How to Bet Money Lines

Sports gambling includes a wide verity of ways in which to wager on sports that your bookmaking service may or may not be offering. The money line wager is easily one of the most popular ways in which to bet, and nearly every online sportsbook offers this form of betting, and on nearly every sport from baseball, to soccer, and close to every other team sport in-between. What we will explain here, is how to use the money line, and how to bet on a wide verity of sports using this method of wagering.

What is a Money Line?

The money line is quite possibly the most popular way of betting on nearly any team sport and it comes with one condition; the team that you are betting on must win the game, match, or the event. Often, bettors will confuse the money line and the point spreads. However, there is a simple explanation between the two forms of betting.

When betting the money line, a point spread does not exist, in essence, you are calling your shot on what team that you believe has the best chance of winning the game. 

Las Vegas, as well as offshore oddsmakers and line movers, they set the daily standard for the money line for every game, every day. These folks are trusted industry-wide to deliver fair odds, at a fair price. The oddsmakers do their research on what teams have a better chance of beating their opponent and often, the odds will be lopsided.

The oddsmakers will often set the money line in favor of the home team, and the team that has the best record, as well as the team that has the best overall history of playing against their opponent. 

Example: 

NFL: Giants vs. Patriots

Giants +475
Patriots -650

In this case, the Patriots will be favored. They have the best quarterback, they have the best team, and they have a history that includes many other factors as to why they are the favorite. 

A money line is a money number and what this line is saying is this; if you the bettor think that the Patriots are going to win this game and you have confidence enough to bet money on them, then you must bet $650 in order to win $100 plus your original wager back, for a total payout of $750. 

Should you like the Giants chances in this game and decide that you want to bet them, then for every $100 that you bet, you will win $475, plus your $100 in return, for a total payout of $575. You do NOT need to cover any kind of point spread. All you need is for the Patriots or the Giants to win the game, and you have won the bet. Whichever team you bet on; they must win by at least one point, that makes you the money line winner. You are betting “straight up”.

Difference between 2-way and 3-way Money Lines

Think of a two-way money line as taking sides, and in fact, in gambling jargon, when betting the money line on one team or another, it is indeed called “betting the side”. You are in effect, calling one side over another. This is what’s known as a two-way line, you can bet either the underdog or the favorite, either way, but you must choose a side. 

There may be times with various sportsbooks that you will see a three-way line. You will have the option to bet the three-way line or you can bet the two-way line. Should you choose to bet the three-way line, you are betting the tie, and/or overtime, you are betting there will be or won’t be a tie for this game. This is a very common way to bet in both soccer and American football. 

Money Line Parlays

Money line parlays work and function just like any other parlay. You are betting on more than one team and depending on your online sportsbook limits, you may be able to bet as many as 15 teams. Be sure to check with your sportsbook provider for their limits, totals, and exactly how they calculate the money line parlay payouts.

There are many ways to bet on sports which include not only the money line but also the totals, future bets, parlays, “if bets”, reverse bets, Grand Salami bets, and live betting. Grand Salami bets are when you bet the totals of every game in one league for the day. This form of betting is especially popular in baseball; however, the NHL also offer this form of betting totals. You may either bet over or under the combined total for each game in each separate league for that day. You must place your bet before the start of the first game of the day.