MONEYLINE DEFINITION

What is a Moneyline?

Moneyline (or 'Money Line') is the American name for the market used for betting on a team or player to win a game or event. Also known as the 'head-to-head' or 'win-loss' market, a moneyline bet is the simplest and one of the most common types of bet. A moneyline bet is a bet placed on who you think will win the game. In the moneyline market there will always be a favorite and an underdog. The favorite is the team, player or outcome that has a better chance to win compared to its opposing bet in that market which is classified as the underdog.

When betting on the moneyline market there are sometimes very one-sided odds, in comparison to the spread market where odds are relatively even. This is because they are head-to-head bets, and often in sports there are one-sided contests where there is a heavy favorite. For example, often in college sports there are times a D1 team plays a lower ranked college, in this case it is not unheard of to see the D1 team with moneyline odds of -2000 compared to the underdog team whose moneyline odds are likely to be around +1700. This is why some bettors prefer betting ATS as there is more value in betting on a team at odds around -105 with a handicap attached to them rather than betting on a team to win outright at -2000 odds. However, if you manage to pick a winner at +1700 you are doing very well and shows how there can be greater upside to moneyline betting compared to spread betting.

To work out the implied winning probability of odds, view our Moneyline Converter.