All you need to know about: Moneyline Betting
Diving into sports betting? Then you'll likely encounter "moneyline betting" – a fundamental way to back your favourite teams and players. It's a straightforward concept, ideal for beginners and seasoned punters alike. This guide breaks down the essentials, revealing the nuances you need to consider before placing your wager. Think of it as your shortcut to understanding the odds and potential payouts.
Moneyline bets are featured across virtually every sport, from football to cricket, making a solid grasp of this betting type crucial. Whether you're looking at Premier League odds or international events, understanding the moneyline is the first step to informed betting. We'll equip you with the knowledge to confidently navigate the world of sports wagering.
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What is moneyline betting?
Moneyline betting explained
Moneyline betting is the most straightforward wager available for any sports event, where you simply pick which team or athlete you believe will win. If it's a team sport, such as football, basketball, or baseball, you just choose the team you want to bet on.
For individual events like tennis or boxing, you select a specific athlete to win. Some sports events feature more than two competitors, such as Formula 1, track and field, or swimming, and many UK online bookmakers offer moneyline betting on these too.
What is moneyline betting good for in the UK?
As mentioned, moneyline betting is the simplest way to place a wager. Online sportsbooks offer numerous other betting options that require a deeper understanding. Betting on spreads, totals, individual totals, quarters, halves, and over/under bets all need specific knowledge, whereas moneyline betting is generally comprehensible for the average sports fan in the United Kingdom.
With online moneyline betting, all you need to do is pick the team or athlete you think will win, then sit back and enjoy the event while supporting your chosen wager.
If you enjoy watching sports events, placing a bet makes it even more exciting. Watching a game with friends who share your passion for sports betting, especially if you're supporting opposing teams, can be incredibly fun.
Why do UK bettors choose moneyline betting?
Most bettors, particularly newcomers to sports betting in the UK, opt for moneyline betting online due to the straightforward assumption that every team or athlete is aiming to win the given match or event.
Another reason for choosing moneyline betting is its time efficiency. You can simply visit the best online betting website, check the schedule, and pick the team(s) you believe will win. You can place a moneyline bet on a single game or combine multiple games into a parlay bet.
Many online sportsbooks offer the option to place a single bet across multiple games from different sports. While some sites don't limit the number of games you can bet on, others might cap it, often around 20 games.
How do moneyline bets work for UK players?
Possible outcomes using moneyline betting
Depending on the sport, there can be two or three potential outcomes for a given event. For basketball, baseball, ice hockey, or tennis matches, there are typically only two moneyline betting options: a win or loss for a specific team or player. However, for sports like football or boxing, a draw is also a possible outcome.
Most online sportsbooks provide moneyline options that align with the specific regulations for each sport. This means you can often bet on a draw outcome even in sports like basketball and ice hockey if you wish.
For such a bet to win, the basketball or ice hockey game must conclude in a draw during regulation time (40 or 48 minutes for basketball, or 60 minutes for ice hockey). If this happens, your bet wins, irrespective of the overtime period's outcome.
Moneyline betting odds types
The key element of moneyline betting is the given odds for each of the options in which a certain sporting event can finish. The betting odds or wagers vary depending on the perceived possibility a certain team or athlete will win a given sporting event.
When looking at potential betting options and the perceived possibility a certain team or athlete will win, there are three components of a moneyline odds or wagers: the favorite, the underdog and even.
The Favorite
A favorite is a team or an athlete who is most likely to win. The likeliness of the winning is based on quality, recent form, competition, home court advantage, injuries, head-to-head matchups, the importance of the game and many other factors that influence the odds.
For example, if you want to place a bet on a basketball game between the United States and China, the options for each team to win will have way different odds simply because the United States are widely considered as the best basketball team in the world for decades while China has a limited quality.
The odds for the favorites are most of the time starting with a minus (-).
The Underdog
The underdog is the team or the athlete who is less likely to win. Placing a bet on an underdog gives you an opportunity to win much more than what your bet is, which even is less likely, sometimes really pays off.
The best moneyline bettors know how to sense a possible upset and when those teams or athletes win, the amount they get from their bet is a couple of times bigger than the placed amount.
Each NCAA basketball tournament brings many upsets and whoever places the right bets would say that he has had a good season.
The odds for the underdogs are most of the time starting with plus (+).
The Even
An ‘even’ games are the ones where either team or player has similar chances to win. For example, if you want to place a bet on a game between France and Argentina in the FIFA World Cup, the odds for a win of each of the teams will be really close which makes the pick more difficult but the possible win much higher than when you bet on the favorite.
How and why do moneyline odds change?
The moneyline odds for a given sporting event are changeable from the moment they are posted until the game starts. You can see them going up and down and being different at different online bookmakers.
The reasons for that can be different. Usually, the odds change if a certain player or multiple players are ruled out of a game with injuries or other personal reasons. Another reason for the odds to go up or down is the amount of money a certain bookmaker has received on certain betting options.
For example, if there is more money than usual or expected placed on the Boston Celtics defeating the Los Angeles Lakers, the odds for the Celtics’ win will drop.
If the odds changing will affect the betting really comes up to the player himself. Roster changes or the number of bets placed on a certain option may or may not have a valuable impact on the game itself and is up to the player if he will take them into consideration.
Should you bet on the moneyline?
If you as a sports fan want to add some excitement to watching a game or show loyalty and belief to your favorite team or player, moneyline is the right choice for you. Having a bet placed on a win of a certain team or a player gives you an additional feeling that you are a part of the game which can be real fun if the game goes according to your expectations.
Another reason why you should pick moneyline betting is that it is the easiest to follow. Whether you are watching the game or you are only following the score, all it requires is one look and the screen and you know where your bet stands at the moment.
Tips and tricks on moneyline betting
There are multiple factors you need to pay attention to if you decide to place your bet using moneyline betting especially if you are serious about it.
You will need to get all the info on the current roster and injury report on a certain team, recent form, how busy their schedule is, the time spent traveling by the team, team record, the history of the head-to-head games and the importance of the game for both teams.
All these factors make even more of a difference when it comes to individual sports such as tennis or boxing.
If you take sports betting more seriously, you definitely need to build a short or long term strategy. You need to choose if you are going to place single bets or parlay bets if you are going to stick to a certain team or a sport or if you will mix all of these. As deeper you go, it will require more time but whatever you choose you will need luck.
FAQs
What is the difference between moneyline and spread?
Moneyline betting is choosing which team or a player will win the game while a spread is placing a bet with a given handicap that makes the chances for both outcomes of the game even.
Do moneyline odds differ from one sportsbook to another?
If you compare the odds for a specific game given by multiple bookmakers, there will definitely be differences. These differences will not be large but if you are placing a single bet and you involve a decent amount of money, picking the best odds makes a difference.
Can moneyline odds changes affect my bet after I have placed it?
No. Once you place your bet on certain odds, those odds are relevant no matter how much and in which direction they will change after your have placed you bet.
On which sports I can bet using moneyline betting?
Moneyline betting is the basic betting game and is offered by every bookmaker. Therefore, you can use moneyline betting in any given sport by the bookmakers.
