One of the classic ways to take advantage of line movement is by using a strategy called betting the middle. The situation only arises once in a while depending on line movement, and when it does you have the chance to bet on both sides of a game with a chance to win both bets. All of the above examples are different forms of the same activity from sportsbooks. The books move the lines because they want to make one side of the bet more attractive, whether that is through points, odds or totals. Watching how these numbers change gives you information which you can use to time your bets effectively. You are betting on whether a team or player wins or loses, that’s it.

Nfl Moneyline Bet Example

The only thing that matters is whether the team you are backing wins informative post their game. The money line bet is the simplest form of betting in the industry. A “money line” bet is a way of betting on which team is going to win the game outright, or which individual will win an event. With a money line bet, the margin of victory or the total number of points a team scores do not matter.

That adds up to 103.8%, meaning the sportsbook has a 3.8% hold on this wager. Making a moneyline bet at a sportsbook like FanDuel is easy, and no different than making a point spread bet. Moneyline bets are among the most popular in sports betting, and anyone new to the space should familiarize themselves with this wager type. Learn about the moneyline in sports betting with a definition, examples, how to read American odds and more. A runline is a point spread used in baseball that essentially forces the favorite to win by at least two runs or the underdog to lose by just one run. From a mathematical viewpoint, the way to conceptualize if a game is expected to be close is by seeing the favorite have a number close to -100 and the underdog close to +100.

Is It Better To Bet The Spread Or The Moneyline?

It’s the same thing with sports betting odds and a crucial factor for long-term success in wagering on moneylines. Regardless of payout, the Sports Betting Terms And How To Bet On Sports main goal for ANY moneyline bet is to win. Making the correct call is the bottom line, so your choices should revolve around which side you think has the greater chance to win. Just like in football or basketball, you would still take the same thought process in making your moneyline bet.

The Braves are matching up with the Phillies, with Atlanta set as the favorite. You can tell Atlanta is the favorite because of the minus symbol. It is indicative of the amount that must be risked to return a profit. At -300, a $1 profit is made for every $3 risked on the Braves to win the game.

Starting pitching match-ups will help determine a favorite but equally important for a bettor is how soon or late a manager will opt to use their bullpen in relief. Pay attention to who they use, whether they use that pitcher more or less at home or on the road, and how the side you are betting on has hit against those relief pitchers in the past. You’ll see the favorite listed at -1.5 and a +1.5 next to the underdog. If a team with a top power play is up against a lower end penalty-killing team, the game might be decided by how disciplined each team plays. If it is a divisional rivalry the chances are higher the game will be more physical and more time will be spent with the man advantage.

Imagine being on the losing end of that beat as an Iowa ATS backer. The numbers next to the teams are based on a scale where $100 is the key figure. Favorites are the teams with the minus (-) sign next to their figure, which represents what it would take to win yourself $100 with the favored group.

In these instances, you’ll have to do some quick math to see which form of oddsmaking promises a greater payout, if any. Note that in soccer, where ties are quite common, books usually offer three-way markets – each team to win or a draw. If you bet into these three-way markets , understand that your bet grades as a loss if the game draws. These bets link two or more correlated events – that is, the likelihood of one leg of the parlay hitting increases the likelihood of another.

Sports Betting Odds Explained

Moneylines are still extremely popular for their simplicity. Well managed sportsbooks rarely have problems paying winning customers. The arrival of the spread bet in the 1940s remedied this situation. Combine multiple money line bets into parlays, progressive parlays, if bets and reverses. They will adjust moneyline values to encourage gambling on one side more than the other. If you’re betting on Ferguson at +230, a $100 bet would win you $230, plus your original $100 back.