1. Moneyline Betting Odds Explained
2. Moneyline Betting Explained Odds
3. Moneyline Betting Meaning
4. Moneyline Bets Explained

Whereas a typical moneyline bet involves a bet on one of two options, three-way moneyline betting involves three options. When wagering on a three-way moneyline, you can bet either Team A to win, Team B to win, or for the event to end in a tie (sometimes referred to as a ‘draw’). Everyone makes moneyline bets without even knowing it. Even non-gamblers make moneyline bets. Betting the moneyline for a game is possibly the most simple way to wager on sports. Bettors just choose a player or team to win. If the bettor chooses the winning side, the sportsbook will pay the amount due. It’s really that simple. Situational Moneyline Betting. As you become more comfortable with sports betting and understanding moneyline odds, there are a variety of scenarios that may arise that aren’t as common as the examples above. Let’s explore those: No Obvious Favorite. When betting on moneylines, not every matchup will have a clear favorite or underdog. Examples of Moneyline Betting. Moneyline odds are offered for all of the major North American sports. The odds are presented in the same way for each, so you’ll be able to interpret them quickly. For example, here’s a moneyline for an MLB game with a huge favorite. San Francisco Giants +180; Los Angeles Dodgers -220. Whereas a typical moneyline bet involves a bet on one of two options, three-way moneyline betting involves three options. When wagering on a three-way moneyline, you can bet either Team A to win, Team B to win, or for the event to end in a tie (sometimes referred to as a ‘draw’).

Moneyline bets present the most straightforward way to wager on a sports contest. A moneyline wager simply asks the bettor to choose which team will win a game, with no point spread involved.

The payout odds on the favorite and underdog can differ significantly on a moneyline bet. Using a moneyline calculator breaks down the math on the odds, which allows bettors to assess the true value on each side.

The following page includes the GamingToday.com MoneyLine Calculator, as well as several valuable tables and graphs designed to help bettors gain an edge with moneyline bets.

Moneyline Calculator

Fill in the dollar amount for your bet and the American Odds (for example -110) and calculate the implied probability and the return on the moneyline.:

What Is A Moneyline Bet?

Legal US sportsbooks generally present several different ways to wager on sports. Moneyline bets represent just one of several different wagering options, which include point spread, totals, parlays, and in-game betting.

Moneyline Bets

A moneyline wager allows the bettor to put a bet on which team or athlete will win a contest, straight up. The moneyline underdog will always pay out at better odds than the favorite.

Skilled bettors look for value on moneyline bets by evaluating teams that have a better chance of winning than the implied probability of the odds might dictate.

Moneyline favorites are listed with “-” odds, and the underdog is listed at “+” odds.

For example, here’s a look at a line offered by PointsBet on Game 1 of the 2020 World Series:

American Odds

PointsBet sets the Los Angeles Dodgers as the favorite in the game, with -165 moneyline odds. To calculate “-” odds, divide 100 by the odds, then multiply that quotient by the amount you bet.

For example, suppose you want to calculate how much profit a $50 bet on the Dodgers would yield. First divide 100 by 165 (without the “-”), which yields 60.6. Then multiply that number by your $50 bet to arrive at the profit (60.6*$50=$30.30).

A $50 bet on the Dodgers at -165 odds would yield $30.30 in profit. The $50 wager would return $80.30 to the bettor ($30.30 profit plus the original $50 bet).

To calculate “+” odds, divide the odds by 100 and multiply that product by the amount of the wager.

A $50 bet on the Tampa Bay Rays, for instance, would calculate as 140/100 (which yields 1.4), multiplied by $50 (1.4*$50=$70). A winning $50 moneyline bet on the Rays returns $120 total to the bettor ($70 profit plus the original $50 bet.)

Decimal Odds

Decimal odds can be used to make a simple calculation of odds multiplied by wager amount to arrive at the total amount returned to the bettor.

The -165 odds on Los Angeles, for example, convert to 1.6061 decimal odds using the Gaming Today moneyline calculator. Multiplying that by a $50 bet yields $80.30, and subtracting the original bet amount yields the profit earned ($80.30-$50=$30.30).

What Is A Moneyline Calculator?

The Gaming Today Moneyline Calculator allows for quick calculations for any wager amount and payout odds. Using American, decimal, fractional, Hong Kong, Indonesian, or Malay Odds, you can input the odds and the amount of a wager and see the payout that would come if the bet is a win.

While it’s valuable to understand and be able to calculate favorite and underdog Moneyline odds for all of the different odds notations, the moneyline calculator can save a significant amount of time and energy.

One of the most important features of the Gaming Today Moneyline Calculator is the Implied Probability feature.

For any favorite or underdog input, the calculator produces the implied probability of that team winning. Astute bettors can use the calculator to find teams that have a higher actual win probability than the implied probability dictated by the odds.

The “To Win” window displays the amount of profit yielded by any combination of odds and wager amount. To calculate the return to the bettor, add the “To Win” number to the original amount of the wager.

How To Use The Moneyline Calculator To Place A Sports Bet

Suppose you wanted to put the Gaming Today Moneyline Calculator to work to decide how you wanted to bet on Game 1 of the 2020 World Series. Here’s another look at the lines offered on that game by PointsBet:

To calculate a $50 moneyline wager on the Tampa Bay Rays, input $50 in the “Bet Amount” window and put “+140” in the “American Odds” window. Hit enter or click on the “Convert Odds” button and see how the moneyline calculator converts that information into several different useful categories.

The calculator converts the “+140” odds into all of the different notations you might see used by a sportsbook.

The +140 American odds convert to 2.40 decimal odds, 7/5 fractional odds, 1.40 for Indonesian/Hong Kong odds, and -0.7143 Malay Odds. A tool like our moneyline calculator can be a crucial component of a betting strategy when evaluating odds at sportsbooks that use different notations.

The “Implied Probability” output tells you that at +140 odds, the Rays have a 41.67% implied probability of winning. A skilled bettor will take that bet if they think Tampa Bay’s actual chance of winning the game is higher than that.

The “To Win” output yields the profit produced if the Rays win. A $50 winning bet on the Rays yields $70 in profit and a $120 total return to the bettor ($70 profit plus the $50 original bet).

Looking for other calculators to use when sports betting? Check out:

Calculating Positive And Negative Moneyline Odds

The math used in calculating the payout on a moneyline is pretty simple. It is one of the most important first steps to understanding sports betting and is crucial to success. Below is a graph of profit won on $100 bets for negative odds. Note that it is a curve that approaches, but will never get to $0. Even -1,000,000 odds still yields some profit from a win:

And here is a graph of profit for positive numbers. The really important difference is that the line is linear. as the odds increase, so does the profit. That goes on forever.

Looking at the odds offered by the sportsbook, note whether they are negative odds (for example -110) or positive odds (for example +120). The calculation changes based on if it is a positive or negative odd. Below we work through an example of a bet of $100 at -110 moneyline odds. It is important to notice that multiplying by -1 is required to give us the positive payout:

PAYOUT = BET AMOUNT / (-1 *MONEYLINE ODDS / 100)

So that looks like:

$90.91 = $100 / (-1 * -110/100)

That also means that you will be returned that amount AND your original bet, meaning you now have $190.91. Let’s work another negative example of a $100 bet at -150:

$100 / (-1 * -150 / 100) = $66.67

Now let’s work through a positive money example. Let’s say you bet $100 at +120

PAYOUT = BET AMOUNT * ODDS / 100

That looks like:

$120 = $100 * 120 / 100

In that case, you are returned your original bet plus profit, so you now have $220.

What Is Line Movement?

Sportsbooks make money by setting lines that bring in an appropriate amount of wagers on both sides of a bet. The house offers odds that factor in a cut of overall wagers, known as vig, that goes to the sportsbook.

In the World Series Game 1 example from above, if 90% of bets come in on the Dodgers, the sportsbook stands to lose big money if Los Angeles wins. A Tampa Bay win in that situation is even more disastrous for the sportsbook.

If the bets coming in on a game are too one-sided, the line on the game will start to move to try to prompt more bets for the other side. It’s important to remember that sports betting isn’t a zero-sum game, and you’ll be losing in the long run even if you win 50% of the time.

Legal Online Sports Betting In The US

A federal mandate known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned in May 2018, giving US states the legal clearance to offer state-regulated sports betting. Several states now offer both retail and online sports betting, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, and several others.

The top online sport betting brands in the US include the following:

DraftKings Sportsbook

One of the biggest brands to emerge in the booming online sports betting industry, DraftKings Sportsbook offers mobile sports wagering in eight states. The sportsbook offers every imaginable kind of wager across multiple sports.

That betting menu includes daily moneyline opportunities on all major US sports leagues, as well as numerous international leagues. A tool like the Moneyline Calculator can be an indispensable tool to use for evaluating the odds and implied win probabilities at DraftKings Sportsbook.

FanDuel Sportsbook

Another huge player in the legal sports betting market, FanDuel Sportsbook offers mobile sports wagering in seven states. Along with DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbooks stands as one of the top two mobile sports betting brands in the US.

FanDuel Sportsbook’s vast selection of moneyline wagering options becomes a potentially profitable market for bettors using a moneyline calculator. Such a tool allows sharp players to compare odds across multiple sportsbooks and only place the most favorable bets.

FOX Bet

A collaboration between FOX Sports and The Stars Group, the FOX Bet brand operates online sportsbooks in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.

The moneyline odds at FOX Bet can vary greatly versus some of its competitors, and bettors using a moneyline calculator tool gain a significant edge versus players that don’t.

Moneyline Calculator FAQs

Yes. More than a dozen states either currently offer online sports betting or have a launch of mobile sports betting products pending.

New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania represent the three biggest online sports betting markets in the US. Other states with legal online sports wagering include Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, West Virginia, and a few others.

The Gaming Today Moneyline Calculator can be used as a valuable resource on any moneyline bet. It’s especially useful for evaluating the implied probability of winning and payout odds.

The moneyline bet calculator’s ability to display odds across multiple notation formats (American, Decimal, Fractional, Indonesian/Hong Kong, and Malay odds) allows bettors to compare lines across sportsbooks that use different notations.

Even if you’re a veteran sports bettor, running every bet you’re considering through the calculator provides significant benefit.

Yes. Nothing in the terms and conditions of any US legal online sportsbooks prohibits the use of a moneyline calculator.

The calculator provides computations that any person could produce with pen and paper but in a much faster and more efficient manner.

For “+” American odds, divide the odds by 100 and convert that quotient into a fraction. To convert +160 into fractional odds, for example, divide 160 by 100 (160/100) and reduce that fraction to the lowest whole number denominator. American odds of +160 would convert to 8/5 fractional odds.

For “-” American odds, divide 100 by the odds and convert to the simplest form fraction. For -160 odds, for example, the calculation looks like 100/160, which reduces to 5/8 fractional odds.

To convert “+” American odds to implied winning probability, the formula looks like this:

100 / (“+” American odds + 100)*100 = implied probability

For example, +160 odds would be calculated as 100/(160+100)*100. This converts to 100/260*100, which ends up yielding a 38.46% implied probability.

To convert “-” odds, the formula looks like this:

“-” odds / (“-” odds + 100)*100 = implied probability

Moneyline Betting Odds Explained

For instance, -160 odds would translate to 160/(160+100)*100, converting to 160/260*100, which yields a product of 61.54. The implied probability of -160 odds is a 61.54% chance of winning.

Several online sportsbooks offer comprehensive coverage of sports and ways to bet. Some of the best choices for online sports betting in the US include DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, PointsBet, FOX Bet, and BetMGM.

Moneyline betting is an American term for the betting market match winner which is simply a wagering option for which team will win a match with no handicap involved. This is the most common way betting is done on baseball and hockey games and for basketball and football it is a popular alternative to point spread betting. In this article I will explain how the odds work, introduce the websites with the best odds and explain the dynamics of this form of wagering in great depth.

Understanding Moneyline Odds

First let me explain how the odds work. The odds can be expressed as either a positive or a negative. A positive moneyline is how much profit a winning bet will pay per $100 staked. A negative moneyline is how much a player needs to stake in order to win $100. +175 means risk $100 to win $175 profit and -183 means risk $183 to win $100 profit. To calculate for other bet amounts, just change the moneyline to a decimal and multiply for positive or divide for negative. Betting $60 on +175 is risk $60 to win ($60*1.75=) $105 and staking $60 on -183 is risk $60 to win ($60/1.83=) $32.79.

Betting Moneylines Online

First, understand bookmakers make their profit (vig) by shorting positive moneylines and inflating negative moneylines. A term to be familiar with is cents. Yankees -180 / Twins +160 is said to be a 20 cent line which is referring to gap between -180 and +160. Also if one site is offering -180 and another -176 one site is said to have a 4 cent better price. A dimeline means a 10 cent line (example: -150/+140) and a nickel line (rare) means a 5 cent line (example -120 / +115). Where you bet moneylines online makes a difference. Many sites charge a lot of vig using 20+ cent lines. The sites offering better value are listed below.

• Why We Like’em
• Has point spreads priced -105 (risk $1.05 to win $1, instead of $1.10 to win $1)
• Offers a 15-25% bonus on all deposits and is highly competitive with 5Dimes for baseball and hockey moneylines.
• Offers a 50% up to $250 sign-up bonus, baseball dimeline up to -144 (.15 to -175) and many off market NFL & NBA underdogs.

Understand the websites above are best on average because they build less juice into their lines than competitors Justbet, Topbet and Bookmaker do. It is still important to shop as many betting sites as possible including the three just mentioned in seeking the best price. Line shopping is the heart of moneyline betting strategy.

Understanding the Dynamics

There’s a huge mistake many novice sports bettors make on a regular basis. I’m going to explain the dynamics of moneyline betting multiple ways in the hope you’ll firmly grasp the concept and avoid making the same mistake.

Question 1: Game 1= Bears -110 / Falcons -110. Game 2= Patriots -450 / Jaguars +350. Which of these two lines has more vig? To novice players the obvious answer is the Bears/Falcons because it is a 20 cent line as opposed to a 100 cent line. This is answer is however incorrect. The second line has less juice (vig) than the first.

Question 2: All online betting sites are offering Patriots -450 / Jaguars +350. A friend says: “I’ll offer you either Patriots -380 or Jaguars +380, which would you like?” You are only concerned with having the maximum expected value. Which wager -380 or +380 has higher expected value? Many bettors would say if the line is -450 / +350 this averages to -400 / +400, therefore -380 is the better bet. This is again wrong. -450 / +350 when vig is removed is -368 / +368! If you’re thinking: what? wait? why? you are completely lost and lack understanding of the basics. It is a good thing you found this article as I’ll explain further.

Implied Probability Explained

Understand that all moneylines have an associated implied probability, which means how often they need to win to break even. The math for calculating this is risk/return=implied probability. Return refers to stake + win. So -110 is risk $110 to win $100 and the return is $210 ($110 stake + $100 win). The math here is 110/210=0.5238 (52.38%).

Do not skip this exercise: Visit our odds converter and under required break even percentage enter 52.38%. You’ll see this is American odds -110 as just explained. Increase this figure by 1% to 53.38% and you’ll see the American odds are -114.5. This is a 4.5 cent increase.

Continuing this exercise, enter 81.82% and you’ll see this is -450. Add 1% more to make it 82.82% and you’ll see this is a -482.1. That’s a 32.1 cents difference for 1%, but above 1% was only 4.5 cents.

The lesson here is that cents are near meaningless for evaluating odds. All that matters is implied probability.

Calculating odds, VIG and EV may look difficult at first, but do 1 or 2 examples and it’s a piece of cake

How to Remove Vig

Back to question #2: again, novice bettors often make the mistake of assuming -450/+350 has a -400/+400 fair value line, which is well off. The way to calculate this is -450 has an implied probability of 81.82% and +350 has an implied probability of 22.22%. Notice these total 104.04%. The reason they are higher than 100% is the bookmaker’s advantage (vig) which we’ve already discussed.

To remove vig: divide both implied probabilities by their combined total (in this case 104.04%). 81.82%/104.04%=78.64% 22.22%/104.04%=21.36%. Notice 78.64%+21.36%=100%. This means so long as vig was divided equally, the oddsmaker determined the favorite will win 78.64% of the time leaving 21.36% of the time for the underdog. Enter these into our odds converter and you’ll see 78.64% is -368.2 and 21.36% is +368.2 in American odds format.

Moneyline Betting Explained Odds

Originally to come up with -450/+350 the bookmaker took his starting probabilities added about 4% vig. When doing this, he couldn’t simply add 2% to the favorite and remove 2% from the underdog; he needed to do this proportional to how often each side is going to win. This meant giving 78.64% of the 4% to the favorite and taking the remainder from the underdog. Next he made some slight adjustments/rounding to get a nicer looking number, giving him -450/+350.

Calculating EV

The equation for calculating EV is (win probability * what you’ll be paid if you win) – (loss probability * amount staked)=EV. Using the same odds we’ve been discussing let me calculate the EV for each.

$100 at -450 pays ($100/4.5=) $22.22 and we know our chances of winning is the 78.64% we calculated earlier. This plugs in as (0.7864*$22.22)-(0.2136*$100)=-$3.88. As we expect to lose $3.88 per $100 stake we have a -3.88% expected return on investment (ROI). The bookmaker on average profits 3.88% of our staked amount.

$100 at +350 pays ($100*3.5=) $350 and we know our chances of winning are 21.36%. This plugs in as (0.2136*$350)-(0.7864*$100)=-3.88. Again we have same -3.88% ROI and again the bookmaker on average profits 3.88% of our staked amount.

Moneyline Betting Meaning

Re-Answering Questions 1 & 2

When betting point spreads that are 50/50 propositions $100 at -110 pays $90.91. This plugs in as (0.5*90.91)-(0.50*$100)=-4.55. This here is a -4.55% ROI. As you can see, the bookmaker makes more on -110/-110 than -450/+350. Likewise, we pay less vig betting either option on a -450/+350 line than we do on either option of a -110/-110 line.

Moneyline Bets Explained

Do you understand now why -110/-110 has move vig than -450/+350. It is really as simple as noting 1% of a big number is far more than 1% of a small number. If you did the exercise with our odds converter earlier you are already aware of how this works. There is an important lesson to take from this involving shopping large moneylines at multiple betting sites. When dealing with the favorite you need to find MUCH better price than the consensus moneyline to find a +EV bet. When dealing the underdog you need to find only a small amount better. Again for -450/+350 the no-vig lines are about -368/+368, not the -400/+400 novice bettors often believe that they are.