What is a moneyline bet?

A moneyline bet is a bet on which team or player wins, with no point spread and no margin of victory to worry about. The favorite carries a minus price, meaning you stake more than you win, and the underdog carries a plus price, meaning you win more than you stake. If the Yankees are −165 and the Red Sox +145, $165 on the Yankees wins $100 and $100 on the Red Sox wins $145. Your side wins by one run or ten, and you are paid at the price you took.

How to tell the favorite from the underdog

The minus sign marks the favorite and the plus sign the underdog, and the size of the number says by how much. −400 is a heavy favorite; −115 is barely one. In a close game both sides can carry minus prices, such as −115 and −105, because the margin pushes both past even money. When the two sides are priced about the same, the game is called a pick'em.

Why big favorites are expensive to back

Betting heavy favorites feels safe because they usually win. The price already knows that. At −300 you risk $100 to win $33.33, and you need to win 75% of those bets just to break even. One loss wipes out three wins. There is nothing wrong with betting a favorite when the price is good, and nothing right about an underdog just because it pays more; in both cases the only question is whether the price pays more than the real chance deserves.

Moneyline or point spread?

Most football and basketball games are offered both ways. The point spread handicaps the favorite so that both sides are priced near −110; the moneyline leaves the result alone and moves the price instead. Use the moneyline when winning is all you have an opinion on, or when you like an underdog to win outright rather than just keep it close. In baseball and hockey, where games are low-scoring, the moneyline is the main market and the spread is almost always 1.5 runs or goals.

What happens if the game ends in a tie?

It depends on the sport and the market, so read the market name and your book's house rules. A two-way moneyline in a sport that can end level, such as an NFL regular-season game, is typically graded as a push when it ties, meaning your stake comes back. Hockey moneylines are normally settled including overtime and the shootout, and books often offer a separate regulation-time market with a draw. Settlement rules covers the differences in detail.

Three-way moneylines

Soccer's main market has three outcomes: home win, draw, away win. It is normally settled on regulation time, the 90 minutes plus stoppage time, so a game that goes to extra time or penalties counts as a draw. Because there are three outcomes, even the favorite is often at plus money, and the margin is spread across all three prices.

Draw no bet and double chance

Two common variations take the draw out of the way. Draw no bet refunds your stake if the game is drawn, so you only win or lose if a team wins. Double chance covers two of the three outcomes, such as Arsenal or the draw. Both pay less than the straight moneyline, because each one wins more often.

Finding the best moneyline

The Odds Board's moneyline view lists every book's price for each side on one row and boxes the best one. Set the Books filter to the books you actually have accounts with, because a best price somewhere you can't bet isn't your price, and read Best against the Fair column: a best price that is still worse than fair is not worth taking. The Odds Board walkthrough works through one row.