What is a Moneyline Bet? – Top Guide 2023

Moneyline betting is one of the most common and easiest bet you can make. It’s a bet that a sportsbook will offer a bettor on just about any game, allowing them to simply pick the team that they think will win outright, rather than having to worry about whether they would cover point spreads.

If you’re asking what is a moneyline bet, though, you’re not alone. Sports bettors should get acquainted with what a moneyline wager is, how it works and the different variations so they can see whether betting on the money lines would be something that would be good for them.

It’s always good when you’re online gambling to know all your betting options. Below, we’ll detail all there is to know about a money line bet, for all of those sports bettors who can take advantage of legalized sports betting.

Best Sites for Moneyline Bets

If you’re looking for a sports betting site that provides moneyline bets, our site is the place you need to start your research. Not only do we break down sports betting odds and explain how moneyline bets work, we also provide a good idea for a sportsbook that a bettor would want to try out.

The top sportsbooks all offer moneyline betting, but what separates one from the next? This is where the information we present on our site comes in handy. We break down all the angles of every sportsbook out there so you can make the best choice when it comes to where you want to place your money line winning wager.

What’s a Moneyline Bet?

The sportsbook will set moneyline odds, and then you’ll just pick the team win in that game. Because of this, moneyline bets are the simplest form of betting on games involving two teams. All you need to care about is how your team performs at the end of the game, not whether they won by enough points. That’s why people bet on the money line so often.

Moneyline Variations

While moneyline betting is very simple, the moneyline varies from one sportsbook to the next sportsbook. There are different moneyline odds that will ultimately determine your potential payout in a game. This is how the sportsbook will ensure that they aren’t losing money and that it makes sense for them to offer the money line odds.

It’s always best to get the better price in the Super Bowl or some other game, of course, so that you can maximize your payout. And the way you do that as a sportsbook is to pay attention to the odds. Let’s discuss the specifics of the betting options with moneyline betting in the next few paragraphs.

The Favorite

In moneyline betting, the favorite will be designated with worse odds. If you’re looking at American odds, it will be the team that is listed with the minus sign next to them. Remember that American odds means that every bet is based on a win 100 in that case. So, for example, moneyline odds on a favorite may be listed as:

• Los Angeles Dodgers -150

Because the odds here are based on if you win 100 with your wager, the sportsbook here is indicating that a bettor would need to wager IRP150 to win 100. The larger the negative number, the more favored that team is to win. Bettors should know that an obvious favorite might have moneyline odds of -200 or even more.

The Underdog

By contrast, the underdog in a game would have a positive number listed next to their team. The plus sign comes first and indicates that a team is the underdog. Teams who are considered the underdog isn’t expected to win, and as such, they bettors would win more money with them if the team is able to win the game.

In the above example, the team the Dodgers are playing would be the underdog. Underdogs in this case might be listed with moneyline odds of:

• New York Mets +130

Underdogs with these sports odds would work in the opposite way as the example with the favorite. It’s based off a win 100 formula for betting using American odds, remember. So, if you wager IRP100 on the Mets, who are the underdogs, in this case, your payout would be IRP130.

The underdog always has a higher payout than the favorite on the moneyline, which is how the sportsbook evens out the betting on this type of wager. This example shows you of the different potential amount of money you’d be winning if you wagered on either team in this case.

Even or Pick ’em

Sometimes, teams are considered to be relatively even in terms of a matchup of a game. One team isn’t necessarily considered that much better than another team, so the sportsbook sets moneyline odds that are even. This is also called a pick ’em in sports betting, which every bettor should know.

If you’re betting on a money line that is a pick ’em, it’s relatively simple to figure out. The line will be listed as:

• Los Angeles Dodgers +100

In this case, the Dodgers aren’t considered favorites or underdogs, necessarily. The team instead is “even money,” meaning whatever your wager is, that’s what you would win if the Dodgers win the game. Bettors tend to like this moneyline bet because it’s easy to understand how much money they would win. This example shows how easy it is to figure out your potential winnings at the sportsbook.

Moneyline Sports Betting Outcomes

There are a few different outcomes that could happen with a money line bet. There are two true outcomes in most games with the moneyline bet, though sports that include the possibility of a draw or tie have a third potential outcome. This is another difference between a moneyline bet and a point spread bet.

A bet on an NFL team during the regular season could have these three outcomes, but it couldn’t happen in the Super Bowl, for example because there are no ties. This means your wager on the money line would only have the first two outcomes, and not the possibility for the third. Let’s take a look at the possible moneyline bet outcomes you could see when you pick a team to win.

The Moneyline Win

The moneyline win is quite simple in betting. If your team wins the game, then you win your wager. How much you end up winning will be determined by the odds on the moneyline, like we mentioned before.

In order to win your moneyline wager, the teams you place your bets on would just need to end up winning the game. Bettors will be able to determine how much they would win with their bet based on the odds that the sportsbook lists for the moneyline.

The Moneyline Loss

The moneyline loss is equally as simple. If the teams you bet on lose the game, then you would lose the amount of your wager on the moneyline. The odds in this case would only come into play in determining the amount of your original bet. If you bet IRP150 on teams to win on the moneyline, and they lost the game, then you would lose your IRP150.

“Draw” or “Draw no Bet”

A draw or draw now bet can only occur in games that can end in a tie or a draw. Again, this would apply to a regular season NFL game, but not the Super Bowl, as we mentioned before. In sports where the tie is a possibility, this third potential outcome for a moneyline bet comes into play.

If the game ends in a draw, you don’t win or lose your bet. Instead, a bettor has their original stake returned to them. This outcome of bets on the moneyline act as if the the bet never happened in the first place. It doesn’t matter what the odds were originally, bettors will just get the amount they wagered back.

This can’t be considered a winning proposition, but at least it’s not a loss. The sportsbook won’t take a loss, either, but they also won’t win in these bets.

Moneyline & Point Spread

So, what’s the difference between the moneyline and point spreads? The main difference is that with money line betting, how many points or goals the team scores doesn’t matter, as long as they win. With point spread bets, the team that you are backing needs to win by a certain number of points/goals or lose by no more than a certain number of points/goals.

The sportsbook will set a line for the point spread and most odds for this betting option are set at -110 for each team. With the money line, the sportsbook will set odds based on the favorite and underdog, rather than a point spread with odds that are the same for both teams involved in the game.

Is the Moneyline a Good Bet?

Yes, the money line bet is a great bet to make at a sportsbook. There are a lot of different ways you can be winning with the moneyline, including straight up on one team or by combining a few different games in different sports into a parlay bet.

In fact, one of the more popular ways to place bets on the money line is to parlay a few big favorites at a sportsbook into one parlay. This way, you can bet on bigger favorites in sports games, without having to lay the big juice that comes with the odds for those favorites. Instead, you can get bigger payouts from your bets at the sportsbook while still placing a bet on the big favorites.

Moneyline Odds and Implied Probability

Implied probability betting on sports is what odds are suggesting that the likelihood of a certain outcome may be. Calculating implied probability from the odds are quite simple. Just take the the number 1 and divide it by the decimal odds for a bet.

The same probability can be calculated no matter what format of odds you are looking at, whether it’s decimal, fractional or American. Knowing the implied probability can give you an advantage when you’re wagering with a bonus, whether it’s reading the fraction in fractional odds or decimal odds.

This is a great way to have an understanding of where the sportsbook is coming from before you place. sports bet at their site.

Moneylines and Live Betting

Live betting is one of the most common and popular ways to bet at a sportsbook today. It involves placing bets after a match has already started, instead of doing it pre-match. This allows you to see how the teams are performing in the actual matchup before you place your bet. The sportsbook will constantly update the odds for the live bets, and then you can bet on whatever you want at that point.

The sportsbook will update these odds for the spread as well as the money line. So you can still bet on a team to win on the moneyline after the match has already started. This is an extremely popular way to place moneyline bets, especially if there’s a big favorite you want to bet on.

An example is if there is a big favorite on the moneyline. You could opt to wait until the match starts, and hope they fall behind early on. If that happens, the sportsbook will adjust the odds for the moneyline down, which could make it easier for you to place bets on them, because you won’t have to lay as much juice. Then, you can still get a moneyline bet on the big favorite and be getting a bargain compared to the odds.

How and Why Do Moneyline Odds Change?

Moneyline odds change based on a number of factors. First, they can change as people start placing wagers on the moneyline. After the sportsbook opens the line, then bettors will start placing money on different sides. The sportsbook will adjust the odds on the moneyline wagers they have available to compensate for where the bets are being placed. This helps them hedge against a potentially big loss if their odds were off at first.

Another the reason the odds might change are because of late-breaking news about a key player. If one of these players is ruled out for the match because of an injury, for example, the moneyline odds could be adjusted. That’s because the outcome of the game might changed based on whether that star player is actually going to play in the match or not.

A final reason the moneyline odds might change is because of inclement weather. Bad weather has a habit of evening out matchups. So, if there is poor weather for a matchup, it may make it tougher for a big favorite to win in huge fashion. As a result, the sportsbook might reduce the odds on the favorite and the underdog for the match, based on the poor weather that is being predicted.

Conclusion

The moneyline is one of the simplest ways to bet on sports. All you have to do is predict which team will win a match outright. You don’t have to worry about how they win or how many goals/points they win by. That’s why it’s so popular.

Sportsbooks will offer moneyline odds on just about every matchup. So, make sure you understand how to read the odds so you know what to expect.

And if you want to learn more about the moneyline or which sportsbooks around the world would be best for you to place moneyline wagers, check out our site.

Last Updated on 26/12/2022 ago by Devak Mukherjee