There are many choices available to you if you wish to wager on football. There are many different kinds of wagers available in addition to the several games you can wager on. By far the most common categories are point spreads and totals, and many football bettors only use those. Since some of the other bets can be quite helpful under the correct circumstances, this isn’t actually the best strategy.

One of such bets is unquestionably the moneyline. This is frequently seen as an alternative to the point spread, and in some ways, it is. However, just because you like betting on the spread doesn’t mean you should disregard this. In this post, we provide some advice for betting football moneylines as well as an explanation of why.

But first, let’s go through just how moneylines function in football betting. You may either read on for additional information down the page or watch the video we made.

What Is A Moneyline Bet?

The simplest and clearest wager in all of sports betting is a moneyline wager. Depending on the sport, there could be two or three outcomes to this wager. Bettors select one player or team to win when there are two players or teams mentioned on a moneyline wager.

Moneyline bets may also feature a third alternative, called a “draw,” in sports like soccer (European football) or boxing matches or mixed martial arts fights. In a “draw,” there is neither a winner nor a loser.

Some sportsbook applications will let you choose a draw as an option on a moneyline wager, while others will let you choose a player or club that would win instead of a draw outcome, known as a “Draw no bet” option.

A sportsbook will compensate bettors with the odds owing them when they accurately predict an event.

The absence of a point spread makes the moneyline a plain and easy wager. All bettors need to do is select the victor in a soccer or European football match, or if a draw is a possibility, a boxing or mixed martial arts contest.

Favorites
In a game, competition, or event, the “favorite” is the team that bookies predict will win. The minus sign (we’ll explain the “almost” part later) is nearly always used to indicate favorites on the moneyline.

Let’s use the example of a moneyline favorite that is listed on the betting board as -180. The amount denoted by the negative sign represents the minimum bet necessary to win $100. A bettor who wants to win $100 will therefore stake $180. Another bettor will stake $18 in an effort to win $10. Yet another bettor will stake $90 (or half of $180) in order to win $50.

Keep in mind that even if your side loses, the money you bet stays with the sportsbook. However, if your team wins, you get paid out $280 instead of $18 at -180 moneyline odds, which means that if you spent $180 to win $100, a winning bet would pay out $280.

Underdog
The underdog is the person or group that is thought to have a lower chance of winning. A bettor would need to gamble $100 (again using $100 as the usual betting unit) in order to win the amount mentioned (i.e. +150 for an underdog win).

In this case, a $100 bet would result in a $150 win, for a total payment of $250. On the moneyline, an underdog is always denoted by a plus sign (+) and will always pay out more money than the bettor initially staked.

Favorites vs. underdogs
There may not be many gamblers attracted by the risk/reward of betting on Alabama -10000 against Duke. On the moneyline, betting on underdogs might, however, result in significant winnings. For instance, No. 15 seed Oral Roberts defeated No. 2 seed Ohio State with +900 odds in the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Anyone who wagered on Oral Roberts on the moneyline would have received a payout of nine times their original wager. There won’t be odds like those on standard point spread wagers. One benefit of betting moneyline is that.

The three types of outcomes on a moneyline bet

Win
If a bettor correctly predicts the winning person or team, or a draw if it is specifically included as a possible result, they will win their wager. In a boxing or MMA bout as well as a soccer or European football match, the draw is frequently presented as an option.

Loss
If a bettor fails to correctly predict the winning player or team, they will lose their stake. Bettors will also lose if they chose “draw” in a game or fight that results in such a result but did not.

“Draw” or “Draw no bet”
A “Draw no bet” occurs when a moneyline wager does not include a draw as an option, even though it is a possible result. This typically occurs when a moneyline bet only provides the option for either team to win in soccer/European football games.

With this form of betting, if there is a draw, bettors will receive their entire stake back as if their wager had resulted in a “push.” However, if a moneyline bet includes a draw option, the only way bettors may win their stake is if they choose a draw as the result. Otherwise, gamblers will forfeit that stake.