Photo: Liza Summer

What if both teams have negative odds?

playcolorado.com - Moneyline Betting Explained - How the Moneyline Works

Should I split 10s or 6?

As for the arithmetic, the statistical data on how often you will win when you split a pair of 10s against a dealer showing a 6 is 64% of the time....

Last updated Jan 10, 2021

Can a footballer bet on himself?

But professional athletes are not allowed to bet on themselves, nor can they normally bet on the sport they play in any way. The reason that...

Last updated Oct 4, 2019

Make Your Bookie Cry And Pull The Hair By Generating $23,187

Promotion

Moneylines are one of the most common types of bets in sports betting. Few, if any, sportsbooks do not offer moneyline wagers to their customers. Since sports betting is new in Colorado, it’s important that Coloradans understand this common betting type. So, here is a handy guide on moneylines, complete with numerous examples to show how they work.

How the moneyline works

First and foremost, let’s define what a moneyline bet is. Simply put, a moneyline bet is a wager on which team will win the game or match. Unlike other types of wagers, it does not matter what the margin of victory is or how many points the teams score. All that matters is which team or competitors emerge as victorious. Moneyline bets are denoted on a sportsbook’s display by three-digit numbers that are next to each team’s name. In each contest, one of these numbers will be positive, and the other one will be negative. One advantage of betting on the moneyline is that the sportsbook’s profit is baked into the line itself. So, unlike point spreads or totals bets, there is no need to pay any vig on top of your wager.

What the numbers mean

The team with the positive number next to it is the underdog, or the team expected to lose. The team with the negative number is the favorite, and is most likely to prevail. The numbers let bettors know the payouts associated with betting each side of the game. The positive number is the payout amount that a winning bet will receive on a $100 wager. The negative number is the amount that a bettor must wager in order to win $100. Of course, these payouts are not hard-and-fast amounts. Rather, they are expressions of the proportions that the sportsbook is using for that particular game. In fact, positive moneylines are convertible into straight odds for those who wish to do a few calculations. One rule of thumb is that every 100 that the positive moneyline increases corresponds with another whole number of odds. So, for instance, a +100 moneyline is a 1:1 odds bet, while a +200 moneyline is a 2:1 odds bet. A +300 moneyline is 3:1, and so on. If that’s confusing, don’t worry. It’s a lot easier to understand with some practical examples.

Moneyline betting examples

The following examples should help illustrate how moneyline bets work. All of these entries are actual bets that were featured on DraftKings Sportsbook. Bear in mind that a payout is simply the profit you can expect to realize on the bet. So, if you win, you will receive the payout plus your original bet back.

NFL: Super Bowl LIV

What is the strongest color in poker?

Alternating colors: diamonds (lowest), followed by clubs, hearts, and spades (highest).

Last updated Mar 4, 2021

How much cash withdrawal is suspicious?

Withdrawals of $10,000 More broadly, the BSA requires banks to report any suspicious activity, so making a withdrawal of $9,999 might raise some...

Last updated Sep 26, 2020

Promotion

Chiefs: -122

49ers: +108

Explanation: So, in this scenario, the Kansas City Chiefs were the favorite to win Super Bowl LIV. However, given how close each number is to 100, the sportsbook clearly believed that it would be a tight ballgame. To that end, a $100 wager on this game would only pay out $108. Expressed as straight odds, the 49ers were only a 1.08:1 underdog.

Sample payouts (assuming that the bet were to win)

$100 on the Chiefs – $81.97 profit, $181.97 total

$100 on the 49ers – $108 profit, $208 total

$122 on the Chiefs – $100 profit, $222 total

$122 on the 49ers – $131.76 profit, $253.76 total

$50 on the Chiefs – $40.98 profit, $90.98 total

$50 on the 49ers – $54 profit, $104 total

$5 on the Chiefs – $4.10 profit, $9.10 total

$5 on the 49ers – $5.40 profit, $10.40 total

NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers (CLE) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC)

CLE: +650

OKC: -910

Explanation: The larger numbers indicate that DraftKings did not expect the final result to be close. At the time, Oklahoma City’s record stood 10 games over .500, while Cleveland had lost 25 more games than it had won. So, since the sportsbook felt that a certain outcome was particularly likely, bettors who took that side stood to profit very little. On the other hand, if Cleveland did manage to pull off the upset, then a bet would pay off quite handsomely.

Sample payouts

$100 on CLE – $650 profit, $750 total

$100 on OKC – $10.99 profit, $110.99 total

$910 on CLE – $5915 profit, $6925 total

$910 on OKC – $100 profit, $1010 total

$50 on CLE – $325 profit, $375 total

$50 on OKC – $5.49 profit, $55.49 total

$5 on CLE – $32.50 profit, $37.50 total

$5 on OKC – $0.55 profit, $5.55 total

NCAAB: McNeese State (MNS) vs. Texas A&M – CC (TACC)

MNS: -110

TACC: -110

Explanation: Occasionally, two teams are so evenly matched that they both feature negative moneylines. In this case, the sportsbook simply does not feel comfortable about predicting the outcome to the point that it will pay extra if the underdog wins. One thing to bear in mind about moneylines is that point spreads for the same match can reveal further information about the rationale behind where the line is. In this case, DraftKings has set McNeese State as a mere 0.5-point favorite, so the game really could go in either direction.

Sample Payouts

In this case, since both lines are the same, the payouts will be the same, too.

$100 on either – $90.91 profit, $190.91 total

$110 on either – $100 profit, $210 total

Do most people lose sports betting?

An important thing to remember about gambling on sports is that the betting is designed so it is very difficult for the gambler to win. A gambler...

Last updated Nov 29, 2022

How can I be smart with money?

Understand where your money goes Learn where your money is coming from. ... Learn where your money is going. ... Write your bill due dates on a...

Last updated Aug 31, 2022

Promotion

$50 on either – $45.45 profit, $95.45 total

$5 on either – $4.55 profit, $9.55 total

Other uses for moneylines

Although moneylines are a betting type in their own right, the moneyline format appears in a few other places throughout most sportsbooks. For instance, books use a similar three-digit number to add in their vig to point spread and totals bets. Though they don’t mean quite the same thing, they serve to inform bettors about how much they’ll have to lay to win $100 on a particular spread or over/under. The same rule about betting favorites on the moneyline – the negative number is how much to wager to win $100 – applies here. However, moneylines also show up as a format to declare straight odds on various wagers. Notably, futures bets are often expressed in terms of moneylines.

Most recent betting guides

Example: NBA team futures

Futures bets are wagers on cumulative long-term events. A futures bet might pertain to a season award or an eventual champion. In that vein, DraftKings has established a futures section for betting on the eventual NBA champion for the 2019-2020 season. Each team in the league appears on a list with a positive moneyline next to it.

Here are the listings for the top 11 teams:

Los Angeles Clippers: +300

Los Angeles Lakers: +300

Milwaukee Bucks: +320

Philadelphia 76ers: +1200

Houston Rockets: +1500

Boston Celtics: +2000

Denver Nuggets: +2000

Utah Jazz: +2000

Dallas Mavericks: +3000

Miami Heat: +3000

Toronto Raptors: +3000

The first thing that sticks out about this list is that there are no teams listed as favorites (negative moneylines). Quite simply, it is difficult to forecast into the future with any great certainty. Even the favorites to win it all (the two Los Angeles teams) are still underdogs against the field. The other thing to notice is that dividing each moneyline by 100 quickly reveals the straight odds associated with each bet. To put it another way, here are those same bets, converted into straight odds:

Los Angeles Clippers: 3/1

Los Angeles Lakers: 3/1

Milwaukee Bucks: 16/5 or 3.2/1

Philadelphia 76ers: 12/1

Houston Rockets: 15/1

Boston Celtics: 20/1

Denver Nuggets: 20/1

Utah Jazz: 20/1

Dallas Mavericks: 30/1

Miami Heat: 30/1

Toronto Raptors: 30/1

So, needless to say, these are long odds, no matter who you choose. Hopefully, however, if you choose to make a futures bet, you will at least be able to read the odds as they appear now.

playcolorado.com - Moneyline Betting Explained - How the Moneyline Works

What is double pay?

Double-time pay is a pay rate that is twice the employee's normal rate of pay. Employees might be eligible for double-time pay when they work...

Last updated Apr 22, 2018

Can I be a full-time gambler?

Some even want to become professional bettors and build lifelong careers in the gambling industry. While you can become a professional gambler, the...

Last updated Mar 31, 2022

Promotion

How hackers are using AI?

“For instance, AI can be used to identify patterns in computer systems that reveal weaknesses in software or security programs, thus allowing...

Last updated Oct 25, 2022

Promotion

What is an odds ratio example?

In other words, it's a ratio of successes (or wins) to losses (or failures). As an example, if a racehorse runs 100 races and wins 20 times, the...

Last updated Sep 22, 2018