Convert Decimal Odds to Malay Odds

What Malay odds are and how they differ from decimal odds

Decimal odds are the format most people meet first. The number tells you the total return per unit staked, including your stake. A decimal price of 2.00 on a winning 10 USDT bet returns 20 USDT, which is the original 10 USDT stake plus 10 USDT profit⁵. A decimal price of 10.00 would return 10 times your stake, so a £1 bet returns £10 inclusive of stake⁶. The whole calculation is stake multiplied by the decimal number¹.

Malay odds take the same information and split it into two cases. When the decimal price is 2.00 or below, the Malay odd is a small positive number: decimal 1.50 becomes Malay 0.50, decimal 2.00 becomes Malay 1.00. When the decimal price is above 2.00, the Malay odd is a negative number: decimal 3.00 becomes Malay -0.50.

The reason for the split is what the number is telling you. A positive Malay odd tells you the profit you make per unit staked. A negative Malay odd tells you how much you need to stake to win one unit². That is the opposite direction of information, and it is why the sign flips at decimal 2.00.

If you are new to the format, the wider guide to betting odds explained covers how all the major formats fit together, and the decimal odds page walks through what common decimal prices pay.

The conversion formula for decimal odds of 2.00 or below

For any decimal price at or below 2.00, the formula is:

Malay odd = decimal odd minus 1.00

That is it. No multiplication, no division. The result is always a positive number.

Some worked values:

The decimal 2.00 case is worth pausing on. Decimal 2.00 is the same as fractional 1/1, which is even money¹. In Malay terms that is 1.00. A winning bet at Malay 1.00 returns your stake plus an equal amount of profit. If you stake 100 units, you win 100 units and get 200 back in total.

This is also the boundary where the sign changes. Anything below decimal 2.00 gives a positive Malay odd; anything above gives a negative one.

How decimal odds above 2.00 become negative Malay odds

For any decimal price above 2.00, the formula is:

Malay odd = minus 1.00 divided by (decimal odd minus 1.00)

So decimal 3.00 becomes Malay -0.50.

The negative sign is not a warning and it does not mean you are betting against yourself. It simply signals that the number now describes the stake side of the bet rather than the profit side. A negative Malay odd shows how much you need to bet in order to win one unit, not how much you could possibly win².

Take Malay -0.95. To win 10 units, you stake 9.5 units, which is 10 multiplied by 0.95². If the bet wins, your maximum payout is 19.5 units, made up of the 10 units of potential winning plus the 9.5 units of stake². If the bet loses, you lose the 9.5 units you staked².

The negative odds explained page goes deeper into how minus signs work across American, Malay and Indonesian formats if you want the wider picture.

Worked examples of common conversions

Here is a set of conversions you are likely to meet on a real bet slip, with the payout each one produces on a 100 unit stake.

Stake: 100

The decimal 3.00 row shows how the negative Malay number works. A decimal price of 3.00 is a longshot, and the Malay odd is -0.50. That means you would need to stake 0.50 units to win one unit of profit. On a 100 unit stake you would win 200 units of profit and get 300 back in total.

If you want to see how these prices map onto Asian handicap lines rather than 1X2 markets, the European odds vs Asian handicap odds page covers that mapping.

Checking your conversion: what the payout should show

The fastest way to check a conversion is to work out the payout both ways and see if they match.

Start with the decimal price. Multiply your stake by the decimal number. The result is the total return including the original stake¹. A £10 bet at decimal 6.00 returns £60⁴. A 10 USDT bet at decimal 3.00 pays 30 USDT in total, which is the 10 USDT stake plus 20 USDT profit⁷.

Now do the same with the Malay odd. If the Malay odd is positive, multiply the stake by the Malay odd to get the profit, then add the stake back. If the Malay odd is negative, multiply the potential winning by the Malay odd to get the stake, then add the potential winning back.

Take Malay -0.95 with a 10 unit potential winning. The stake is 10 multiplied by 0.95, which is 9.5 units. The maximum payout is 10 plus 9.5, which is 19.5 units².

A payout calculator that takes a stake amount and decimal odds will give you the decimal answer directly⁸. If you convert that decimal price to Malay and the payout figures line up once you account for which side of the bet the number is describing, your conversion is correct.

One practical note: some operators apply rounding rules to combined bets. A Korean proto combination purchase truncates the product of the selected matches' odds to the third decimal place and rounds up at the second decimal place⁹. If you are converting a combined price, check whether the operator has already rounded it before you convert.

Where Malay odds are used and how to switch

Malay odds are one of six formats supported by many Asian-facing sportsbooks, alongside decimal, fractional, American, Hong Kong and Indonesian³. If you have an account with an operator that offers the format, you can usually switch between them in your account settings without changing the underlying price.

The format is most common on books that cater to Southeast Asian and Chinese-speaking markets. If you are used to decimal odds and want to read Malay prices, the conversion is simple enough to do in your head once you have done it a few times: subtract 1.00 for a decimal price at or below 2.00, and for a price above 2.00 divide 1.00 by the amount over 1.00 and put a minus sign in front.

If you want to compare how the different formats present the same probability, a 50% chance is shown as:

• decimal 2.0
• UK fractions 1/1 (even money)
• American +100¹⁰

In Malay terms that same 50% chance is 1.00. The odds formats by jurisdiction page shows which formats are standard in each Asian market.