Moneyline Bet Explained: How Moneyline Odds and Payouts Work

A moneyline bet is the simplest bet in sports betting: you pick which team or player will win, and that's it. There's no point spread and no margin to beat. The odds tell you who the favorite and underdog are and how much you'll win. A favorite at -150 means you bet $150 to win $100; an underdog at +130 means a $100 bet wins $130.

Because the favorite pays less and the underdog pays more, the moneyline price does the job a point spread does in other bets. Here's how moneyline bets work, how to read the odds, payout examples, and when a moneyline beats the spread.

How a moneyline bet works

Every moneyline has two sides (three in soccer, more on that below). One team is favored and one is the underdog:

• Favorite: shown with a minus number, like -150. More likely to win, so it pays less.
• Underdog: shown with a plus number, like +130. Less likely to win, so it pays more.

If your team wins the game, by one point or forty, your bet wins. If it loses, your bet loses. The final score margin doesn't matter at all, which is what makes moneyline wagers so easy to follow.

How to read moneyline odds

Moneyline odds use the American odds format, built around $100:

• Minus moneyline: how much you need to bet to win $100. At -200, bet $200 to win $100.
• Plus moneyline: how much a $100 bet wins. At +200, a $100 bet wins $200.

You get your stake back on top of the win either way. The same math works for any amount: at -200, a $20 bet wins $10. If the minus and plus signs are new to you, our guide on how to read American odds walks through them with a quick table.

Moneyline payout examples

Here's an NFL game with the Ravens -165 and the Steelers +140, and what a $10, $50 and $100 bet would win on each side:

The amounts are profit; the bet slip adds your stake back for the total payout. To work it out yourself: for a minus price, profit = stake × 100 ÷ odds; for a plus price, profit = stake × odds ÷ 100.

What moneyline odds say about each team's chances

Moneyline odds are also a probability, the chance the sportsbook gives each side to win. That's the implied probability:

• Minus odds: odds ÷ (odds + 100). Ravens -165 = 165 ÷ 265 = 62.3%.
• Plus odds: 100 ÷ (odds + 100). Steelers +140 = 100 ÷ 240 = 41.7%.

Those add up to 104%, not 100%. The extra 4% is the vig, the sportsbook's margin built into the prices. A moneyline bet is good value only when you think a team's real chance of winning is higher than its implied probability. A big plus number isn't value by itself; it's just the price of a less likely result.

Two-way and three-way moneylines

In football, basketball, baseball and hockey, the moneyline has two outcomes because games go to overtime or extra innings until someone wins. In soccer, a game can end in a draw, so the moneyline has three outcomes: home win, draw, away win. That's a three-way moneyline. Each of the three has its own price, and a draw beats both team bets.

On the Paid2Bet Bet page, soccer games show the draw as its own pick in the moneyline column.

What happens if a game ends in a tie

In a two-way moneyline, a tie is a push: nobody wins and every bet gets its stake back. NFL ties are rare but they happen. In sports that play on until there's a winner, like the NBA or MLB, it can't come up. Hockey moneylines include overtime and the shootout in most books, so the game always has a winner.

Moneyline vs point spread

The point spread asks a different question: not who wins, but by how much. Here's the same game both ways:

• Moneyline: Ravens -165, Steelers +140. Pick the winner.
• Spread: Ravens -3 (-110), Steelers +3 (-110). The Ravens must win by more than 3; the Steelers can lose by less than 3.

A simple rule of thumb: if you think the underdog wins outright, the moneyline pays more. If you think the underdog keeps it close but loses, take the spread. Heavy favorites on the moneyline cost a lot to win a little, so many bettors prefer the spread for those games.

Which sports use moneyline betting

Every sport has a moneyline, but it's the main bet in some of them. Baseball and hockey are mostly bet on the moneyline because games are low scoring and margins are small. Boxing and UFC are pure moneyline sports: you bet on the fighter to win. In football and basketball, the spread is more popular, but the moneyline is always there too.

Tips for betting the moneyline

• Compare the price, not just the team. -150 at one book and -135 at another is the same team at a better price.
• Be careful with big favorites. At -400 you risk $400 to win $100, and one upset wipes out four wins.
• Look for underdogs priced too long. A team you think wins 45% of the time at +150 (40% implied) is the kind of value bet that pays off over time.
• Use them in parlays carefully. Moneylines are popular parlay legs, but stacking several heavy favorites adds risk faster than it adds payout.

Bet the moneyline for free on Paid2Bet

You can practice moneyline betting with a free balance on Paid2Bet. Open any game on the Bet page, tap a moneyline price, and the slip shows exactly what you'll win. Very heavy favorites have a limit on how big a moneyline you can take, and Full Access members can bet bigger favorites.

You must be 21 or older to play. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.