A moneyline bet is a wager on a team to win a game. But the odds are adjusted based on each team or player's ability, so the amount you win or lose can vary greatly, depending on the event. The sportsbook isn't giving you the better team at the same price as an inferior team.
Moneylines use American odds, which are centered around a $100 bet.
Let's look at a previous season NFL Week 1 matchup. We expected the Chiefs to be slightly better than the Ravens at that time, which is why Kansas City was -150 against Baltimore in the opener. The Ravens were +130.
- A line at -150 means you must wager $1.50 for every $1 you want to profit
- At +130, you'll win $1.30 for every $1 wagered
The moneyline between the Texans and Colts, on the other hand, was almost even, with Houston at -125 and Indianapolis at +105. That's because those two teams were expected to be much closer in ability that season.
In comparison, the point spread levels the playing field by giving the worse team a handicap but evens the payouts on both sides.
How Moneyline Works
Moneylines are displayed in American odds at a sportsbook like FanDuel.
A moneyline in American odds is centered around winning or wagering $100 on a given bet.
When Betting a Favorite: The odds for favorites will have a minus (-) sign and indicate the money you need to risk to win $100.
When Betting an Underdog: The odds for underdogs will have a plus (+) sign and indicate the money you'll win for every $100 risked.
Let's use a previous UFC fight as an example, with odds from FanDuel.
1) The Favorite
Khabib was a -290 favorite over Tony Ferguson, who was a +230 underdog.
Let's say you bet on the favorite Khabib at -290. You needed to risk $290 to win $100. If they ended up fighting (which didn't happen) and Khabib won, you would've pocketed $100, plus your original $290 back.
2) The Underdog
If you bet on Ferguson at +230, a $100 bet would win you $230, plus your original $100 back.
You don't need to bet $100 on everything of course — that's just how the odds are displayed — and these moneyline odds scale to any bet amounts.
It's often easier to think about American odds in $1 increments — for every $1 you want to win betting on Khabib, you have to risk $2.90. For every $1 risked on Ferguson, you'd win $2.30.
You can use our odds calculator to make non-round, more difficult conversions. And sportsbooks will always calculate the payouts for you.
The basic formulas to calculate them on your own are below.
How to Make a Moneyline Bet
Making a moneyline bet at a sportsbook like FanDuel is easy, and no different than making a point spread bet.
- Find your desired sport
- Click the moneyline next to the team or player you want to bet to highlight it.
- Head to your bet slip on the right side of your screen
- Click "Login & Place Bets"
How to Calculate Moneyline Odds
Sportsbooks will always make the calculations for you. But if you want to calculate moneyline payouts on your own, here's the easiest way:
Favorite: Multiply the amount you want to win by (Moneyline / 100)
So if you want to win $35 betting on Khabib at -290, you'll do the following formula and arrive at a $101.50 bet:
Win Amount x ((-1 x Moneyline)/100) = Wager
$35 x 2.9 = $101.5
Underdog: Multiply your wager by (Moneyline / 100), or divide the amount you want to win by (100 / (100 / Moneyline)).
So if you want to win $100 on Ferguson, you would do the following and arrive at a $43.48 bet:
Win Amount / (230 / 100) = Wager
$100 / 2.3 = $43.48
Here's another example in combat sports, a more recent example:
For every $205 bet on Floyd Mayweather Jr., you'd profit $100.
For every $100 risked on Manny Pacquaico, you'd win $260 total.
So a $100 bet on Pacquiaco wins $160.
Why Would I Bet a Moneyline?
In low-scoring sports like baseball and hockey, the moneyline is the most popular bet.
In higher-scoring sports like football and basketball, the point spread is the most popular.
But the moneyline is a good alternative if you…
- Think the underdog will win the game straight-up
- Think the favorite will win but not cover the spread
This is an oversimplification, but these are generally two reasons people bet moneylines.
Here is a recommended resource list to help you bet smartly on football:
- Check our Expert NFL Picks
- Bettors can keep an eye on NFL betting data and more
Is There Juice on a Moneyline?
Juice is the cut a sportsbook takes on each bet, and there is juice on moneylines. It's the gap in between two moneylines.
Sportsbooks aren't letting you off the hook that easy, after all.
That's why you have to risk more to bet on a favorite than you would win betting on the underdog.
Take this hypothetical Duke–Kentucky college basketball game in which Duke is a 2.5-point favorite. Here's what the moneylines might look like.
- Duke -140
- Kentucky +120
The implied probability of the Duke winning is 58.33%. For Kentucky, it's 45.45%. That adds up to 103.8%, meaning the sportsbook has a 3.8% hold on this wager.
Some books will offer 10-cent lines on baseball moneylines, meaning a -140/+120 moneyline would turn into -135/+125, which is quite advantageous for the bettor.
