May 22, 2020 In sports betting, how much a team wins by is usually all that matters. The most popular way to bet for the two most popular sports, basketball and football, is with the point spread, also known.

Everyone makes moneyline bets without even knowing it. Even non-gamblers make moneyline bets. Betting the moneyline for a game is possibly the most simple way to wager on sports. Bettors just choose a player or team to win. If the bettor chooses the winning side, the sportsbook will pay the amount due. It’s really that simple.

1. After oddsmakers release their opening lines at sportsbooks, the betting public almost immediately reveals which side of the number they like more and moves them accordingly. But while these early line moves may show where the public money is initially going, it does not obviously tell the whole story until we can see where the closing odds end up.
2. With Moneyline betting your choice is even easier. You either bet on team A to win or team B to win. Moneyline betting (also known as Moneyline wagering or betting on the Moneyline) is the simplest bet you can make and is most popular with tighter, lower-scoring sports such as baseball or soccer (football).
3. Betting “against the spread” (ATS) just means you’re betting on the point spread in a particular matchup as opposed to the moneyline, or some other type of wager.

There’s no point spread with a moneyline bet. Bettors are just picking the winning side. While placing a wager is simple, trying to understand how the moneyline pays might be a bit complicated. Both sides of each moneyline wager are paid on a different schedule and that could make this kind of bet confusing.

The favorite team or player on the moneyline is the team that’s expected to win. This side of the bet usually listed with a minus (-) sign. The underdog team or player on the moneyline is the team that’s expected to lose. This side of the moneyline is usually listed with a plus (+) sign. These signs signify how either side of the wager will pay. The minus side will pay less than original wager while the plus side will pay more than the original wager.

Example of a moneyline wager

Low scoring sports like baseball, soccer, and hockey are usually bet on using a moneyline. But they are also popular in football. The best way to explain how moneyline bets are paid is with an actual example. Let’s use this past Super Bowl between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs as an example.

The easiest way to understand moneyline wagers is by using a $100 bet. Using the above example, the moneyline on the underdog Buccaneers was +136. At +136 odds, a $100 wager would pay $136 in profit if the Buccaneers won the game (for a total payout of $236). Bettors often like picking underdogs because they are usually “plus” money. This side of the moneyline bet pays out more money per unit than a wager on the favorite.

In this example, the moneyline on the favorite Chiefs was -156. At -156 odds, a bettor would need to wager $156 to win $100. Since the favorite is considered the team with the better chance to win, a winning wager will usually pay out less than the original amount wagered.

Looking deeper into moneyline wagers

The two sides of each moneyline wager are essentially the opposite of each other. When wagering on the favorite it’s easiest to work from the dollar amount that will return a win of $100. When wagering on an underdog it’s easiest to understand how the moneyline pays based on how much a $100 wager will pay.

What Does Moneyline Mean In Betting

Understanding how a moneyline wager pays isn’t simple but it’s not very complicated. That said, it might take running through a few examples before fully grasping the payouts. Moneylines for football and basketball games are often tied to the point spread. When a game has a large point spread it usually has a large moneyline. Both are separate bets but are shown together in a sports wagering app screen and in a brick and mortar sportsbook.

What Does Moneyline Mean In Basketball Betting Terms

As seen above, lines and odds may be different at various sportsbooks so consider this just an example of point spread line and a moneyline.

Moneyline parlays

Moneyline parlays are growing in popularity. A parlay is a single wager that is comprised of multiple results. The payout for a parlay is greater than an individual wager on each player or game. Underdog moneyline parlays are becoming popular because the payouts can be very large. Moneyline parlays are becoming popular because of the perceived ease of choosing multiple favorites to win. Choosing one winner is difficult and multiple winners at the same time is even more difficult.

1. How Does Basketball Betting Work?

How Does Moneyline Betting Work

There are a few ways to bet on the sport of basketball. Bettors use odds determined by the casino to decide which games or players they want to place their money on. There is a structured system to betting on basketball that is important to know before investing in gambling.

Table of Contents

Moneyline Betting Calculator

Point Spread

The point spread represents how many points the favored basketball team should win by. When betting on the spread, a person does not bet on which team will necessarily win the game. The spread is portrayed in the betting books as the line. In basketball, the favored team will have a negative symbol next to the amount of points they are expected to win by in the line column.

If a person bets on the favored team, that team must win by the allotted amount of points in the spread in order for the person to win their bet. In the point spread system, there are two ways to win when betting on the underdog. First, if the underdog wins the game, the person wins their bet. Second, the person could also win their bet even if the underdog does not win, but loses by less points then the spread suggested.

When two basketball teams are evenly matched, the point spread will be very small. The point spread increases the more a one team is favored to win the game.

Moneyline

The moneyline represents the chance percentage a team has of winning the basketball game. The moneyline is also referred to as odds. Betting on the money line is simply betting on who will win the game. In the moneyline odds, the favored team will have a negative number and underdog will have a positive number.

For example, a moneyline odd of -500 means a person must bet $500 to make a profit of $100. Transversely, a +500 moneyline means a person would receive $500 dollars by betting $100 on the underdog. The higher the chance a team has of winning a game, the greater the moneyline will become. Betting on underdogs can result in huge profits, but it is a very risky bet. A game between two evenly matched teams is less risky, but winning the bet will not result in high profit margins.

Over/Under

Over/under, or totals, represents a predetermined final total score of a basketball game. In an over/under bet, a person will bet whether both basketball teams will score a combined number of points either over/under the amount set by the casino. The casino also creates odds that both teams will either score a combined amount of points over or under the predetermined total score amount.

For example, if the projected total score of the game is 200, the over may have odds of -110. This means a person must bet $110 to receive a $100 profit if the actual combined score of the game turns out to be more than 200 points. The odds for the under do not have to be the same as the over.

FAQ

A parlay bet is when a person bets on the outcome of 2 or more games or occurrences to happen. The better will not receive their money unless all of the games or occurrences work in their favor. For example, in basketball, a person could bet the spread on 3 games and bet the over/under on a fourth game. Parlays are quite risky, but they can result in large amounts of profits.

A futures bet in basketball is a bet made before the season starts that tries to determine the outcome of the end of season. Futures bets can be made on which teams will be conference champions or who will win the NBA finals. In addition, futures bets include individual player awards as well. A sports fan can bet on who will win the MVP award in the NBA. Casinos create odds for futures bets at the beginning of every basketball season.

Sometimes a final score of a basketball game equals the over/under or point spread predetermined score. When this happens, the bet is considered a push. A push results in a bettor being refunded all the money they placed on the bet. Neither the casino nor the bettor wins in this scenario. In a parlay, a push will not void the entire parlay, but the bettor will not receive a profit from that particular bet.

Each individual sports book or casino determines the point spread for a basketball game. Point spread projections are based on a variety of factors such as team performance and player availability. Point spreads are subject to change at any time prior to tip-off for any basketball game. However, whatever spread was available when a person made their bet will remain the spread for that bet no matter what changes occur after.

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