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The simplest bet in sports is the moneyline bet. You’ll find it across all different sports, and novice bettors can grasp the basics in just a few seconds. So, what exactly is a moneyline bet? All you are doing is betting on one side or the other to win the game. Whichever team is victorious at the end of the day, moneyline bets on that side will win.
Despite their simplicity, or because of it, moneyline bets are a popular option. Everyone from experts to beginners continues to place wagers on the moneyline. In addition, don’t confuse simple for easy, as moneylines can often be some of the trickiest lines to bet.
If you’re looking to get better at moneyline bets, or perhaps just interested in starting to bet on sports, this guide is for you. It will cover everything from examples to the exact steps for placing your bet. Continue reading to learn more about moneyline betting in Florida.
Moneyline betting examples
Before you place your first moneyline bet, you need to make sure that you understand what you’re doing and how moneyline bets work. Here are some examples to help out:
Football moneyline bets
Let’s say that the Miami Dolphins are playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFL game. The most important factor to consider in any moneyline bet is the odds for each team. Because the two teams playing will not be of equal strength, each side will have different odds.
Let’s say that the Buccaneers are the favorite in this matchup. The NFL moneyline odds might look like this:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers -150
- Miami Dolphins +125
Betting $150 on the Buccaneers would return a profit of $100 if correct, while betting $100 on the Dolphins would win $125 if Miami wins. Thus you have the option of taking the favorite with a lesser potential return or the underdog with a higher potential return.
Basketball moneyline bets
Basketball moneyline bets work similarly to their football counterparts. The two teams will each have odds that attempt to represent the probability of each team winning the NBA game.
For example, let’s say that the Miami Heat play against the Orlando Magic in a battle of the two NBA teams based in Florida. The Heat are the better team. so they will have weaker odds, forcing bettors to once again pick their risk profile.
- Miami Heat -180
- Orlando Magic +145
A successful $180 bet on the Heat would return $100, while a $100 bet on the Magic would return $145. Because the Heat are relatively large favorites, the returns are low. These lines can continue to move as the game approaches. Learn more in our NBA betting for beginners guide.
Betting the moneyline at FL sportsbooks
Placing a moneyline bet in a regulated market like Florida is straightforward for anyone with a little bit of knowledge. All you need to do is create an account at a legal Florida sportsbook app and then navigate the online platform to the game on which you would like to bet. From there you will be able to see all the different betting options, including the moneyline.
How to place a moneyline bet at DraftKings
Once you’ve created an account, head to the sport that you want to bet on. On this page, you will see all the offerings that Hard Rock Florida has, and the moneyline bets will be highlighted as some of the main options.
Click on the bet that you would like to place, which will add it to your bet slip. You can then add the amount of money that you would like to stake and the application will show you your total potential return. From there, click to place the bet and then sit back and watch the game to see if you win.
How to place a moneyline bet at FanDuel
Making a moneyline bet at FanDuel Sportsbook is very similar to making a moneyline bet at DraftKings. Click on the menus that you see at the top of the page to select which sport you would like to bet on. To find a specific game, click on the sport and then head to the relevant league, where you will find all the matchups for that league.
When you place a moneyline bet at FanDuel (or DraftKings, for that matter), there will be a pop-up that will show your bet ticket. This makes it easy to then read your potential return and place the bet if you desire.
How to place a moneyline bet at BetMGM
Last but not least is BetMGM Sportsbook. Signing up is a similar process to the other two sportsbooks where you will enter all your details to make the account and then navigate the menus to find your game of choice. Each league will appear under its sport in the upper menu.
The difference with BetMGM compared to the other two is that there is no pop-up when you click on a moneyline bet. Instead, you must take the extra step to click on your bet ticket icon to find that screen.
Moneyline odds and payouts
In Florida, most of the odds will appear in the American format, especially when you’re betting on North American sports. With American odds, the positive number indicates the underdog for the game. In that case, whatever the number is behind the plus sign is the potential return on a bet of $100.
Let’s say that the Miami Dolphins have odds of +125 for a specific game. You could bet $100 on them, and if they win, you would collect $225, which is your original $100 bet plus $125 in winnings.
Negative odds, then, generally indicate favorites. The number that you see is how much you would need to bet to win $100. For example, the Orlando Magic could have odds of -125. Thus, you could bet $125 for a chance to win $100, for a total potential return of $225.
Shopping for the best moneyline odds
Because the odds are so important for moneyline bets, shopping for the best odds can be important. When bettors say they are shopping lines, what that means is that they are comparing the offerings at different sportsbooks and picking the best odds for the bet they want to place.
It can be surprising how much the lines can differ from one sportsbook to another for the same game. For instance, the lines can swing from five to 10 points on a regular basis and sometimes more. This is why having accounts at multiple sportsbooks can be beneficial, allowing you to shop for the best lines for your purposes.
Tips for betting the moneyline
To start with, make sure that you are not chasing large returns and instead are focused on betting on the team that you believe has the best chance of winning the game. Because the moneyline is such a simple bet, all you should focus on is finding teams that have a better chance of winning their games than their odds imply.
Another moneyline betting strategy is to make sure that you look at betting on all types of teams, including big favorites, big underdogs and everything in between. Some bettors can become obsessed with big favorites while others will chase the high returns associated with underdogs. It’s best to consider a variety.
Last but not least, make sure that you do your research before placing any bets. There are many factors that novice bettors often fail to consider such as injuries or matchups that can play large parts in the outcome of the game.
Other popular sports bets
While the moneyline bet is one of the most popular options across most sports, there are a few others that show up as much or nearly as much.
Spread bets
The spread bet solves the issue of betting on a game where two teams are of vastly different skill levels. If you wanted to place a moneyline bet on such a game, the favorite would have very low returns but a very high chance of winning, and the underdog may offer astronomical returns but almost no chance of winning. The spread aims to make either team a viable betting option.
The spread will appear as a negative number for the favorite and as a positive number for the underdog. For example, if the Miami Dolphins are facing off against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Dolphins might have their spread at -6, meaning they’re the favorites.
The underdog Jaguars would then have their spread at +6. The easiest way to understand the spread is to either add or subtract it from a team’s final score. For example, the Dolphins would need to win the game by more than six points for a spread bet on them to win, while the Jaguars would need to finish at least within six points.
If the final score lands exactly on the spread with the Dolphins winning by exactly six points, the bet would be a push and the sportsbook would return your wager.
Totals (over/unders)
Unlike a moneyline or spread bet, an over/under bet doesn’t care about which team wins or about the final margin of victory. Instead you are betting on the total combined score of the game.
Before each game, a sportsbook will release a line estimating the combined final score. Most often this line will have odds of -110 on either side, though that can vary slightly. You can then bet on the actual total score to be over or under the sportsbook’s line.
For example, the total for our example game between the Dolphins and Jaguars might be 52. Thus, before the game begins, you could bet on the two teams to combine for over or under 52 points. Let’s say that the score ends 35-28 in favor of the Dolphins. In that case, bets on the over would win.
Props
Think of prop bets as side bets. Many bettors enjoy betting on props because they are often smaller betting markets. This can mean that sportsbooks may spend fewer resources on sharpening these lines, which can leave value for prepared bettors.
A popular option within prop bets are player props. These are wagers on some facet of an individual player’s performance within a game. For example, you might bet on a quarterback to throw for over or under a set number of touchdowns or on a receiver to record over or under a certain number of receiving yards.
Other prop betting examples are what time the first score will occur or how many 3-pointers a team will make in a game, or betting on a specific player to lead the game in rebounds.
Is there a vig on moneyline bets?
The vigorish is how sportsbooks make money. It’s the house edge that leaves the bettor at a disadvantage while aiming to ensure that the sportsbook makes a profit regardless of the outcome of the game. Every line that you see will have vigorish baked in.
The best example of vigorish in a moneyline bet occurs when two teams of exactly the same strength play each other. In this extreme hypothetical, both teams would have a 50% chance of winning the game. Converting that 50% chance into odds would result in both sides having odds of +100.
However, you will never see a game where the moneyline betting odds are +100 on each side. Instead, the odds for this hypothetical game will always be -110 on each side.
Then, if an equal amount of money comes in on either side, the odds ensure that the sportsbook makes a profit. Let’s say that 10 people each bet $110 on each side to win $100, returning $210 to each bettor on the winning side. The casinos can take all the wagers from the losing side and pay out the winners, keeping the $10 extra per person. This on a very large scale is how sportsbooks make money.