Even Money
A bet where your profit matches your stake — decimal 2.00, fractional 1/1, American +100.
Even money describes odds where your potential profit lands exactly equal to what you put down. Stake $100 at even money and win, and you pocket $100 in profit plus your original $100 back, for a $200 total return. In decimal terms, even money reads as 2.00. In fractional terms, it’s 1/1 (also called “evens”). In American terms, it’s +100.
Even money odds map to an implied probability of exactly 50%, signaling the book sees both outcomes as equally likely. In reality, true even-money lines are fairly uncommon, since the book’s margin (vig) usually nudges each side a touch below even money. A coin-flip proposition, for instance, might post at -105 on both sides rather than +100, so the book skims a small cut no matter how it lands.
When bettors call a wager “even money,” they’re sometimes speaking loosely — describing something close to a 50/50 shot even when the actual price isn’t precisely +100.
Example
A book hangs a tennis match between two closely ranked players. Player A sits at +100 (even money) and Player B at -120. Drop $50 on Player A at +100 and Player A wins, and you collect $50 in profit plus your $50 stake back, for a $100 total payout.
Notice the other side reads -120, not +100. That asymmetry exists because the book’s margin has to be covered. In a perfectly fair, vig-free market, if one side is truly +100, the other side would be +100 too. The -120 on Player B folds in the vig along with a slightly higher implied probability for Player B.
Key Points
- Profit equals stake: At even money, whatever you risk is exactly what you stand to win — one of the cleanest payouts to read and calculate.
- Implies a 50% probability: Even money frames the event as essentially a coin flip in the market’s eyes. Any move off +100 means one side is favored.
- Rare at standard vig levels: Because books bake their commission into the odds, genuine +100 lines on both sides are unusual. Expect to see -110 / -110 or similar instead.
- Useful as a benchmark: Even money works as a reference point. Odds shorter than even money (below 2.00 or a negative American number) flag a favorite, while odds longer than even money (above 2.00 or a positive American number) flag an underdog.
- Common in proposition bets: Even-money odds turn up most often in simple yes/no props, like whether a specific event will happen during a game.