What Is Moneyline in Sports Betting?

Moneyline betting is one of the most popular ways to wager on sports. But what is moneyline betting and how does it work? We break it down for you.

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Moneyline Definition

Moneyline bets are the most common type of sports bet. A moneyline bet is a wager on which team will win a game. It doesn’t matter how much they win by, as long as they win the game.

Moneyline in sports betting

The moneyline is the most common way to bet on baseball and hockey, but it’s also used in other sports. Moneyline betting is simply wagering on the contest based on a given price rather than a point spread. The favorite will have a minus (-) sign next to their price, while the underdog will have a plus (+) sign.

For example, let’s say you want to bet on the New York Yankees vs. the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a baseball game. The Yankees may be listed at -180 (wager $180 to win $100), while the Angels may be +150 (wager $100 to win $150). In this case, you would need to risk more money on the Yankees in order to win less, whereas with the Angels, you would need to risk less in order to win more.

The team that is favored is called the “favorite,” and they are expected to win the game. The team that is not favored is called the “underdog,” and they are expected to lose the game.

How to read a moneyline

In order to read a moneyline, you have to pay attention to the numbers on both sides of the colon. On the left side is the amount of money that you will need to bet in order to win $100. On the right side of the colon is the amount of money that you will win if you bet $100.

Moneyline Examples

A moneyline bet is a very common wager placed on sporting events. In this type of bet, you simply pick a team or individual to win outright. There is no spread to beat, no need to worry aboutHandicap bettingenses. Simply pick who you think will win, and if they do, you profit!

Moneyline betting example #1

In our first moneyline betting example, let’s say that you want to bet on the Los Angeles Dodgers to beat the Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers are the favorites in this game, as reflected by the (-165) moneyline. What this means is that you would need to bet $165 on the Dodgers in order to return a profit of $100 – not a very favorable context for a bet.

On the other hand, if you wanted to take the Reds as your pick here, you would be getting +145 odds. A $100 bet placed on Cincinnati in this case would return a profit of $145 – a much more attractive possibility. In general, underdogs offer more value on moneyline bets than favorites do.

Moneyline betting example #2

In this example, let’s take a look at betting on a baseball game using the moneyline. We will use the same matchup from the first moneyline example, but with different odds. Yankees vs. Red Sox, 1st inning.

The Yankees are still -120 and the Red Sox are +100. The difference is in the vigorish, or juice. The vig in this example is -110 for both sides. This means that if you bet $110 on the Yankees, you would win $100. If you bet $110 on the Red Sox, you would win $109.09 (your original wager plus your winnings). So, while both sides have equal odds of winning, the Yankees have slightly worse odds because of the juice (-110 vs -120).

How to Bet on Moneylines

A moneyline bet is the most common type of sports bet. With a moneyline bet, you simply pick a team or player to win. Moneyline bets are available in almost every sport, including baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and more. Let’s take a look at how moneyline bets work and how to bet on them.

How to bet on a favorite

If the Red Sox are playing the Yankees and Boston is listed at -140, it means that you have to risk $140 to win $100. To bet on New York, you would risk $100 to win $120 since the Yankees are +120 underdogs.

If you bet on the favorite, you are winning when they win by more than the spreads. If you bet on the underdog, you are winning when they lose by less than the spread or they win outright.

In order for a favorite to cover the spread, they need to win by more than what is listed as the spread. For example, if Boston is -6 against New York and they only win by four, then those who bet on Boston did not cover the spread. Those who bet on New York won because even though they lost, they only lost by less than what was listed as the spread.

How to bet on an underdog

Assuming you want to bet on an underdog, there are a few things you need to know before placing your moneyline bet. We’ll walk you through an example using the Moneyline from the Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets game on January 3, 2019.

The first thing you need to know is what the odds are for each team. In this particular case, the Warriors are 1.5-point underdogs. That means if you bet on them, you’ll win $100 for every $160 you bet. On the other hand, if you bet on the Rockets, you’ll win $240 for every $100 you bet since they’re 2.5-point favorites.

Now that you know the odds, you need to decide how much money you want to bet on the Warriors. Let’s say you want to risk $250. To calculate your potential winnings, simply multiply your wager by the Moneyline odds. In this case, it would be 250 x 1.5 = $375. So if the Warriors win, you’ll net a profit of $125 ($375 – $250).

Of course, there’s always the chance that the Rockets could win which would result in a loss of your original wager of $250. That’s why it’s important to never bet more than you can afford to lose and to always do your research before placing any sports bets.

Moneyline Strategies

Moneyline is a popular sports betting option where you bet on the outright winner of a game or event. There is no spread or handicap, so your team just needs to win the game or event. Moneyline odds can be + (positive) or – (negative) and are usually expressed as a whole number. For example, a -250 moneyline means you would need to bet $250 to win $100. A +400 moneyline means you would win $400 if you bet $100.

Moneyline strategy #1

One of the most popular moneyline strategies is to bet on the favorite. This strategy can be profitable if you know how to find the right favorites.

The first step is to find the right sport. Moneyline betting is most popular in baseball, basketball and football. These are also the sports where the odds are most favorable for the favorite.

The next step is to find the right favorite. This can be a challenge, but there are a few ways to do it. One way is to look at a team’s recent performance. Another way is to look at a team’s overall record.

Once you have found a few favorites that you like, it’s time to start betting. The key here is to bet small and often. By betting small, you will minimize your risk and maximize your chances of making a profit.

Moneyline strategy #2

In addition to calculating how much you need to bet on the favorite to win $100 (or your desired amount), you also need to calculate how much you would win if you bet $100 on the underdog. To do this, simply use the odds of the underdog and divide 100 by it. So, if the underdog has odds of +250, your calculation would be 100/(+250) = 0.4. This means that if you bet $100 on the underdog, you would profit $40 if they won.