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A moneyline is a type of straight wager where the bettor wagers simply on who will win the contest, straight up – without any spread involved. The easiest way to think of moneyline betting odds is that you are only betting on who wins the game. It does not matter how many points or goals they win by, all that matters is who wins. What Is a Moneyline Bet? A moneyline bet simply involves you picking one of two teams to win the game. No catch, no angle, just the right answer or the wrong answer. Each team/person in a matchup for a moneyline betting option is given a separate numerical value for bettors to wager on and these are called “odds.”.

When you think about sports betting, the first wager type that comes to mind is probably the moneyline. The moneyline bet is a straight-up wager on who wins a game, fight, or any other matchup.

The term ‘moneyline’ might sound like a sort of foreign language. That’s okay! We were all rookie bettors who had to ask questions at some point.

We’ll break down moneyline bets and walk you through everything you need to know about them.

The Moneyline Made Easy

You’ve already learned how to read and interpret the three types of odds you’ll encounter, so let’s move onto the elements of sporting events you can bet on.

When making a moneyline bet, you’re simply selecting the outright winner of a single game.

When making a fundamental moneyline bet, you’re simply selecting the outright winner of a single game. This is the most straightforward bet you can make. There are no other contingencies.

Here’s an example of the moneyline bet in action:

To place your bet, all you need to do is click on the moneyline number attached to the team you believe is going to win the game. If you think Anaheim will win, click on the +135. If you like Nashville, click on the -135.

What Is A Moneyline Bet In Ice Hockey

From here, your pick will be added to a bet slip where you be asked to enter the amount you wish to risk on your moneyline wager. So, how can you tell how to calculate your payout on the moneyline?

Breaking Down the Moneyline

The numbers next to each team on the moneyline are American odds which:

  • indicate each team’s implied probability
  • determine how much money you would win, based on your wager.

The team that has a “+” sign on next to their odds is the underdog, while the team with “-” next to their odds number is seen by your sportsbook as the favorite.

In some cases, both teams will have “-” signs next to them. In this case, the team with the number farther from zero should be regarded as the favorite (eg. -120 would be the favorite over -105).

Because the bet will be harder to win, you will always receive a higher payout when you bet the underdog on the moneyline. Of course, the risk of losing such a bet is also substantially higher.

Winning Moneyline Bets

At this stage, you might be wondering how you can win moneyline bets. Let’s revisit the Anaheim (+135) vs. Nashville (-135) moneyline example.

If you bet $100 on Anaheim at +135 moneyline odds and they win the game, you win $135 for a total payout of $235. On the flip side, you need to successfully wager $135 on Nashville to win $100 for a potential payout of $235.

When it comes to moneyline betting, the lines with a plus symbol tell you the amount of money you’d win on a $100 wager, while odds with the minus sign indicate the amount you need to bet to win $100.

Moneyline wagering is a relatively easy concept to understand once you get the hang of it.

Popular Sports with Moneyline Odds

You can find moneyline line odds for virtually any sport, including some of the following leagues:

  • NFL
  • NBA
  • MLB
  • NHL
  • UFC

Moneyline odds will look similar across the board. The positive number indicates the betting favorite, and the negative number is assigned to the underdog.

Handicapping your Bet

Money

Handicapping is an important part of strategizing your moneyline bets. If you see moneyline odds for a team, and you believe they have a good chance of winning, then you’re already familiar with the concept of handicapping.

Using analytical research, key betting trends, or any other knowledge that might eliminate any guessing in a bet is called handicapping. Handicapping assigns an advantage to a team based on available evidence and statistics rather than a gut instinct.

Beating the oddsmakers is a tough task, but the more research and handicapping you do on betting lines, the better chance you have at padding your bankroll.

Opening/Closing Odds and Line Movement

Online sportsbooks will adjust their moneyline odds as one side gets more of the action from the betting public. This changes the value of your potential return, so it’s important to pay attention to line movement and the opening/closing odds.

Let’s use the Super Bowl as an example. A team like the Kansas City Chiefs could start as -125 favorites, but as more people bet on them leading up to the Super Bowl, the odds might move to -150 or more. This could have a big impact on your winnings, which is why it’s important to find early betting lines that have better value for NFL games.

Experienced sports bettors track the odds very closely, and watching the moneyline is an effective way to gauge what the oddsmakers are thinking. If you find a team you’re confident in, and the oddsmakers are moving the lines the other way, then you’ll have the edge over the sportsbook if your team wins.

Why Are There Fractions or Decimals on the Moneyline?

This depends on the audience your sportsbook targets. The + and – signs you see are referred to as “American” odds. As such, American-facing books will almost always represent the moneyline in this format.

Sportsbooks outside of North America sometimes display the moneyline in either a decimal or fractional format. Even so, the moneyline always refers to betting on the winner of the game, regardless of odds format.

Bet

If you need a refresher on calculating all types of odds, be sure to check out our guide. This skill is essential to understanding the moneyline and giving you a return on wagers!

Why Is There No Moneyline for My Game?

Sportsbooks don’t always offer a moneyline option for a game. Sometimes, they will simply offer totals and spread bets.

Whats A Moneyline Bet

For example, many sportsbooks only offer an option to bet on the NFL moneyline if the spread is between 3 and 10 points. If one team is a heavy favorite (and the spread is listed at 14 points or more), many sportsbooks will choose to offer only spread and totals bets. This is an industry-standard, in most cases. However, there are exceptions to this rule at select online sports betting sites.

Other Factors to Consider

Here’s a few other things to keep in mind when you’re looking at moneyline odds at online betting sites:

  • Shop for the best lines – moneyline odds aren’t the same at every sportsbook
  • Point spread betting – look at other options like betting the point spread if you’re on the fence about a moneyline wager
  • Watch the vig – sportsbooks include a fee right in the betting lines, and bookmakers create odds that attract wagers on both sides

Get Closer to the Action

Sports betting is the best way to get more involved with your favorite games, and we have all the knowledge you need to wager with confidence. Check out Betting 101 for more guides that can help you drill the fundamentals.


Money Line betting is the most common type of sports bet. The simple format ensures it’s a popular choice for beginner bettors. However, more advanced bettors will still turn to this market to find value. What is a Money Line bet? How does Money Line betting work? Read on to find out.

What is a Money Line bet?

Money Line betting is one of the simplest and most common ways to bet. There will usually be two options presented in a market and all you have to do to place a Money Line bet is choose who you think will win and place a bet on them. The easiest way to describe what a Money Line bet is, is to think of it as a “match winner” bet.

If you place a Money Line bet and the team or person you have bet on wins, your bet will win. If the team or person you have bet on loses, your bet will lose. In order to calculate the potential return from your Money Line bet, simply multiply your stake (the amount you bet) by the decimal odds of the option you are betting on.

How does Money Line betting work?

Money Line betting is most prevalent in sports like baseball, tennis and UFC. While it is still a popular choice for betting on the NBA and NFL, the high scoring nature of sports like basketball and American football mean other bet types are more widely used (such as Totals or Handicap).

Although Money Line betting is most common in sporting events that feature two teams or competitors where the result cannot be a draw or tie, people may also refer to a Money Line market in soccer or other sports that can end in a draw.

Moneyline

This could either be a three-way Money Line market (which includes the draw). However, this is more commonly referred to as the 1X2 market (1 representing the home side, X the draw and 2 the away side). Alternatively, there is a more standard two-way Money Line market in soccer which will adjust the odds to remove the option of the draw and simply “push” (return your stake amount) if there is no winner.

It is important not to tie yourself to a specific market and say you will only bet the Money Line, Handicap or Over/Under. While you may specialise in a certain market, it can still be useful to analyse the complete picture of an event provided by the betting market

Unlike other markets like the Over/Under (Totals) or Handicap, Money Line bets are settled solely on the result of the match – it is not impacted by the winning margin or points scored. The odds offered will reflect who is most likely to win (the favourite) and who is likely to lose (the underdog).

Although the Money Line is different to the Handicap market, there is a clear correlation between the two. The higher the Handicap mark is on the favourite, the more likely they are to win. This means the higher the Handicap is, the shorter the Money Line odds will be on the favourite (meaning the odds on the underdog will be bigger).

Handicap betting is often a popular alternative to the Money Line when there is a large disparity between the quality of two teams or competitors taking part in a match. If you are confident enough in a team winning that you think it will be greater than a specific margin, this is a case where a Handicap bet might more sense as it will provide you with an opportunity to make more money from your bet (picking a team to win by more than a certain amount of points is harder than just predicting them to win by any margin).

What is the difference between the Money Line and 1X2 betting markets?

As previously mentioned, the difference between the Money Line and 1X2 betting markets might appear to be a relatively minor difference, but it will have a big impact on the odds you bet with and the result of your bet.

The key difference between the two market types is the availability of the draw option. The Money Line traditionally only offers two options, Team/Player A to win and Team/Player B to win. However, the 1X2 market (most common in soccer) has both of these options, plus the draw.

Whats A Moneyline Bet

Some people believe the difference is simply down to a preference of terminology, and that is why it’s important to know what you’re betting on if you’re talking about the Money Line if a draw is a potential outcome. You need to determine if it’s another way to refer to the 1X2 market (a three-way Money Line) or the traditional Money Line that doesn’t include the draw. If you’re betting on the 1X2 and think it’s a normal Money Line bet, you will be in for a surprise when your stake isn’t refunded if the result is a draw.

Money Line bet example

While the concept of a Money Line bet is simple to understand, it can still be useful to go through an example to help those new to betting. Below is an example of a Money Line market for an NFL game at Pinnacle.

These odds suggest the Kansas City Chiefs have a 79.56% chance of winning the game, whereas the Houston Texans have a 20.44% chance.If you believe the Houston Texans will win, or have a greater than 20.44% chance of winning, you may want to place a Money Line bet on them.You then simply add the selection to your bet slip and place the bet.

If the Houston Texans beat the Kansas City Chiefs, this would result in a win for your bet and a return of €47.40 (€37.40 profit and your €10 stake).If the Chiefs were to beat the Texans, the result of the bet would be a loss and it would return €0.

Money Line betting strategy: When to bet the Money Line

Moneyline Betting Meaning

Once you understand how Money Line betting works, there are various methods or strategies you can use to decide what to bet on.Those who bet for fun may just choose their favourite team or the team that, based on their opinion, they think has the best chance of winning.However, those who are serious about betting will be more concerned with the concept of value and will want to bet on the team that has been underestimated by the odds provided by the bookmaker.

What Is A 3-way Moneyline Bet

If your aim is to use a Money Line betting strategy to make a long-term profit, an understanding of probability is key. This is where converting odds into percentage chance can help give you a better idea of how the bookmaker (and rest of the betting market) think a game will play out.

Whether you use a complex model, a simplified power rankings system or just odds comparison from an efficient bookmaker to one that hasn’t managed their odds correctly, the concept of value always remains the same. You are looking for an option within the market that has a greater likelihood of happening than that shown by the available odds.

Football Betting Explain Money Line

It is important not to tie yourself to a specific market as a bettor and say you will only bet the Money Line, Handicap or Over/Under. While you may specialise in a certain market or have access to data that will make it easier to find an edge, it can still be useful to analyse the complete picture of an event provided by the betting market to help inform the decision making process before placing a bet.

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