. Small in-play markets are the dearest, as our page on [fancy bets](/guides/fancy-bets-explained) shows. Any term above that you want in one line is in our [cricket betting glossary](/guides/cricket-betting-glossary). The full set of explainers sits on our [guides hub](/guides), and the law behind the ban is set out in our [PROG Act 2025 explainer](/legal/prog-act-2025-explained). ## Questions people ask ### Which odds format is the most accurate? None of them. Decimal, fractional and American are three ways to write the same price. Converting between them never changes the payout or the implied chance ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics_of_bookmaking)). ### If odds are 2.00, is the match a 50-50? The price implies 50%. The true chance can differ. And because both sides of a market add to more than 100%, a genuine 50-50 match would be priced below 2.00 on each side. ### Why did my price change after I tapped it? Prices move on news and on money taken. A seller cuts the price on the side that draws too much money, to keep the book balanced ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmaker)). In-play prices can change on every ball ([NDTV](https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/inside-the-shadow-economy-riding-ipl-online-betting-networks-11560908)). ### Can I use this maths legally in India? You can read and calculate freely. Offering, advertising or funding real-money online games is banned under the PROG Act 2025, which came into force on 1 May 2026, and the ban applies to offshore apps as well ([Nishith Desai](https://nishithdesai.com/research-and-articles/hotline/gaming-law-wrap/setting-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-online-gaming-law-comes-into-force-15586)). ### Do longer odds mean a bigger fee? Often, yes. Fees tend to be wider on small markets and long-shot outcomes. The only way to know is to add the implied chances of every outcome yourself. ## More from the guides - [How DRS Works in Cricket](/guides/how-drs-works) - [How Net Run Rate Works](/guides/how-net-run-rate-works) - [How Pitch Conditions Change a Cricket Match](/guides/how-pitch-conditions-work) - [How to Spot a Fake Cricket App](/guides/how-to-spot-a-fake-cricket-app) - [KYC for Online Gaming in India](/guides/kyc-in-online-gaming-india) - [ODI Cricket Rules Explained](/guides/odi-rules-explained) - [Frozen Payments in Online Gaming](/guides/payment-freeze-and-chargebacks) - [Self-Exclusion and Deposit Limits in India 2026](/guides/self-exclusion-and-limits) - [Signs of Gambling Addiction](/guides/signs-of-gambling-addiction) - [Supreme Court on Online Gaming](/legal/supreme-court-online-gaming-cases) - [TDS on Online Gaming Winnings](/legal/tds-on-winnings-india) - [Caribbean Premier League 2026 — live schedule and table](/leagues/cpl)