Betting Moneylines at Online Sportsbooks

A great way to bet on sports is with the use of a moneyline. While this is the primary way to wager on baseball and hockey, there is also quite a bit of value in betting the moneyline for football and basketball games.

The main thing to keep in mind with any moneyline bet is that the result is based on a straight-up play. The underdog must win the game outright to cash a winner as does the favorite.

Since the outcome is based on head-to-head straight-up play, there is more financial risk betting the favorite on the moneyline. The reward is higher for betting the underdog. A typical MLB moneyline at an online sportsbook would look as follows:

Milwaukee Brewers +105

Chicago Cubs -125

When viewing any moneyline odds, the road team is always listed at the top with the home team on the bottom. Also, the underdog in most moneyline listings is designated by the plus (+) sign in front of the number. The minus (-) sign notes which team is considered to be the favorite.

If you want to take the Cubs in this game as home favorites, you would have to wager $125 to win $100. If they win, you gain $100. If they lose, you lose $125.

Betting the Brewers as road underdogs has the potential to return $105 on a $100 bet. If they go on to pull off the upset, you would receive $105 for the $100 bet.

Moneyline ratios are always the same regardless of the amount bet. For example, you would have to risk $12.50 to win $10 betting Chicago. You would collect $10.50 for a winning $10 bet on Milwaukee.

Tips and Strategies Betting Moneylines

Pointspreads for football and basketball games tend to remain rather standard across online sportsbooks. If one team is a seven-point favorite, that spread tends to hold true at multiple books.

Moneylines can vary from one book to the next. This makes shopping the moneyline worthwhile. Using the same game listed above, Vice online sportsbook might offer the following moneyline:

Milwaukee Brewers +110

Chicago Cubs -120

Since the gap between the two numbers is 10, this would be considered a dime line. Also, there is a built in benefit for betting either team. The risk is lower for the favorite and the return is higher betting the underdog.

Over the course of an entire season, these small differences can make a big difference in your online betting bankroll.

If you are betting an underdog in any game, the moneyline odds could be your best bet. The bigger the competitive gap between the favorite and underdog the bigger the moneyline odds. Betting a +245 underdog in a MLB game can provide a lucrative return but you need to assess that team’s chances to actually win.

First, your overall confidence level picking the upset needs to be high. Next, you should look for the biggest return if you use multiple online books to bet the game.

A general strategy for betting moneylines is pulling the trigger on a favorite when the line is first released while tracking the movement right up to the start to bet the underdog. Since the betting public leans heavily towards betting favorites, moneylines tend to increase on both sides of a bet once they are set.