Money Line Bet
Betting on the Moneyline is the first market that was available to the bettors. It is the basic market where the bettors predict which team will win the game. It can’t get much more straightforward than that. Actually, we all make moneyline bets in our life without knowing it.
The moneyline bet is the most simple way of betting if you choose the right side. The sportsbook will pay you the money if you chose the wrong side you would win nothing.
When playing the moneyline, you pick either one team or the other. If you are wagering on the National Hockey League and making moneyline bets, you'll either be pulling for the favorite or the underdog to earn the win in either regulation, overtime or a shootout. What is a Moneyline Bet? A moneyline wager is a straight bet on the winner of a game. There are no point spreads attached or any other factors to consider. The sole concern is which side will win the contest. After taking a look at the moneyline odds for a game you’re interested in betting on, you’ll know which side is expected to win.
When you start betting on sports, the moneyline market will be the first market you will see as almost all the sportsbooks have this market set as a default betting market.
To show you how this betting market works! We at Game Advisers portal made this short guide about the this betting market.
That way, you will be able to learn about this market and skip the rookie mistakes that may occur during the learning process of sports betting. This guide is equally important to the rookie bettors, as our three basic types of odds article.
History of Money Line Betting
Before the invention of the points spread betting and totals market betting. Sports bettors had just one choice when they wanted to place wagers on sports events, and that was the moneyline market. Every bookie in the world offered this bets, and there were only two possible outcomes: favorite win or underdog win.
The change came in the 1940s when the point spread betting, and the total betting was invented. However, even today, the moneyline betting market has many fans, and many sports bettors prefer to place a this bet because it is so simple and fun to play it.
Money Line Betting Strategy
What is Moneyline Bet?
There are two types of moneyline bets. The 2-way moneylinebets and 3-way moneyline bets. The 2-way bet is popular in North America. You have to choose between two outcomes, and you may win or lose. The 3-way is popular in soccer, where you have the draw option. In 3-way betting, you lose your wager if the game ends in a draw.
In this betting we have two types of teams:
- FAVORITES: A team that is expected to win. Favorite always has the lower odds than the underdog, and that means that favorite team needs to win in order to sports bettor win the bet.
- UNDERDOG: A team that is not expected to win. Underdog holds higher odds, usually higher than 2.00, and that means that sportsbooks don’t give them high chances for a win. If you want to know more terms that are used in sports betting, we suggest you read our comprehensive glossary about sports betting.
To make things easier to understand, we will write examples of some moneyline bets in most popular US sports
NFL Moneyline
In the NFL, point spread betting is the primary market, and moneyline betting is not such a popular market. However, the this betting is possible and can sometimes be really profitable in the NFL.
Example of NFL Moneyline:
New England Patriots 1.35 odds
Miami Dolphins 3.25 odds
In this example, New England Patriots are set as favorite, and the odds are set at 1.35 on their win. So if you place the moneyline bet on New England Patriots to win with $100 stake, you will get $35 of profit. You just need Patriots to win the game.
If you decide to back Miami Dolphins with $100 stake. You will get $225, but only if the Miami Dolphins win the game against the Patriots.
There is no point spread that any of those teams need to cover, like in Point Spread Betting, and there are no other stipulations. In Moneyline Betting Market, you just pick a winner.
Money Line Betting on other sports
Like in the example we posted above, you can place Moneyline bets in almost any sport. The betting is popular in NHL and MLB betting. In those two sports results are usually low, and the moneyline market is the default way of betting.
Moneyline betting is really about volatility. Betting of favorites gives you low volatility (many won bets with small profit), and betting on underdogs will provide you with high volatility (less bet won, but with massive profits). By choosing your primary betting strategy, you can use moneyline betting to make some profit.
Conclusion
Although moneyline betting is the most straightforward way of betting on sports, it is still a pretty challenging market for most sports bettors. No exact betting strategy works in this market. You merely need to pick the winners wisely and to calculate whether you will go for small wins more often, or you will be a value hunter and bet on underdogs with higher risk.
There are several legendary professional sports bettors who made a fortune betting on the moneyline market. Still, it is clear that you need a lot of knowledge and discipline to beat the sportsbooks in the long term. And make some serious profit betting on the moneyline market.
If you have any questions about money line betting or any other sports betting topic or strategy, feel free to ask us.
We at Game Advisers will do anything in our power to make as many as possible guides and articles about sports betting, to help novice and professional sports bettor be better and win against the sportsbooks in the long run.
FAQ
Moneyline Free Version
What is a Moneyline bet?Money Line Bet Explained
Moneyline bets are the most simple wagers in sports betting. A bettor predicts which side will win the game.
Is the Moneyline a smart bet?
Overall, every betting strategy that brings profit is a smart betting strategy.
What is the difference between the 2-way Moneyline and a 3-way Moneyline bet?The 2-way bet has only two possible outcomes, while a 3-way has three possible outcomes (home win, the draw and away win).
- Where to Bet:
How to read Hockey Las Vegas Money Line Odds
When playing the moneyline, you pick either one team or the other. It's that easy!
If you are wagering on the National Hockey League and making moneyline bets, you'll either be pulling for the favorite or the underdog to earn the win in either regulation, overtime or a shootout. You do not need to worry about a team winning by a certain margin. It is simply a win outright, and that's it.
Similar to our Puck-line and 1st Period Odds, every contest on the board shows the Odds, Date and Time of the National Hockey League contests on the slate.
Hockey will list Favorites and Underdogs for that day's slate of games. The Money Line Odds will list the favorite with a (-) symbol, while the underdogs will be shown with a (+) symbol. The majority of betting sites online, as well as the betting apps, will simply do the math for you. However, it is a rather easy equation based upon a $100 wager.
Edmonton -160 (Bet $100 to win $62.50)
Arizona +145 (Bet $100 to win $145)
In the example listed above, Edmonton is listed as the strong favorite (-), while Arizona is the underdog (+). If a bettor making a wager picked the Oilers, favored to win, they would return just $62.50 on a $100 wager at minus-160. Many books also offer fractional odds, and in this instance the Oilers would be listed as a 5/8 favorite. The decimal format, particularly popular overseas, is also sometimes offered. The Oilers would be listed at 1.625 on the big board.
Money Line Bet Vs Spread
With the Oilers listed as the favorite, the Coyotes are considered as the underdog. Bettors would receive a larger return on their initial stake with a victory. In the example above, a $100 winning wager on the Coyotes would fetch a total return of $245, which includes a $145 win and the original $100 stake. The fractional odds would be listed as 29/20, while the Coyotes would be shown at 2.45 with the decimal conversion.