Sports Betting - Understanding Money Lines

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Sports Betting - Understanding Money Lines

or beginning sports gamblers, money lines can o&ten appear to be 'uite imposing, but once the essentials behind money lines are understood, they are (ust as easy, i& not easier, to use as the point spread. )hile the point spread is concerned with who wins and by how much, the money line is solely interested in who wins. *he best way to e+plain the money line is to show an e+ample o& it in action, so we,ll ma-e up a hypothetical baseball game between the Cubs and the .odgers. )hen loo-ing at the odds &or the game, the bettor will see something li-e: Chicago Cubs +12 Los Angeles !odgers -1" /n this instance, the .odgers are the &a0ored team, as signi&ied by the 1 2minus3 written in &ront o& the %4$, while the Cubs are the underdogs, as designated by the 5 2plus3 in &ront o& the %"$. )hat these numbers mean is that those wishing to bet on the &a0orite, the .odgers, will ha0e to ris- 6%4$ to win 6%$$, while those wanting to wager on the underdog, the Cubs, will ris- 6%$$ to win 6%"$. /t,s important to remember that e0en though money lines are e+pressed in units o& 6%$$, you do not ha0e to bet that much money. *he money line will wor- (ust as easily with a 67 or 6%$ wager as it does with a 6%$$ bet.

#hen the Money Line is Used

*he money line is used &or a number o& sports where the point spread becomes irrele0ant, such as bo+ing, tennis, and auto racing, as well as baseball, hoc-ey, and soccer. )hile there are margins o& 0ictory in baseball, hoc-ey, and soccer, they are so small it would be impossible to create a point spread &or e0ery game. *he di&&erence between money line odds on the &a0orite and the underdog will normally increase as the li-elihood o& the &a0orite winning increases. or e+ample, i& the 8an-ees were playing the .e0il 9ays, we would probably see odds similar to: $ampa Bay !e%il &ays +1' (e) *or+ *an+ees -22 /n this case a bettor would be re'uired to ris- 6""$ to win 6%$$ by betting on the 8an-ees, while the *ampa Bay bettors would be ris-ing 6%$$ to win 6%:$. *he di&&erence between the two will continue to climb as the disparity between the &a0orite and the underdog increases. /n a bo+ing match it would not be unusual to see odds such as: ,oe Louis -&ay Leonard +.. /n this instance, those betting on !oe Louis are being as-ed to ris- 6;$$ to win 6%$$, while 9ay Leonard bac-ers are ris-ing 6%$$ to win 677$. *he reason &or the shi&t in the di&&erence between the odds is that boo-ma-ers typically only ma-e money when the underdog wins. /n point spread betting, the boo-ie hopes to ha0e an e'ual amount o& money wagered on each team, which will guarantee a pro&it. /n money line betting, the boo-ie reali<es that more people are going to wager on the &a0orite, and can only hope to ha0e enough wagered on the underdog to co0er their potential losses on the &a0orite. =sing the Louis 1 Leonard &ight as an e+ample, the boo-ma-er -nows more money is going to be wagered on Louis &or the reason that his chances o& winning are much greater than Leonard,s. /& bettors collecti0ely wager 6%>,$$$ on Louis, the boo-ma-er hopes to recei0e 6",$$$ in wagers on Leonard. )hile the amount o& money wagered on the two &ighters is much di&&erent, the boo-ma-er has their bases co0ered. /& Louis wins as e+pected, the boo-ma-er will ta-e the 6",$$$ &rom the losing Leonard bettors and pay o&& the winners. But i& Leonard pulls o&& the upset and wins, the boo-ma-er will ta-e the 6%>,$$$ &rom the losing Louis bettors and pay o&& 6%%,$$$ to the Leonard bettors and get to -eep 64,$$$ &or their e&&ort.

/ther Uses o0 the Money Line

Money line betting is generally o&&ered on all sporting e0ents, e0en those which use the point spread, such as &ootball and bas-etball. )hile you can still bet with the point spread, using the money line simply gi0es the bettor another choice in deciding whether or not to ma-e a wager.