Moneylines in Sports Betting

Everyone makes moneyline bets without even knowing it. Betting the moneyline for a game is possibly the most simple way to wager on sports. Bettors just choose a player or team to win. If the bettor chooses the winning side, the sportsbook will pay the amount due. It is really that simple.

There are no spread bets with a moneyline bet. Bettors are just picking the winning side. While placing a wager is simple, trying to understand how the moneyline pays might be a bit complicated. Both sides of each moneyline wager are paid out differently and that could make this kind of bet confusing.

The favorite team or player on the moneyline is the team that’s expected to win. This side of the bet is usually listed with a minus (-) sign. The underdog team or player on the moneyline is the team that’s expected to lose. This side of the moneyline is usually listed with a plus (+) sign. These signs signify how either side of the wager will pay. The minus side will pay less than the original wager while the plus side will pay more than the original wager.

Moneyline odds

Moneyline odds, sometimes referred to as "American odds" are odds based on a bettor's potential winnings on a $100 wager.

As an example, when a team such as Manchester City FC plays an amateur team in the FA Cup, they are heavily favored to win the game, the odds will reflect this and will likely indicate a clear favourite. Exactly how much of a favorite they are is where moneyline bets get interesting.

New England Patriots -350

New York Giants +260

In the above example, the New England Patriots are the strong favorites to win against the Giants. The -350 odds mean a bettor would have to bet $350 to win $100. Conversely, a bettor on the Giants would make $260 in profit if they bet $100.

These odds are somewhat extreme for a regular game of football, most games will see closer odds between the two teams. So depending on which sport is being bet on you will likely see a broad variety of potential odds. Baseball, for example, is a sport where the results are less predictable so you will likely see closer odds between the two teams, perhaps +150 and -50 as an example.

Three-way lines

Sports like soccer are much more likely to produce a draw than football or basketball. That complicates the moneyline. In soccer, this is typically displayed in what is called a three-way line.

Instead of choosing two teams to pick from, the possibility of a tie or draw is included. As a low-scoring sport, spreads aren’t always available in soccer.

For example, a match between Manchester City and Aston Villa is predicted to be a fairly one sided affair with the heavily favoured Manchester city given odds of -350 to win and the Aston Villa win given odds of +350, this means that one bet will likely come in but won't win you much and the other is a long shot but there is the possibility of winning a large amount. The third option would of course be a draw with odds of +220 which offers the most balanced bet with decent odds and also a decent prize if the bet were to come in.