What Does Moneyline Mean in Sports Betting?

You may have heard the term “moneyline” before, but what does it actually mean in sports betting? We’re here to give you a simple explanation.

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Moneyline in Sports Betting

Moneyline betting is a type of sports betting where you simply bet on which team or person will win the game. There is no point spread or handicap, so it is a straightforward bet. The odds will be displayed as either a positive or negative number. A positive number means that the team is the underdog and a negative number means that the team is the favorite.

Moneyline explained

In sports betting, the term “moneyline” is used to refer to the ratio between the amount needed to bet in order to win $100 (the stake), and the amount that will be won if the bet is successful (the payout). In other words, it’s how much you need to wager in order to win $100.

The moneyline is usually presented with a plus sign for odds above even (meaning you’ll make a profit if you win), and a minus sign for odds below even (meaning you’ll need to risk more than you stand to win).

Moneyline betting tips

In sports betting, a moneyline bet is simply betting on which team you think will win the game. Moneyline bets do not have point spreads like spread betting does, so your team just needs to win the game outright. Moneylines are available for all sports, but they are predominantly used when betting on lower-scoring games such as baseball or hockey.

When looking at a moneyline, you will see a plus (+) or minus (-) sign in front of the number. The plus sign signifies the underdog and the minus sign signifies the favorite. For example, if you see a moneyline of +150, this means that the underdog has odds of 3-2 (or 2-1.5), which means you would win $150 for every $100 bet. A moneyline of -200 would mean that the favorite has odds of 1-2 (or 1-0.5), which means you would need to bet $200 to win $100.

Moneyline vs. Point Spread

Moneyline and point spread are the two ways that you can bet on the outcomes of sporting events. Moneyline bets are simpler, and you just need to pick the team or person that you think will win. Point spread bets are a bit more complex, and you need to bet on whether a team will win by more or less than the amount of points that the bookmakers have set.

Moneyline

A moneyline bet is the simplest and most common type of sports wager. You just pick a team or athlete to win a game or event. No points spreads or other variables come into play. If your team or athlete wins, you profit according to the odds posted by your sportsbook.

The biggest advantage of betting on the moneyline is that it’s very simple. There’s no need to worry about complicated point spreads or handicaps. All you need to know is who’s going to win, and you can place your bet accordingly.

Another advantage is that moneyline odds (particularly in football and basketball) can sometimes be more favorable than point spread odds. This is because there is often more public support for favorites in these sports, so sportsbooks have to juice the point spread in order to encourage more betting on the underdog. In cases where the point spread is particularly large, the moneyline may be more attractive to bettors.

Point Spread

The point spread is the most common type of bet used in football and basketball betting. The idea behind the point spread is to even out the playing field between two teams by giving one team a “head start” in terms of points.

For example, let’s say that Team A is playing Team B. If Team A is a strong favorite to win, the point spread may be set at 14 points. This means that Team A must win by at least 15 points for bettors who pick them to win to cash their tickets. Conversely, bettors who take Team B will win if they either lose by 13 points or less, or if they win the game outright.

The point spread is designed to encourage betting on both sides of a matchup, even if one team is clearly better than the other. It puts both teams on more equal footing, which should theoretically result in more competitive games.

Moneyline Betting Examples

A moneyline bet is a wager on which team will win a game. It doesn’t matter how many points they win by, or if it goes to overtime. As long as the team you bet on wins, you will win your moneyline bet. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Example #1

In this example, the New York Yankees are -200 and the Boston Red Sox are +170. This means that if you bet $200 on the Yankees, you would win $100 (plus the return of your original $200 wager) for a total of $300. If you bet $100 on the Red Sox, you would win $170 (plus the return of your original $100 wager) for a total of $270. In this scenario, it would require a larger bet on the favorite Yankees to win a smaller amount of money, while a smaller bet on the underdog Red Sox would win a larger amount of money.

Example #2

The New York Yankees are playing the Boston Red Sox. You like the Yankees to win this one, so you bet $100 on them. In order for you to win your bet and collect your $200 in winnings, the Yankees will need to defeat the Red Sox by two or more runs. If they lose by one run, or if the game ends in a tie, you will lose your money.

How to Read a Moneyline

A moneyline bet is the simplest and most common wager in sports betting. It’s a straight-up bet on the market you’re looking at. You’re simply picking which team or person you think is going to win. No point spreads, no fancy math- just pick who you think is going to win and put your money down.

Moneyline odds

In sports betting, the moneyline is the odds format most commonly used to wager on football and basketball games. Bettors will often see a traditional point spread when wagering on baseball and hockey games. While most bettors understand the basics of how to read these types of odds, many do not know how to interpret moneyline odds.

In its simplest form, the moneyline is a representation of the oddsmakers’ betting lines for a particular game or event. The moneyline is expressed as a positive or negative number next to each team or outcome. A negative number indicates how much you would need to wager in order to win $100. For example, if you wanted to bet on the New England Patriots in their matchup against the Buffalo Bills, you would need to risk $340 in order to win $100 (or $14 to win $10).

Conversely, a positive moneyline indicates how much you would win if you bet $100. In the Patriots-Bills example above, a bettor who risked $100 on New England winning outright would net$240 ($140 profit + original $100 bet). So, while both forms of the odds are used extensively in sports betting, they each provide a different perspective when handicapping games.

How to calculate moneyline payouts

In order to calculate a moneyline payout, you need to know the odds for the bet you want to make. Most online sportsbooks will have moneyline odds posted for all of the games and matches they offer action on. All you need to do is find the bet you want to make, and look at the associated odds.

For example, let’s say you’re looking at making a moneyline bet on Duke to beat North Carolina in their next game. The odds might look something like this:

Duke -350
North Carolina +280

What this means is that Duke is favored to win by a margin of 7 points (or -7), and if they do win, a $100 bet would pay out $285 ($100 x 2.85). On the other hand, North Carolina is an underdog by 7 points, and if they were to upset Duke, that same $100 bet would pay out $380 ($100 x 3.80).

To calculate your potential payout, simply multiply your stake by the number listed next to your chosen team. In this example, if you bet $100 on Duke (-350), you would stand to win $285 if they won the game outright. If you bet $100 on North Carolina (+280), you would stand to win $380 if they managed to pull off the upset.