Sports Betting 101: What is a Moneyline Bet?

If you're new to sports betting, moneyline bets are the perfect place to start. Unlike other more complex sports betting terms, such as teasers and parlays, moneyline wagers are easy to understand. You're picking who will win the game straight up, not betting based on a point spread.

Moneyline wagering is a viable betting strategy across all sports, including football, basketball, baseball, and everything in between. Simply put, it's a bet on who will win the game and nothing more.

What is a Moneyline Bet?

A moneyline bet is the most basic sports wager. You bet on the winner of a game or match, and that's it. If your team wins, you win the moneyline bet. It's that simple.

Unlike point spread betting, where the margin of victory matters, moneyline betting only cares about who comes out on top. For example, if you place a moneyline bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers to win against the Cleveland Browns, it doesn't matter if they win by one point or three touchdowns – a win is a win, and you'll collect the payout. The image below shows the current moneyline odds for BetMGM, Caesars, and DraftKings:

What are the Three Outcomes of a Moneyline Bet?

In most sports, there are three possible results of a moneyline wager:

Win

This one is straightforward. If you select the winner on a moneyline bet, you receive your stake back plus the winnings (determined by the odds).

Loss

If you bet on the team that comes out of the game on the losing end, you lose your stake and don't receive any earnings.

Draw/Tie

While rare in American sports (29 ties in the NFL since 1974), a game ending in a tie results in a “push” for those who bet on the moneyline. A push, also called a “no-action bet,” simply means that no one (the bettor or sportsbook) won the bet, so the stake is returned to the bettor.

How to Read Moneyline Odds

Understanding moneyline odds can help you place better wagers. Moneyline odds are displayed with a plus or minus sign followed by a number, indicating whether a team is an underdog (+) or a favorite (-), respectively.

When you see a negative number, you're looking at the favorite. The number tells you how much you must bet to win $100. On the other hand, a positive number indicates the underdog, and the number itself shows how much you'd win if you bet $100. The bigger the number, the stronger the favorite or underdog.

Here's a practical example:

Imagine you bet $200 on the Giants at -200 odds. If your bet wins, you will net $100. A $100 bet would net $50, and a $400 bet would net $200.

Winnings from successful moneyline wagers are determined by how large of an underdog or favorite a team is:

• The heavier the favorite, the fewer winnings relative to your stake.
• The heavier the underdog, the more winnings relative to your stake.

For example, if you place a successful $100 bet on a huge underdog sitting at +800 on the moneyline, you will net $800. Here are a few more examples:

What is an Even/Pick'em?

A “pick'em” (PK), also known as “even” (EV) odds, occurs when oddsmakers think the winner of a game is a toss-up (both teams with a 50% implied probability to win). Since there is no underdog or favorite in a pick'em, the odds for each team to win are the same.

So, regardless of which team you bet on, the winning payout is the same (equal to the amount wagered). For example, a successful $100 bet on a game with even odds (+100) will result in a $100 profit.

How to Calculate Moneyline Odds

Calculating potential payouts for moneyline bets follows a straightforward formula. For favorites (negative odds), divide 100 by the odds number and multiply by your bet amount.

For example, a $50 bet on -200 odds would be calculated as (100/200) × $50 = $25 profit.

For underdogs (positive odds), divide the odds by 100 and multiply your bet amount. A $50 bet on +150 odds would be (150/100) × $50 = $75 profit.

How to Calculate Implied Probability

You can also calculate the implied percentage chance that a team has to win a game based on the moneyline odds.

• Positive odds (+): 100/(odds + 100)
• Negative odds (-): odds/(odds + 100)

Let's take this week's Tennessee Titans (+350) at Houston Texans (-450) NFL game as an example. The Texans are the heavy favorite at -450 on the moneyline.

We can do 450/(450 + 100) to calculate their implied probability of winning the game. This gives them an 81.8% implied chance to win the game by oddsmakers. To calculate the Titans implied probability based on the moneyline, we need to do 100/(350 + 100). This comes out to 22.2%.

Wait, 81.8% + 22.2% = 104%. These few extra percentage points are called the “juice” in sports betting circles. The juice is the cut that sportsbooks take on every bet.

Point Spread vs. Moneyline Bets

Point spread and moneyline bets serve different purposes in sports betting. Here's how it's displayed on Fanduel:

Point spreads consider the margin of victory and typically offer similar odds on both sides. That makes them ideal for heavily mismatched teams. The odds usually hover around -110 for both sides.

Moneyline betting, on the other hand, focuses solely on the winner, with odds that can vary between teams. This makes moneyline betting particularly attractive for evenly matched contests where you have a strong sense of who will win outright.

When to Place Moneyline Wagers

Moneyline betting isn’t for everyone or every sports event. The biggest upside to this type of bet is its simplicity, as you don't need to worry about point spreads or complicated calculations. They are beginner-friendly, as moneyline bets are easy to understand, place, and track.

It is also a perfect bet type if you tend to bet on low-scoring sports where point spreads are less relevant, such as soccer or baseball. Moneyline betting can be especially good when wagering on underdogs. If the underdog you bet on wins, you can expect a larger payout than if you would have bet them to cover the point spread solely.

Example of an NFL Moneyline Betting Strategy

Many experienced NFL bettors choose to place moneyline bets when the point spread of a game is tight, but they strongly believe the underdog will win. Hence, getting better odds and larger profits if the wager is successful.

Let's pose an example: say the Las Vegas Raiders are a 2.5-point underdog on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers. A savvy bettor might bet the Raiders on the moneyline if he believes they are likelier to win the game. The bettor's odds would go from somewhere around -110 for the Raiders to win or cover to +120 for them to win outright.

So, a successful $100 moneyline bet in that scenario would net $120, whereas a $100 spread bet would profit $91.

When to Avoid Moneyline Bets

Moneyline betting has some drawbacks, especially when you wager on heavy favorites. It can be expensive with a low payout. Additionally, underdog bets offer attractive payouts but are harder to win. In heavily mismatched games, moneyline betting might not offer the best value.

So it's probably not the best idea to bet the moneyline on a powerhouse matched up against a cupcake or vice versa.

Which Sports are the Most Popular for Moneyline Bets?

Low-scoring sports like baseball, hockey, and soccer are the most common for moneyline wagers. That's because low-scoring sports typically have more parity, as goals, runs, or points are harder to come by. Final scores are usually much closer. In an NFL game, it's not unusual for a team to outscore another team by more than 20 points.

In the MLB, on the other hand, point spreads don't really make sense when the separation between teams is often only one or two runs at the end of the game. Therefore, sportsbooks opt for moneyline betting on these games with odds determined by the teams' status as underdogs (less likely to win) or favorites (more likely to win).

Can You Add Moneyline Bets to Parlays?

Moneyline bets can be included in parlays. Many seasoned bettors combine multiple favorites in a parlay to add up the odds rather than betting them individually.

Moneyline Bet FAQs