Decimal odds: return, multiples and margin

What a decimal price is

A decimal price is the number your stake is multiplied by. Sportingbet's rules calculate the winnings on a fixed-odds bet by multiplying the stake by the fixed odds, and describe the odds for winning options as based on the European decimal form [1]. The result is the total returned to you if the bet wins, and it includes your stake. Profit is that total minus the stake.

Sportingbet's rules write a price as 4,60 where this guide writes 4.60 [1]. We could confirm decimal pricing from the rules of one bookmaker only. We did not confirm the odds format of the other seven bookmakers we review (see the end of this guide), so we do not say what every bookmaker shows.

• Return if the bet wins = stake × price
• Profit if the bet wins = return − stake
• Chance the price implies = 1 ÷ price

Multiples: the prices multiply

In a multiple, the total price is found by multiplying the prices of every selection, and a multiple pays nothing unless all its picks are correct [2]. Take three invented selections priced 1.80, 2.10 and 1.65. First, 1.80 × 2.10 = 3.78. Then 3.78 × 1.65 = 6.237. A R100 stake returns R623.70 if all three win, a profit of R523.70.

If any one selection loses, the whole bet loses. The implied chances of the three selections are 55.56%, 47.62% and 60.61%. Multiplied together without rounding they give 16.03%, which is also 1 ÷ 6.237. The long price on a multiple and its low implied chance are the same fact, seen two ways.

In Sportingbet's rules a void selection counts as a price of 1.00, so the rest of the multiple can still win [1]. If the middle selection above were void, the total price would be 1.80 × 1.00 × 1.65 = 2.97, and the same R100 would return R297.00.

The figures here are not rounded the way a bookmaker may round them. Use the possible return shown on the betslip before you confirm a bet. How a multiple settles is in the accumulator guide, and the 1X2 guide works a match-result bet through to its return.

From a price to an implied chance

Divide 1 by the price to get the chance the price implies. A price of 2.00 implies 50%, 2.50 implies 40%, 4.00 implies 25% and 1.25 implies 80%. A price of 10.00 implies 10%, which leaves 90% for every other result.

This is the price turned into a percentage. It is not a forecast, and a short price is not a safe bet. No bet is certain.

The margin in one market

Take an invented market with three outcomes, home win, draw and away win, priced 2.10, 3.40 and 3.60. Their implied chances are 47.62%, 29.41% and 27.78%. They add up to 104.81%, not 100%. The extra 4.81 points is the margin built into the prices, also called the overround.

To see what that means in rand, spread R104.81 over the three outcomes in proportion to those chances: R47.62, R29.41 and R27.78. Each outcome would then return about R100, whichever one happened. You pay R104.81 to get about R100 back. That gap is the margin at work. It shows what the number means and is not advice to back every outcome.

A margin can be stated in more than one way. This guide uses the amount by which the implied chances exceed 100%. A smaller total means a smaller margin built into that market's prices. None of the pages we read states a bookmaker's margin, and this guide gives none.

Comparing two bookmakers' prices

Say two licensed bookmakers price the same invented market. Bookmaker A offers the prices above. Bookmaker B offers 2.05, 3.50 and 3.70.

For one outcome, the higher price returns more on the same stake: R210.00 against R205.00 on the home win. On the draw and the away win, B pays more. B's total is 104.38% against A's 104.81%, so B's prices carry a slightly smaller margin in this market. Neither is better on every outcome. A higher price changes the return if the bet wins. It does not change the chance that it wins.

Compare like with like:

• Same market and same settlement rules. A price on the 90-minute result and a price on who qualifies are different bets: see soccer betting markets.
• Same moment. In live betting, Sportingbet says its odds are continuously updated [1].
• A price that looks far out of line may be an error. Sportingbet's rules let it correct obvious errors in odds, even after the event, or void the affected bets [1].
• The price is not the whole offer. Withdrawal fees and conditions differ: see betting fees and payout conditions.
• Compare only bookmakers that hold a provincial licence: see how to check a bookmaker's licence.

What this guide leaves out

We read Sportingbet's rules on 9 October 2026. We could not read six others that day. Betway, Hollywoodbets and World Sports Betting did not load from the network we used: the secure connection returned a certificate for a different domain, and we went no further. 10bet showed a security check and SportyBet blocked the request. Easybet answered with a page saying it is only available in South Africa. We worked around none of these.

Supabets was not part of that reading.

Sources

The numbers in the text point to these pages. Each was opened on the date shown.

1. Sportingbet South Africa, Help: Sports Betting General Remarks (the page is marked last updated 05/10/2017). Read 9 October 2026.
2. Sportingbet South Africa, Help: What are multi bets?. Read 9 October 2026.

About this guide

Published by Avenmark Media. A separate pass re-opened every source above and checked each claim against it, on 9 October 2026. A second, independent check compared a sample of the claims with the same sources. How we write and correct our pages.

Found a mistake? Email [email protected]. We correct the page, change its updated date and say what changed.