Understanding different types of sports bets can sometimes seem overwhelming
to people. The reason for this, though, is not because the bets are actually
confusing at all. It is because they are usually explained by a friend, or a
website that is not well written and key components of the explanation are left
out. Thankfully, we're going to make sure that once and for all, you understand
one of the most common types of sports bets available. You'll quickly see that
sports betting is a lot easier to understand and participate in than most people
give it credit for.
- Therefore, your payout if you bet the Chargers to win by more than 10 points may be -105 (must bet $105 to win $100). Alternatively, your payout if you take the Raiders to lose by less than 10 points may be.
- If you're a higher roller, you can profit big time by betting on an average or underdog team. With $500, for instance, you'd win $12,500 betting on the Indianapolis Colts, $34,000 by choosing the Carolina Panthers and $70,000 by going with the Tennessee Titans. With a bet of $1,000 or more, you could be looking at six-figure winnings.
- The most common type of bet is a single, but bettors can combine different bets into one and place a multiple bet - this can be a double, treble or any other multiple (four or more bets in one). However, each single bet within a multiple must win in order for the bet as a whole to win.
What Is a Moneyline/Win Bet?
The Win Bet Payout Table will show you the minimum payout for a $2, $5 and $10 win bet, the decimal and fractional odds along with the post time odds ranging from from a 1/9 heavy favorite all the way to a 99/1 longshot. Payouts listed above represent the minimum payout returned. When you bet the point spread of a basketball game, you are betting on how many points the team is going to either win or lose. As with football, NBA point spread betting lines can be.
One of the most common sports bets that you may have already made against a
friend without even knowing it is a moneyline bet. The moneyline bet is also
referred to as a win bet, depending on what part of the world you are in. The
United States refers to this bet as a moneyline bet while most of the rest of
the world refers to this as a win bet. Leave it to the US to need to be
different 🙂
Basically, all you are doing is selecting which team or person is going to
win an event. As we said earlier, you may have already made this type of bet
before without even knowing it. If you ever bet your friend a few bucks that a
certain team would win a game, you made a moneyline/win bet.
Winning or losing a moneyline bet only depends on if the team or individual
wins the game or event or not. It does not matter how many points or how
decisively they win the game by.
Let's say the Dallas Cowboys are
playing the Green Bay Packers during Monday Night Football and you think the
Cowboys are going to win. If you place a moneyline bet on the Cowboys, you will
win your bet if the Cowboys win by one point or if they win by 100 points. If
the Packers win by any amount of points, you lose your bet.
This is the same for sports where you have individuals instead of teams
competing. For example, if you make a moneyline bet that Roger Federer will win
his next tennis match, you will win your bet when he wins and lose your bet when
he loses. It does not matter how he wins or by how many sets he wins. A win is a
win, and a loss is a loss when it comes to moneyline bets.
How Do Moneyline Bets Payout?
As you may have already suspected, all moneyline bets are not created
equally. Different moneyline bets will pay out different amounts depending on
who is competing. Let's look at an exaggerated example to show you why. Let's
say that Mike Tyson, one of the greatest boxers of all time, is going to fight a
boxing match against a six-year-old kid. Would it be fair to pay a bettor the
same amount if they picked Mike Tyson to win than if they picked the doomed
six-year-old to win? Of course, it's not. If that were the case, everyone would
bet all of their money on Mike Tyson and the sportsbook would be broke the next
day. Moneyline bets payout dependent on how big of a favorite or underdog the
person or team you are betting on is.
- The bigger the favorite the team or person is, the less money you will be
paid on a winning bet. - The bigger the underdog the team or person is, the more money you will be
paid on a winning bet.
The amount that you are paid for a winning selection is decided by the casino
and made public before you make your bet. These are depicted with a plus or
minus sign and then a number that shows how far in each direction. If that's
confusing, it will make a lot more sense with some examples. You might hear
people refer to this as the line. (The line is also commonly used to refer to
the point spread which we will address in a later post).
- If a team has a plus (+) sign in front of their name, they are an underdog.
- If a team has a minus (-) sign in front of their name, they are a favorite.
The larger the number next to the plus or minus sign, the more significant of
a favorite or underdog the team is.
For example, here are a few sample lines from an actual sportsbook that we
will use for an example.
In this example, the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the St. Louis
Rams are all favorites. The Rams are the biggest favorites, and the Bills are
the smallest favorites. The Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New
Orleans Saints are all underdogs. The Saints are the biggest underdogs, and the
Panthers are the smallest underdogs.
How Do I Figure out How Much Money I'll Win on a Moneyline Bet?
If you've been following along half asleep, now is the time to turn up that
attention. This part isn't that confusing, but it is the part that most people
usually get lost on. Don't worry, though. We are going to take it slow and walk
you through it step by step with plenty of great examples. You'll be an expert
teaching everyone else in no time.
The amount that you win or lose on a moneyline bet is set by the plus or
minus sign and the number that is attached to it. Let's start with the times
that we are the underdogs.
As an Underdog
As we already know, when we are the underdogs we are going to get paid more
than a standard even bet. If you've ever bet with friends, you probably bet like
this…'If my team wins, you owe me $10. If your team wins, I owe you $10.'
Regarding a moneyline, that would look like either +100 or -100.
The number after the plus sign is the amount we will win for every $100 we
bet. So in our bet with our friend, for every $100 we bet, we will win $100.
This is an even money bet. Let's pull up our football lines from earlier to look
at a few more examples.
- If we were to bet $100 on the Carolina Panthers, we would get paid $105 for a
winning bet. - If we were to bet $100 on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, we would get paid $110
for a winning bet. - If we were to bet $100 on the New Orleans Saints, we would get paid $135 for
a winning bet.
This does not mean that you have to bet in even increments of $100. If you
bet more or less, it will just follow the same ratio of payouts. We can divide
the number by 100 and get the amount we will get paid for every dollar we bet.
For example, let's look at a few different bet amounts on the New Orleans
Saints.
Currently, we already know that if we were to bet $100 on the New Orleans
Saints, we would get paid $135 for a winning bet.
If we wanted to figure out how much we would get paid per $1 bet, we would
divide the moneyline number by 100. 135 divided by 100 equals 1.35. We would get
paid $1.35 for every $1 we bet.
So let's apply that to a few bet numbers…
- If we were to bet $50 on the New Orleans Saints, we would get paid $50 times
$1.35, or $67.50 for a winning bet. - If we were to bet $250 on the New Orleans Saints, we would get paid $250
times $1.35, or $337.50 for a winning bet.
As a Favorite
Let's take a look now at what a moneyline bet would pay out if we are a
favorite. As we already know, when we are the favorites we are going to get paid
less than a standard even bet as we are probably going to win our bet more
often.
The number after the minus sign is the amount you have to bet to win $100.
Let's pull up our football examples again to make this a bit clearer.
- If we wanted to win $100 on the Buffalo Bills, we would have to bet $125.
- If we wanted to win $100 on the Jacksonville Jaguars, we would have to bet
$130. - If we wanted to win $100 on the St. Louis Rams, we would have to bet $155.
As you can see, we have to wager more money for the same payout the bigger
favorite the team is. Again, this does not mean that you have to bet in $100
increments. If you'd like to find out the amount you will win on other sized
bets, you need to figure again out the amount you will win per $1 wagered. As an
underdog, we divided the moneyline number by 100 to get that amount. As a
favorite, we have to do it slightly differently. We need to take 100 and divide
it by the moneyline number.
For example, if we wanted to figure out how much we would win for each dollar
wagered on the St. Louis Rams, we would take 100 and divide it by 155 which
would give us roughly $0.65. This means that for every $1 we wager, we will get
paid a profit of about 65 cents.
- If we were to bet $50 on the St. Louis Rams, we would get paid $50 times
$0.65, or $32.50 for a winning bet. - If we were to bet $250 on the St. Louis Rams, we would get paid $250 times
$0.65, or $162.50 for a winning bet.
Remember these are the profit number on a winning bet. You do receive your
original wager back as well. For example, if you made the most recent bet we
talked about for $250, the casino isn't going just to hand you $162.50. That
would be a terrible deal for you. They are going to hand you $250 plus $162.50
for a total of $412.50. The $162.50 is the amount that you profited on your bet.
This is the case regardless of if you are betting on a favorite or an underdog.
The bottom line is that the odds all indicate your profits relative to a 100
unit base figure. When your team is a favorite, the number after the minus sign
is how much money you have to bet to win $100. When your team is an underdog,
the number after the plus sign is how much money you win for every $100 you bet.
Decimal Odds
Up until this point, we have been using the whole number format for moneyline
bets, also referred to as the American odds format. This format is the format
you will see for betting odds in the United States predominately and online in a
lot of sportsbooks. In most other areas of the world, you will see what are
known as decimal odds. Here is what the same line would look like in both
formats.
American Odds
Decimal Odds
These lines mean exactly the same thing. We already have talked about the
specifics of American Odds and how to calculate your payouts with them. Now
let's walk you through everything you need to know about decimal odds and how to
calculate your payouts.
The decimal odds represent the amount that you will win, including your
original bet for every dollar wagered. In other words, this is the total amount
that you will be given back by the sportsbook if you win your bet. So in the
above example, if you bet $1 on the Cowboys and they won, you would receive
$1.68. $1 of this would be your original bet, and the $0.68 would be your
profit. If you were to bet $1 on the Packers and they won, you would receive
$2.30. $1 of this would be your original bet, and $1.30 would be your profit. As
you can tell in this example, the Cowboys are the favorites to win the game.
A completely even money bet would be 2.0. This means that if you bet $100 on
this bet, you would profit $100. The sportsbook would give you your original
$100 wager back, plus your $100 profit. Any team with a decimal odds number
greater than 2.0 is going to be the underdog, and any team with a decimal odds
number less than 2.0 will be the favorite. The only exception to this is the
straight up bets where the sportsbook puts both bets at the same odds and
adjusts for their juice (which we are about to discuss.
The Sportsbook Juice and Moving Lines
You might be starting to wonder how the sportsbook makes any money off of
this. You also might be assuming that the sportsbook is just gambling against
you. This is actually not what is going on. What the sportsbook tries to do is
get the same amount of money bet on each side of a game and then takes a small
percentage from all of the payouts. Let's break down both of these points one at
a time, to make them more clear.
The Sportsbook Percentage
Let's look at an example of a game where both teams are evenly matched. In
this example, the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers are playing, and the
sportsbook thinks that both teams are exactly equal. You would expect then that
the lines for both teams would be -100. Meaning, that for every $100 you
wagered, you would win $100. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The moneyline
for this game would look a:
This means that regardless of which team you bet on, you will receive $90.91
for a winning bet. The sportsbook takes about 10% off the top of every winning
ticket. This is known as the house juice and is effectively how the sportsbook
makes its money.
Money From Both Sides
As a continuation of the above point, the sportsbook is always going to want
to get an even amount of money on both sides of the bet. Let's say in our above
example that $1000 comes in on the Cowboys and $500 in bets comes in on the
Packers.
If the Packers win, here is the accounting for the sportsbook:
- Took in $1500 in total bets
- Packers win
- Payout the original $500 in bets
- Payout winnings of $500 times $0.9091, or $454.55
- $1500 – $500 – $454.55, or $545.45 in profit |A great day for Packers fans
and a great day for the sportsbook.
If the Cowboys win, here is the accounting for the sportsbook:
- Took in $1500 in total bets
- Cowboys win
- Payout the original $1000 in bets
- Payout winnings of $1000 times $0.9091, or $909.10
- $1500 – $1000 – $909.10, or $409.10 in losses | A great day for Cowboys fans,
but an awful day for the sportsbook.
You Better Win Splatfest
As you can see, one of these scenarios is favorable for the sportsbook, and
the other is not. For this reason, the sportsbook will try and bring in the same
amount of money on each side if the bet is even. Here's the same scenario if the
casino brings in $1000 on both sides of the bet.
If the Packers win, here is the accounting for the sportsbook:
- Took in $2000 in total bets
- Packers win
- Payout the original $1000 in bets
- Payout winnings of $1000 times $0.9091, or $909.10
- $2000 – $1000 – $909.10 = $90.90 in profit for the sportsbook
If the Cowboys win, here is the accounting for the sportsbook:
- Took in $2000 in total bets
- Cowboys win
- Payout the original $1000 in bets
- Payout winnings of $1000 times $0.9091, or $909.10
- $2000 – $1000 – $909.10 = $90.90 in profit for the sportsbook
The sportsbook couldn't care less who wins this game, and that is how they
like it. The smaller guaranteed profit is how they like to operate. If the lines
are not even, it gets a bit trickier for the casino as they will need more bets
on one side, but the guiding principle is the same. They try and get the correct
amount of bets on each side so that no matter who wins, they profit.
The way the sportsbook does this is by shifting the moneyline to make one
side more enticing and the other less enticing. For example, let's look at our
above example where too much money was coming in on the Cowboys. The sportsbook
might shift the line to something like -130 for the Cowboys and shift the line
to something like +110 for the Packers. This will make more people, and more
money starts coming in on the Packers as you will now be getting a much better
payout if the Packers win. Subsequently, you will be getting a worse payout if
the Cowboys win and have to risk more money to get the same payout. The
sportsbook will continually shift these lines back and forth if need be to try
and get the amount of money they want on each side. It doesn't always work out
perfectly for them, but that is not going to affect you as a bettor at all.
If you'd like to learn more about the sportsbook juice, here's a great link
that
goes into a bit more detail on the topic.
Ties
When it comes to ties, it will all depend on the sport you are betting on and
the sportsbook you are betting at as to how the tie will be handled. Typically,
if you are capable of betting on a tie, then the other two win bets would be
losses in the event of a tie. If it is a sport where you are not capable of
betting on a tie, both bets would typically be a push, and you would receive all
of your money back with no profit or loss. Sports like soccer allow patrons to
bet on ties and most sportsbooks treat these as losses if you bet on a team to
win. Sports like football, you cannot bet on a tie (except as a prop bet), and
therefore these bets would be treated by most sportsbooks as a push. If you bet
$100, you would get your $100 back.
Moneyline Strategy
Just because this bet is so simple does not mean that it can't be a
profitable bet for you. The professional bettors use this bet on a daily basis
to support their livelihood. Remember, how complicated a bet is has nothing to
do with how good the payouts are going to be. For some reason people like to
over think this and they believe that there are special complex bets that are
only available to seasoned sports bettors. This is simply not true. If you'd
like to look into some specific strategies to help maximize your winnings with
moneyline bets, here's a great
guide we've put together for you to check out.
The Pennsylvania sports betting scene is starting to get a little overwhelming. There are eight PA brick and mortar sportsbooks to choose from. Plus, there are three online betting apps on offer in Pennsylvania.
You may be overwhelmed to go to a sportsbook and try to place a bet at the counter. Or you may want to learn a little more about how to bet online in PA.
With such an influx of new or relatively inexperienced bettors, an overview of the most common types of wagers becomes particularly useful.
So check out our basic rundown of what the lingo is, what types of bets are offered, and how to place those bets.
Moneylines, run lines, and puck lines
Novice bettors are likely familiar with terms such as 'thespread' or 'the number.'
However, it's almost certain that the one type of bet they've ever heard is a good, old-fashioned, 'straight-up' wager.
What is the moneyline?
Moneylines (football and basketball), runlines (baseball), and pucklines (hockey) are the industry terms for the odds assigned to which team will win a game or match.
Typically, moneyline wagers are the most expensive type of sports bet. In other words, the bettor needs to risk a more significant amount of money on average. And the end result is a payday comparable to other, less expensive bets.
Essentially, that's because the odds of picking a straight-up winner in a sporting event are usually appreciably higher. It's more difficult to correctly predict a margin of victory or whether a game will go under or over a projected total.
How to read the moneyline
Moneyline bets are presented in the following way on a sportsbook's board or online platform:
Favorites are displayed with a three-digit number and a minus sign preceding it.
This number quantifies how much needs to be wagered on that team to win $100. The minus sign is indicative of the fact that when placing money on a 'favorite,' the bettor must wager an amount greater Parlay tips. than the amount he or she would potentially win.
Conversely, underdogs are displayed with a three-digit number and a plussign is preceding it.
This number quantifies how much the bettor wins if he or she wagers $100 on that team. The plus sign is indicative of the fact that when placing money on an 'underdog,' the bettor potentially wins an amount greater than Texas holdem win. the one he or she put down.
Incidentally, $100 is the figure utilized in the example because it is a nice, round number. That makes it easy to illustrate how a moneyline wager works. Moneyline wagers are actually accepted in any amount.
Sample moneyline wagers
The following are examples of NFL moneyline wagers:
Let's say the LosAngelesChargers are listed as a 10-point favorite over the OaklandRaiders.
With LA the clear-cut favorite, the moneyline odds are listed like so:
Chargers -450: A bettor who wishes to wager on the Chargers to win the game outright will have to bet $450 to win $100. Therefore, if the Chargers win the game, the bettor receives his or her original $450 back, plus $100, for a total of $550.
Then, the sportsbook lists the Raiders as the underdog. In the hypothetical game, the moneyline wager might look like this:
Raiders +360: A bettor who wishes to wager on the Raiders to win the game outright will win $360 if he or she wagers $100. Therefore, if the Raiders pull the upset and win the game, the bettor receives his or her original $100 back, plus $360, for a total of $460.
Point spreads
Point spreads are also a popular and well-known form of sports wagering.
The point spread is a projected margin of victory or defeat for the two teams in a given matchup.
Let's continue with the Chargers example. The LA team is favored to win by at least 10 points over the Raiders. Those wagering on the Chargers and 'giving up' those points are betting that LA outscores Oakland by more than 10 points.
Conversely, those who bet the opposite 'side' of the game don't care if Oakland loses. They only need them to lose by less than 10 points to realize a return.
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There's also a scenario where neither side realizes a return and all bettors merely break even. This happens if the Chargers win the game by exactly 10 points.
In that instance, the line is considered a 'push.' The book refunds bettors who wagered either side of the game.
How much you can win betting the spread
Payouts on point spread bets depend on the odds assigned to either side of the wager. It's important to note there are cases, often with particularly large spreads like in our example, where a favorite may actually offer better odds than an underdog.
Chargers are expected to win the game, but the odds of a 10-point-plus win in football are worse than one by a smaller margin.
Can You Win Betting Baseball
Therefore, your payout if you bet the Chargers to win by more than 10 points may be -105 (must bet $105 to win $100).
Alternatively, your payout if you take the Raiders to lose by less than 10 points may be slightly worse at -115 (must bet $115 to win $100).
Oddsmakers set point spreads so wagers come in on both teams as evenly as possible.
Sportsbooks naturally want to avoid being 'overexposed' to one side of a wager as much as possible. This helps prevent some potentially sizable losses for the casinos.
Totals bets
Totals, or over/under bets, are another straightforward wagering concept.
In a totals wager, the bettor places money on whether or not the cumulative point/run total of the two teams will be more or less than the total set by the sportsbook.
Totals bets are often, but not always, set with odds of -110, meaning the bettor must wager $110 to make $100.
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To exploit the MLB, for example, a totals bet for a New York Mets-Miami Marlins game may be listed as follows:
9.0 runs (-110)
The sportsbook has set the projected total of runs scored by both teams at nine. Bettors who wager that the two teams combined will score either more or less than that total will need to wager $110 to win $100.
As with the point spread example, there is also the possibility of a push when it comes totals bets. In our example, this would occur if the cumulative run total is exactly nine.
In such a scenario, bettors would receive refunds on their original bet.
Parlay bets
Parlay bets are specialty wagers that involve at least two games, but often more.
There are variousforms of parlay bets that are based on the different bet types previously outlined, i.e., point spread parlay wagers, moneyline parlay wagers, and totals parlay wagers.
Successfully cashing a parlay is a multilayered process compared to other bets. There cannot be a losing bet within a parlay, i.e., the bettor must be 100 percent correct on the wager attached to every game within the parlay.
On the bright side, pushes won't disqualify a parlay wager from cashing. Parlays also survive eventualities such as rained-out baseball games or events that ends in a tie.
However, there is a trade-off. Namely, the payouts in those cases are calculated factoring out that game, lessening them to a varying degree.
Parlay odds can vary significantly from sportsbook to sportsbook. Once a parlay bet is placed, however, the odds and lines are locked in.
That holds true, irrespective of any other changes the point spread, projected totals, or moneyline involving any of the teams within the parlay undergo after the parlay wager has been made.
As with other wagers, the payout is commensurate to the degree of difficulty of getting the bet correct. To put it succinctly, the more teams are wagered on in a parlay, the better the payout.
Teasers
Teasers are a form of parlay wager that excludes moneyline bets.
In a teaser, the bettor gets to play oddsmaker. He or she can manipulate the point spread, or total, within a certain predetermined range. The goal is to improve the odds of winning the bet.
Due to this advantage afforded to the bettor, a teaser pays out less than a conventional parlay because of the greater probability of a win.
The one requisite with a teaser bet is that the movement of the line or total must be applied to each team in that parlay. However, it's important to note that the bettor can apply the movement in different directions.
Having already cited NFL and MLB examples, let's incorporate basketball into the discussion. An NBA teaser on a two-team parlay that combines the above would be the following:
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In a Pistons-Hornets matchup where Charlotte is favored by 5.5 points, the bettor moves the line an additional four points up to 9.5 points.
He or she then plunks down money on the Pistons to lose by less than that margin. The four-point movement is a significant one and considerably increases the odds of Detroit coming in under the number.
Conversely, say a Toronto Raptors-Golden State Warriors matchup in the same parlay opens with Golden State as a seven-point home favorite.
The bettor favors the Warriors to likely prevail, but has doubts about them being able to do so by more than seven points against a quality opponent. Thus, they bring the spread down the same four points to lower the required margin of victory to three points.
That significantly increases the odds of a Golden State cover.
