What is a Moneyline Bet?

The moneyline bet is the simplest wager you can place. With moneylines, you only need your selection to win to receive a payout.

This means you don’t have to worry about point spreads, totals, or anything else.

Read our expert guide to moneylines and find out all you need to know about this bet type.

What Does Money Line Mean?

A money line bet is a wager on a team or player to win an event.

The name of this bet type derives from the American odds format, which works by showing how much you need to bet to win $100 (for favorites).

Or how much you’d profit from a $100 bet (for underdogs).

For example, our AI sports picks might suggest betting on the Kansas City Chiefs (+100) to beat the San Francisco 49ers (-120).

By betting on the Chiefs at +100, you’re making a moneyline wager on the underdog.

Online sports betting sites usually offer more than just moneyline odds, of course.

In short, they provide multiple options for placing wagers beyond moneyline meaning you can opt for spread betting, totals, and other wager types.

Yet, money lines are still the most popular bet type online.

How Does Money Line Work?

With standard money line wagers, odds are assigned to two teams in a game. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles (-155) and Las Vegas Raiders (+135).

You have the option to wager on either side and win your bet if that team outscores the other at the end of the game.

Returns for NFL picks, or any other moneyline placed at offshore sportsbooks, depend on two things.

One is the odds available for football games the other is the amount sports bettors place on the betting market.

For example, betting $150 on Philadelphia at -155 returns less than $100 on the underdogs, Las Vegas, at +135.

Negative odds starting around -200 typically indicate strong favorites, with heavy favorites often listed beyond -300.

On the other hand, the larger the number after the plus sign, the greater the underdog.

Whether it’s Monday Night Football picks or something else, it pays to remember this.

Most importantly, the closer the odds are to each other, the more evenly matched the event is according to oddsmakers.

It’s easier to spot this with moneyline meaning more bettors gravitate to this wager type.

What is a 3-Way Moneyline?

A three-way moneyline is the same basic bet but with the possibility of a push (tie).

This type of bet is usually more popular with soccer picks or other sports where ties are more common.

For this reason, we recommend using your judgment before betting a moneyline vs 3 way moneyline and vice versa.

This is always something that comes under consideration for EPL picks we offer. Here’s an example of a three-way ML wager.

• Liverpool to Win (-145)
• Tie (+327)
• Chelsea (+378)

One of the best things about the 3-way variant of the moneyline is that odds should always be higher than a two-way pick ‘em.

The reason for this is simply down to the presence of a tie/draw, which increases the chance of losing your bet.

You won’t always find 3-way moneyline college football picks, horse racing bets, or other betting options for this wager type.

However, they’re commonly available in sports with clear outcomes, like soccer, where matches end in a win, loss, or draw.

How to Read Moneyline Odds

Understanding moneyline odds for UFC picks or other sports is simple if you focus on two key points.

First, the favorite usually has a minus (-) symbol before their odds, while the underdog typically has a plus (+) symbol before theirs.

Secondly, the numbers indicate either how much you need to bet to make $100 in profit (-) or how much profit you’ll make from a $100 bet (+).

Here are some examples of moneyline odds that will help.

These examples clearly show the odds, which allows us to conclude who are the favorites. This is also handy for when you want to put NBA or NHL parlays together, for example.

It’s always better to use $100 wager examples to explain what you need to win $100 in profit or how much that $100 gets you.

While you can use an online calculator to work out profits from smaller bets, a sportsbook’s software does this for you.

This can also come in handy when creating MLB parlay picks, for example.

Simply enter the fixed odds stake you want to place on a bet and it will provide your total potential returns without you having to press the bet button.

How to Bet Moneyline

Betting on the moneyline is easy with online betting sites and top offshore sportsbooks.

Even better, our simple step-by-step guide details how to get your bet placed.

• Sign up with a New Online Sportsbook – You can register for a real money account with safe online sportsbooks in around five minutes. If you have already done this, however, log in using your credentials to get started.
• Deposit With Your Favorite Payment Option – You’ll surely need to deposit real money to your account before you can place moneyline MLB picks or other real money wagers. Simply select a deposit method from the cashier and add how much you want to bet.
• Find Your Event in the Sportsbook – Head on over to the sportsbook and click or tap on the event to open up the bets section. In like manner, find the betting lines for the event (for instance, an international soccer match or American sports).
• Select Your Bets and Add Stake – When you’ve found the moneyline favorites and underdogs available to wager on, make your selection. Furthermore, you’ll also need to specify the amount you want to bet on your team or athlete.
• Review and Confirm to Place Your Bets – Finally, it’s time to review the odds and other pertinent information. When you are happy with everything, press the “Bet Now” button to place your bet.

Finding moneyline bet options is easy, especially when betting on big events.

For example, “to win” odds for the Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup Final, and even the NCAA Tournament Championship Game are always in demand.

But moneylines are still usually front and center with smaller events.

Moneyline vs Spread Betting & Totals

The three most popular bet types are without a doubt moneylines, spreads, and totals. As such, you may often see them compared when making tennis predictions or bets on basketball.

Overall, these three kinds of wagers are anatomically different but are all fairly easy to understand.

Moneyline sports betting is basically the easiest way to wager on a game.

Despite being an uncomplicated way to bet, it can often work out as the smartest wager type for NBA picks and other bets, especially if both teams are of a similar quality.

Spread betting odds, on the other hand, are usually better when there is a disparity between teams.

To account for this, oddsmakers account for this gulf in class by virtually deducting points from one team and applying those to the other side.

Totals, on the other hand, are good for when you can’t decide who to bet on.

Is There Any Juice on a Moneyline Bet?

All moneyline bets will, without a doubt, include juice. Also known as betting vig or oddsmaker’s margin, the juice is the profit that sportsbooks make for facilitating bets.

For example, juice between 3.5% and 5.2% is generally applied to bets on Team A or Team B March Madness picks or Super Bowl moneylines.

Juice is applied to all other types of sports betting markets and game lines. Of course, just how much depends on who you bet with.

If you would like to calculate the juice on a moneyline wager, try this formula.

We recommend using a vig or implied probability calculator to work out the juice.

Some bookies offer reduced vig moneyline betting odds, which are always worth considering.

If you want to find value for future wagers, then we always recommend comparing prices across different sports betting apps and online betting sites.

Other Bet Types

You’ll find a wide range of different bets to place at top offshore sportsbooks for US players.

In addition to moneyline picks for MLS and other sports, try some of our other top recommended wager types.

• Spread Bets – Bookies assign virtual points advantages and disadvantages to teams, which must be bet or met for you to win your wager. Spread betting markets level the playing field between teams of different statures, bring the odds closer together.
• Totals (Over/Under Betting) – Totals wagers are a great option when you want to bet on markets such as the combined score of both teams in a game. You can be over or under the line set by oddsmakers before a game.
• Parlays – We love the occasional parlay bet, which involves Combining multiple selections into one bet. For example, you might bet on San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens, and Los Angeles Rams all to win for a higher payout.
• Same-game Parlays – Also known simply as SGPs, these bet types allow you to combine multiple selections from the same event. For example, first touchdown, score at the end of the first quarter, and total sacks in a game.
• Prop Bets – Our betting experts provide picks and predictions for props, which are event-specific bets. For example, you can wager on team props like collective touchdowns or player props including rushing or passing yards.

We recommend learning about as many common types of bets as possible. Not only will this give you more of an opportunity to win money on events like the World Series or NBA playoffs.

Additionally, it can make it easier to pinpoint the types of scenarios you want to wager on.

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