Soccer Moneyline

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.

BetQL's Sloan Piva breaks down the NFL Week 15 odds and highlights his favorite spread, moneyline, and over/under picks, which include the Bears, Dolphins, Broncos, and Bills. When placing a moneyline wager, you bet on the outright winner of the event without taking the point spread into consideration. There are still favorites and underdogs, but instead of being handicapped or assisted by a point spread, the competitors are given odds to win the game or event.

Besides baseball and hockey, moneylines are used for betting on other sports where a point spread becomes irrelevant, such as auto racing, boxing, soccer, and tennis. While there are margins of victory in some of these, they are so small that it would be impossible to create a point spread for every game. In soccer, a money line takes the place of a point-spread but there is a twist. Bettors will always have the option of playing a favorite or an underdog, but you can also bet that the game will end in a draw, which is a tie. Barcelona -145 Manchester United +400 Draw +240. Get real-time scores, betting lines, and betting odds for all your favorite sports.

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.

Money Line Betting is the most common and easiest way of betting on soccer games. When betting on money lines, you are making a straight-forward bet on who will win the match. As we have mentioned in Soccer Over/Under Bets, a lot of online sportsbooks will use decimal odds instead of American Odds, as soccer is so primarily popular in Europe, where these Decimal odds are mainly used by books and bettors.

Calculation of Decimal Odds Money Lines

Let us say Brazil is playing England in the World Cup – a very prestigious world tournament that is played every four years-. It is a group stage, and there is still a possibility of a draw (there are no penalties and no extra time like in the quarter-finals). Brazil is a favorite due to its higher ranking, the way it played this tournament and its famous players. England is the underdog.

* Please see illustration below to help understand money line bets, text explanation follows.

The odds are as follows:

Brazil 1.5
Draw 2
England 3

• If you bet $100 on Brazil, you would win $50. To calculate that you need to subtract 1 from 1.5 and multiply by $100:
  (1.5 – 1) * $100 = $50 (getting $150 total back including your bet)
• If you were to pick England, betting $100, you could potentially win $200. It is calculated as such:
  (3 – 1) * $100 = $200 ($300 total back)
• You can also bet on the draw since this is a group stage. Thus, if you were to bet $100 on a draw, you could win $100:
  (2 – 1) * $100 = $100 ($200 total back)

Soccer Moneyline Bets

You might ask, “Why do I win less money when I bet on Brazil than England?” This is because Brazil is the favorite as mentioned above, and hence, they are more likely to win the match according to their stats and previous results/appearances. It simply provides an incentive to bet for the underdog, which all in all, is not a bad team either.

Soccer Moneyline Explained

Calculation of American Odds Money Lines

Many times you can choose to display decimal odds as American Odds, as all online sportsbooks will not give you this choice when viewing the available bets.

Moneyline Soccer Explained

Using the same example as above, the American Odds would be displayed as:

Brazil (-200)
Draw (100)
England (+200)

• This way, you need to bet $200 to win $100. If you bet on a draw, you should bet $100 and win $100 ($200 total). If you bet on the underdog, England, then you would win $200 for a bet of $100 ($300 total)
• That taken care of, we will now continue with decimal odds from here on

Soccer Moneyline Betting Tips

Moneyline betting is the most widely available form of betting. If you are betting on a match from a big event or a big league, you will likely find a great number of different money lines from online betting sites. You should utilize their availability and search for those money lines that you think will provide the best odds and potential wins. If you are confident that an underdog will win, look for the best underdog payoff. If you want to be safe and bet on the favorite but do not want to risk too much, you can look for the least expensive odds for the favorite.

Star Players

Another important online soccer money line betting tip is to pay close attention to the star players or mvp (most important player). Star players, particularly goalies and forwards, can break or make the game. This especially applies to average teams with a few star players during international competitions. If a star player is in his best form and has been doing well lately, then you should consider that the team might do well. If the star players are injured and their team is left with average players playing against a strong opponent, then it might make sense to bet on the opponent.