How Betting Odds Work
Betting odds do two jobs at once: they tell you how much a winning bet pays, and they tell you the probability the sportsbook has assigned to that outcome. In Canada you'll mostly see two formats — decimal (2.10) and American (+110) — plus fractional on some sites. Once you can flip any price into an implied probability and back out the bookmaker's margin, comparing an NHL puck line at one book against another stops being guesswork. This guide walks through both formats, the maths behind implied probability, a worked NHL example, and why the same game can pay differently at DraftKings, bet365 or Pinnacle.
Decimal odds: the default in Ontario apps
Decimal odds show your total return per $1 staked, including your stake back. The formula is simple:
- Return = stake × decimal odds
- Profit = stake × (decimal odds − 1)
So a $20 bet at 2.50 returns $50 total ($30 profit plus your $20 back). A bet at 1.50 returns $30 ($10 profit). Anything above 2.00 is longer than a coin flip; anything below 2.00 is odds-on, meaning the book rates it more likely than not.
Most Ontario apps — bet365, Betano, Betway, FanDuel — let you switch the display between decimal and American in settings. Decimal is the easier format for comparing prices and for any multi-leg parlay, because you just multiply the decimals together.
American odds: plus and minus explained
American odds are built around a $100 reference and use a + or − sign. They're common on the US-rooted books that dominate the Canadian market — DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars.
- Positive odds (+150) show profit on a $100 stake. +150 means a $100 bet profits $150.
- Negative odds (−200) show the stake needed to profit $100. −200 means you risk $200 to profit $100.
Conversion to decimal:
- Positive: decimal = (American ÷ 100) + 1. So +150 → 2.50.
- Negative: decimal = (100 ÷ |American|) + 1. So −200 → 1.50.
The pivot point is +100 / −100, which both equal decimal 2.00 — an even-money bet. If you see a Toronto Raptors moneyline at −140 and another book has 1.75 in decimal, they're the same price (100 ÷ 140 + 1 = 1.714… actually 1.71), so it pays to convert before you decide.
Odds Converter
Implied probability: what the price is really saying
Every price contains a probability. That's the number that matters, because your job as a bettor is to find outcomes the book has priced longer than you think they should be.
From decimal odds:
- Implied probability = 1 ÷ decimal odds
Examples:
- 1.50 → 1 ÷ 1.50 = 66.7%
- 2.00 → 50.0%
- 2.50 → 40.0%
- 4.00 → 25.0%
From American odds:
- Negative: |odds| ÷ (|odds| + 100). −200 → 200 ÷ 300 = 66.7%
- Positive: 100 ÷ (odds + 100). +150 → 100 ÷ 250 = 40.0%
If you rate a Leafs win at 55% but the price implies 50% (decimal 2.00), that's value on paper. If the price implies 60% and you only rate it 55%, you're overpaying.
The bookmaker margin — and why probabilities add up past 100%
Add the implied probabilities of every outcome in a market and you'll get more than 100%. The excess is the bookmaker margin (also called the vig, juice or overround). It's how the book builds profit into the price.
Take a two-way market — say an NBA moneyline — priced at 1.90 / 1.90. Each side implies 52.6% (1 ÷ 1.90). Together that's 105.2%. The 5.2% over is the margin.
A lower margin means prices closer to true probability, which means better value for you over a season. In the sampled prices behind our data, Pinnacle averaged the tightest margin at roughly 3.1%, with FanDuel and DraftKings around 4.0–4.2%, while books like 888sport (6.6%) and LeoVegas (6.9%) ran wider. That difference compounds: on hundreds of bets, a 3% margin book leaves far more on the table for the bettor than a 7% one.
You can compare live prices and margins across books on our betting odds Canada and market movers pages before committing a stake.
Worked example: an NHL moneyline across two books
Say the Edmonton Oilers are hosting and you're weighing the moneyline.
Book A prices it:
- Oilers 1.66 → implied 60.2%
- Opponent 2.40 → implied 41.7%
- Total: 101.9% → margin ≈ 1.9% (tight two-way)
Book B prices the same game:
- Oilers 1.60 → implied 62.5%
- Opponent 2.30 → implied 43.5%
- Total: 106.0% → margin ≈ 6.0%
Same match, same teams — but Book A gives you 1.66 on the Oilers where Book B gives 1.60. Stake $50:
- At 1.66 → $83.00 return ($33.00 profit)
- At 1.60 → $80.00 return ($30.00 profit)
That's $3 more profit on one bet for taking the better price. If you rate the Oilers at 63% yourself, note that Book B's 62.5% implied barely leaves an edge, while Book A's 60.2% gives you a clear one. This is why line shopping — checking two or three books before you bet — is the single most repeatable habit in sports betting.
Best-price share: who actually posts the top number
Margin tells you the average, but best-price share tells you how often a book has the top price on a given selection in a sampled market. In our data:
- DraftKings topped the price on 54.5% of sampled selections
- Pinnacle 53.4%
- Caesars Sportsbook 36.7%
- FanDuel 23.5%
- BetRivers 18.9%
- BetMGM 14.6%
- Betway 12.0%
No single book wins every price, which is the whole argument for holding accounts at more than one. A book strong on NHL and NFL sides may not lead on tennis or UFC. You can browse hockey odds, basketball odds and football odds by sport and see who's sharp where.
How odds move before and during a game
Opening prices are the book's first estimate. They shift as money comes in and as news lands — a scratched starter in the NHL, a late injury in the NBA, lineup changes in the Champions League. When a lot of action hits one side, the book shortens that price (lowers the decimal) and lengthens the other to balance its book.
Live betting takes this to the extreme: prices update second by second as the game state changes. A pre-game favourite that concedes first will see its decimal drift out immediately. Cash Out uses these live prices to let you settle a bet early for a value based on the current position — useful, but it's priced with the same margin baked in.
Track how lines are shifting on our market movers feed, and check what's on tonight via today's matches.
FAQ
What's the difference between decimal and American odds?
They express the same thing differently. Decimal odds show total return per $1 including stake (2.50 returns $2.50 per $1). American odds use a $100 reference: +150 profits $150 on a $100 stake, −200 needs $200 to profit $100. Convert +150 to decimal with (150 ÷ 100) + 1 = 2.50, and −200 with (100 ÷ 200) + 1 = 1.50. Most Ontario apps let you toggle the display format in settings.
How do I convert odds to a probability?
For decimal odds, divide 1 by the price: 1 ÷ 2.00 = 50%, 1 ÷ 1.50 = 66.7%. For American, negative odds are |odds| ÷ (|odds| + 100) and positive are 100 ÷ (odds + 100). This implied probability is what the book thinks the outcome's chance is, including its margin.
Why do the two sides of a bet add up to more than 100%?
That's the bookmaker margin — the built-in edge. A 1.90 / 1.90 two-way market implies 52.6% each, totalling 105.2%, so the 5.2% is the margin. Lower-margin books price closer to true probability. In our sampled data Pinnacle averaged around 3.1% and FanDuel and DraftKings around 4.0–4.2%, while some books ran near 6–7%.
What are the best odds in Canada?
It varies by market and by day, which is why line shopping matters. In sampled prices, DraftKings held the top price on 54.5% of selections and Pinnacle on 53.4%, but no book leads everywhere. Compare live prices per sport on our odds pages before you stake.
Does a lower margin actually matter for casual bettors?
Yes, over time. A 3% margin book returns more of your stakes than a 7% one across many bets, even if it feels invisible on a single wager. The worked NHL example above shows $3 more profit on a single $50 bet just from taking 1.66 instead of 1.60.
Is online betting legal across Canada?
It's provincial. AGCO and iGaming Ontario regulate the licensed online market in Ontario only — that is not a Canada-wide licence. Other provinces run their own regimes through provincial lottery corporations and regulators, so operator availability and legal status vary by where you live. The minimum age is 19.