Moneyline Bets Explained

Today’s topic is, for the layman, a bit complicated: The Moneyline. A money line bet is one of the three basic ways to bet on sports. The other two are point spread betting and over/under betting. It is not as complicated as it sounds, in fact it’s quite easy.

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What is moneyline; What does moneyline mean?

A money line bet is just betting on a specific team to win a game. Do not get scared of this term. If you bet on the Sox to win the game, that’s a moneyline bet. It is a big word for your most basic wager in sports betting. You win a bet based on the actual outcome of a game or match. Who wins or loses, not by the points of the match. There is no spread.

What is a moneyline bet?

Essentially, betting on a specific team to win a game. A money line bet is one of the simplest kinds of bets. If you are a first time player, most of your wagers, statistically will be moneyline bets.  This means that there is a favorite to win and there is an underdog.

The Favorite is represented by a – sign

The Underdog is represented by a + sign

How Does Money Line Work?

Money line betting may be quite confusing at first, to the novice player, because the calculations are based on $100. So first, we must understand that there is a Favorite and an Underdog and money line odds are determined by who is most likely going to win the match,

Let’s look at the Super Bowl LIII, for example. The New England Patriots were the favorite and the L.A. Rams were the Underdogs.

 -150 means you need to bet 150, to win 100;

+130 means you need to bet 100, to win 130

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New England Patriot:     -150 ( – means they were the Favorite)

                   VS.

           L.A. Rams:        +130 (+ means they were the underdog)

If you bet $150 on the Pats to win, you would have won $100 (plus your original wager back).

How to Read Moneyline

Here is an example of actual money line odds. Different casinos will offer different odds. Let’s look at Caesar’s odds for the Yankee Vs Blue Jays.

The Yankees are the favorite and the Blue Jays are the underdog.

So if you wager $210 on the Yankees to win and they do, you win $100 + your wager.

If you wager $100 on the Blue Jays to win and they do, you win $185 + your wager.

However is you are wagering at Unibet on the Blue Jays to win and they do, you would only win $180, $5 less than at Caesars.

Moneyline App:

There are commonly two types of moneyline apps out there. Money line calculators and money line converters. These both have their own separate functions and can make the math as easy as a click of a button. We explain what they are below.

Moneyline Calculator, What is it?

A money line converter is an app or program that helps you know how much you will win based on how the odds are set and how much you wager, on a moneyline bet.

You simply enter the amount you want to bet and what the odds are. The calculator then estimates your potential winnings.  So with our Super bowl example: 

Moneyline Converter, Money Line Odds

Money line odds are sometimes called “American Odds”. This is because in some sports and in Europe they use different kinds of odds. Converting between them in your head can be a bit challenging so there are many convenient apps or sites for converting odds.

Three kinds of odds you will come across in sports betting

• Decimal Odds – represented as 1.30 or 2.50
  
• Fractional odds – represented as 3/2 or 3 to 2 ‘on’
  
• Moneyline odds – represented as -130 or +150 

NBA MoneyLine

NBA moneyline betting lets players wager on the outcome of an NBA game with no spreads. Just picking the winner of any given game. The money line is determined by Las Vegas book makers based on $100 as mentioned before. This is one of the most common online sports bets. Of course, there are many other ways to bet on NBA like in-game betting, totals and parlay bets. You can find more on these kinds of betting/wagering here.

NFL Moneyline

NFL moneyline betting lets players wager on the outcome of an NFL game with no spreads. Just picking the winner of any given game. The money line is determined by Las Vegas book makers based on $100 as mentioned before. This is one of the most common online sports bets. Of course, there are many other ways to bet on NBA like in-game betting, totals and parlay bets. You can find more on these kinds of betting/wagering by clicking on the links.