Nba Money Line Explained

For NBA money line odds, it s a simple math formula that s based on $100 wagers. Toronto -400 (Bet $100 to win $25) San Antonio +300 (Bet $100 to win $300) In the above example, Toronto is the favorite (-) while San Antonio is the underdog. If a bettor wanted to back Toronto, who is expected to win, they would only win $25 on a $100 wager since.

  1. A moneyline bet is a sports betting wager on which team or person will win a game or sporting contest. When you make a moneyline wager, you are betting on who will win a contest. It doesn’t matter how they win, by how many points, goals, or runs they win, or how long it takes them to win.
  2. NBA Moneyline Explained NBA Money Line betting is the simplest and a popular form of NBA betting. With NBA money line betting you are simply picking which team will outright win the game. NBA Money Line odds will list the the favorite in a given game as a negative number (ie.200) that means you will have to bet that amount to win $100.
  3. A moneyline is a type of straight wager where the bettor wagers simply on who will win the contest, straight up – without any spread involved. The easiest way to think of moneyline betting odds is that you are only betting on who wins the game. It does not matter how many points or goals they win by, all that matters is who wins.

In the world of sports betting, a money line bet is simply betting on which team you expect to win. It doesn’t have anything to do with a spread. You may also see a money line bet listed as “Money Line” or “ML” in different spaces.

Money lines are represented in negative and positive values.

Negative money line: -145, -220, or anything similar

When you see a minus (-) sign in front of a price, it shows you that team is the favorite to win the game.

That number also indicates how much money you need to bet/spend in order to win $100.

For example, a -220 money line means you need to bet $220 in order to win $100 provided the team you bet on actually does win.

Heavy favorites are known in sports betting as a “chalk” pick. A heavy favorite usually has a number pushing +300 or more. Here, you’re wagering a lot on the favorite to win a little. Don’t assume that a heavy favorite, or chalk pick, is a guaranteed winner…

Positive money line: +145, +220, or anything similar

When you see a plus (+) sign in front of a price, it shows you that team is the underdog. Higher numbers like +400, +500, +5000, etc. represent how much of an underdog the team is in the game. The higher the number the more likely the team is expected to lose in the eyes of the oddsmakers.

The number also indicates how much money would win in comparison to every $100 you wager.

For example, a +150 money line means you would win $150 for each $100 wager you place should that team win the game.

Money line examples:

Lets use an NFL example here:

New England Patriots -240

Miami Dolphins +220

To bet the New England Patriots to win on the money line, you would need to spend $240 on the bet for a chance to win $100 if the Patriots beat the Dolphins. Your return would be $340 – the original $240 stake (bet) and the $100 bet profit.

To bet the Miami Dolphins to win on the money line, you would spend $100 on the bet for a chance to win $220 if the Dolphins, as the underdog, beat the Patriots. Your return would be $320 – the original $100 stake (bet) and the $220 profit.

In both situations, it doesn’t matter if the team you bet on wins by one point or 100 points. You’re purely betting on the team you believe will win the game. As Al Davis said, “Just win, baby.” That’s exactly what you’d be looking for out of your selection. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to happen or your original stake is lost.

Moneyline Betting in the NBA

NBA bettors are faced with many decisions on a daily basis. They have several different options on any one game, ranging from point spreads to totals to moneylines. Even though the majority of wagers placed on the NBA use the point spread, there are times when it may be more beneficial to a bettor to play the moneyline.

Determining when to bet against the point spread and when to use the moneyline isn’t necessarily easy. There is no formula that says to bet 7-point favorites on the moneyline, even though that has been extremely profitable over the past few seasons. All a bettor can really do is look at past results to help them decide if they are better off using the moneyline or the point spread and look at the game in question and how strongly they believe in their opinion.

The NBA has seen favorites cover the point spread more than the underdogs have during the past few seasons. Between the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons, betting $100 on every favorite of 2 to 10 points would have shown a loss of $5,740. But wagering $100 on every underdog of 2 and 10 points would have netted a loss of $22,750.

Likewise, a flat-bet on all moneyline favorites between 2 and 10 points would have shown a loss of $14,880, while blindly wagering $100 on each underdog would have yielded a loss of $30,080. In order to get a better understanding of how favorites and underdogs do both against the point spread and on the moneyline they need to be broken into four groups; point spread favorite, moneyline favorite, point spread underdog, and moneyline underdog.

Because many top sports betting sites don’t offer moneyline wagering on games with a point spread of 1.5 or less or 10.5 and higher, those games have been excluded from the three-year study.

Moneyline Favorites Point Spread Favorites

2.0 points (-130) 107-79 +430 2.0 points 94-82-10 +380

2.5 points (-140) 108-74 +440 2.5 points 89-93-0 -1330

3.0 points (-150) 126-99 -2250 3.0 points 106-109-10 -1390

3.5 points (-165) 118-80 -1400 3.5 points 93-104-0 -2140

Explained

4.0 points (-190) 118-85 -4350 4.0 points 88-109-6 -3190

4.5 points (-200) 138-71 -400 4.5 points 105-104-0 -940

5.0 points (-220) 126-75 -3900 5.0 points 95-100-6 -1500

5.5 points (-240) 140-51 +1760 5.5 points 106-85-0 +1250

6.0 points (-250) 135-51 +750 6.0 points 99-81-6 +990

6.5 points (-300) 135-55 -3100 6.5 points 96-93-0 -630

7.0 points (-330) 139-34 +2680 7.0 points 95-72-6 +1580

7.5 points (-360) 129-34 +660 7.5 points 82-81-0 -710

8.0 points (-450) 103-21 +850 8.0 points 54-61-9 -1310

8.5 points (-500) 116-33 -4900 8.5 points 79-70-0 +200

9.0 points (-550) 98-30 -6700 9.0 points 57-65-6 -1450

9.5 points (-600) 102-13 +2400 9.5 points 74-41-0 +2890

10 points (-650) 80-9 +2150 10 points 54-34-2 +1560

Total -14,880 Total -5740

As you can see from the chart, small favorites of 2.5 points or less fared much better when bet on the moneyline compared to the point spread, showing a profit of $870 compared to a $950 loss if using the point spread. But as the lines get higher, there is definitely more value to use the point spread and stay away from the bigger moneyline prices. Favorites of six or more points showed a moneyline loss of $5,210, while betting on the favorites with the point spread would have yielded a profit of $3,120.

The chart suggests playing the extremely small favorites on the moneyline and the extremely large favorites using the point spread.

Moneyline Underdogs Point Spread Underdogs

2.0 points (+110) 79-107 -2010 2.0 points 82-94-10 -2140

2.5 points (+120) 108-74 +440 2.5 points 89-93-0 -1330

3.0 points (+130) 99-126 +270 3.0 points 109-106-10 -760

3.5 points (+145) 80-118 -200 3.5 points 104-93-0 +170

4.0 points (+165) 85-118 +2225 4.0 points 109-88-6 +1220

4.5 points (+170) 71-138 -1730 4.5 points 104-105-0 -1150

5.0 points (+180) 75-126 +900 5.0 points 100-95-6 -450

5.5 points (+190) 51-140 -4310 5.5 points 85-106-0 -3160

6.0 points (+200) 51-135 -3300 6.0 points 81-99-6 -2790

6.5 points (+240) 55-134 -200 6.5 points 93-96-0 -1260

Money Line Nba Tonight

7.0 points (+250) 34-139 -3380 7.0 points 72-95-6 -3250

7.5 points (+280) 34-129 -3380 7.5 points 81-82-0 -920

8.0 points (+325) 21-103 -3475 8.0 points 61-54-9 +160

8.5 points (+350) 33-116 -50 8.5 points 70-79-0 -1690

9.0 points (+375) 98-30 +1450 9.0 points 65-57-6 +230

9.5 points (+400) 102-13 -5000 9.5 points 41-74-0 -4040

10 points (+450) 9-80 -3950 10 points 34-54-2 -2430

What Does Moneyline Mean In Basketball

Total -30,080 Total -22750

In a bit of irony, just as small moneyline favorites were the way to go, smaller moneyline underdogs also out-perform smaller underdogs against the point spread. Moneyline underdogs of 4 points or less showed a profit of $725, while betting underdogs of four points or less with the point spread would have yielded a loss of $2,840, so there is something to be said for taking smaller underdogs on the moneyline.

As the point spread gets higher, moneyline underdogs become worse bets than point spread wagers, although both were a losing proposition. Moneyline underdogs of 6 to 10 points showed a loss of $23,305, while those who bet the same teams against the point spread showed a loss of $15,990.

Nba Moneyline Explained News

Moneylines do vary between different sportsbooks, so it always pays to shop for the best odds, which is one benefit of having more than one online account. One sportsbook may have all 3-point favorites -150 on the moneyline and +130 for the underdog, while another may make the favorite -155 and +135 on the underdog. The extra five cents will add up in a big way at the end of the season.

Other sportsbooks are reluctant to move the moneyline odds from the opening number. They may move the point spread and leave the moneyline alone, so you may be able to find some good prices on a game that has moved a point or two from the opening number.

Nba Money Line Meaning

Don’t overlook moneyline betting in the NBA, as sometimes it may be your best bet.