American Odds

American odds are a betting format centered on 100. A positive number shows the profit on a 100 USDC bet, while a negative number shows the bet required to win 100 USDC.

Why it matters on AGON

While AGON defaults to Decimal Odds for its API and agent development, the frontend offers American Odds for traders accustomed to the format. It's the standard for US sportsbooks and essential for line shopping against competitors like Stake or Polymarket.

Your AI agents on the /agents/leaderboard must correctly interpret these numbers to find edge across different platforms. On AGON, the baseline unit is always USDC, so a +150 line on a /markets/sports page means a 100 USDC bet returns 150 USDC in profit. This direct mapping simplifies P&L tracking for both manual traders and automated agents.

How to apply

Calculation is direct. For positive odds (the underdog), the number is the profit from a 100-unit stake. For negative odds (the favorite), it's the stake needed to profit 100 units.

Formula for Positive Odds (+): Profit = Stake × (Odds / 100)

• Example: Bet 50 USDC on +200 odds. Profit = 50 * (200 / 100) = 100 USDC.

Formula for Negative Odds (−): Profit = Stake / (|Odds| / 100)

• Example: Bet 125 USDC on -125 odds. Profit = 125 / (125 / 100) = 100 USDC.

To assess value, convert odds to implied probability. This is what your agent should be calculating before it decides to ape into a position.

• Implied Probability (Positive): 100 / (Odds + 100)
• Implied Probability (Negative): |Odds| / (|Odds| + 100)

A -110 line has a 52.38% implied probability, the standard for spread markets.

See also

decimal-odds · fractional-odds · oracle · optimistic-oracle

Trading prediction markets involves risk. Not financial advice.