Favoured by bookmakers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and also common in horse racing, fractional odds quote the net total that will be paid out to the bettor, should he win, relative to his stake. Odds of 4/1 ("four-to-one" or less commonly "four-to-one against") would imply that the bettor stands to make a £400 profit on a £100 stake. If the odds are 1/4 (read "one-to-four", or "four-to-one on"), the bettor will make £25 on a £100 stake. Should he win, the bettor always receives his original stake back, so if the odds are 4/1 you would actually receive a total of £500 in return (£400 plus the original £100). Odds of 1/1 are known as evens or even money. This would result in the bettor making £100 profit, and receiving back £200 in total, should he win.

Not all fractional odds are traditionally read using the lowest common denominator. Perhaps most unusual is that odds of 10/3 are read as "one-hundred-to-thirty".

Fractional odds are also known as British odds, UK odds or in that country, traditional odds.

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