How To Win Money Line Bets

The statement I’m about to make will most certainly shock any sports bettor who reads it. While most of us are under the impression that everyone betting sports wins long term, so long as they bet often enough, this isn’t actually true.

In terms of those carrying a plus sign, they denote the amount of money you would win if you were successful with a $100 wager. For example, if you place a $100 bet on the Dallas Cowboys at +160, you would win $160.

• If the American odds are positive the formula is as follows: (American odds / 100) + 1 = decimal odds. If the American odds are negative, the formula is as follows: 1 - (100 / - American odds.
• Get ready to learn how to bet and win with this simple guide, then head to your favorite sportsbook and place a bet with the best online sports betting odds. How to bet and win with contrarian betting If you want to learn how to bet and win.
• Both sides of each moneyline wager are paid on a different schedule and that could make this kind of bet confusing. The favorite team or player on the moneyline is the team that’s expected to win. This side of the bet usually listed with a minus (-) sign.

Wait you’re not surprised? Of course you’re not! Everyone knows the bookmaker has an advantage so more times than not sports bettors lose. However, what if there was a way that the rolls could be reversed; what if the sports bettor always had the advantage?

This is in fact possible.

Have you ever heard the term advantage player? This is a label gambling companies assign to players who only bet when the odds are in their favor.

Even though “on average” bookmakers have a 4.55% advantage on straight bets (2.38% @ -105), the key word is “average”; advantage players find bets where the bookmaker’s advantage is negative. Whether your goal is to be a sports betting pro, or just earn a little money on the side, the first step to winning is to stop making –EV bets.

If you understand what expected value, -EV, and +EV mean, go ahead and skip down to our advice on finding +EV bets. If you’re not familiar with this concept continue reading.

Expected Value (EV) Explained

Expected value is a term professional gamblers use on a regular basis. To explain what it means in simple terms I’ll use an example. Let’s say me and you decided to have a coin flipping contest. We flip coins and you give me $1 for each outcome of heads; I give you $1 for each outcome of tails. We could flip coins for all eternity and neither of us will ever have an advantage because on average half the time we lose $1 half the time we win $1. While there will be swings back and forth, as long as we flip the coin enough times eventually we’ll both break even. This particular bet has neutral expected value.

Now let’s say I’m tired of flipping coins, and want to quit, but while begging me to stay you offer me a better deal. This new deal pays me $1.10 for every heads, and I still pay you $1.00 for every tails. What happens now is half the time I win $1.10 and half the time I lose $1.00. If we flip 100 times I should average 50 wins of $1.10 ($55) and 50 losses of $1 ($50). Every flip of the coin I have a positive expectation (+EV) of 5 cents. As the one offering me this proposition you have the opposite, every flip of the coin is 5 cents –EV for you.

Every wager made in sports betting has either a positive expected value (+EV), negative expectation value (-EV) or in rare cases neutral expected value. Winning sports betting requires avoiding –EV and finding +EV bets.

Finding +EV Sports Bets

The reasons most sports bettors don’t spend time learning the tricks of advantage players is it’s slightly time consuming, most have no leads how to do it, are overwhelmed or when they do learn it’s not actually fun. If you’re looking for something fun we suggest paint balling, a trip to the amusement park, circus or what have you. If you’re looking to actually make money then you’ll need to know how to find +EV bets.

At TheSportsGeek.com we have several articles on this topic you’ll want to read:

Teaser Betting Strategy – This is perhaps the easiest method a sports bettor can use to find bets with a positive advantage. When you also read our article on the current betting market, you’ll realize just before game time the lines are efficient. Teasers are based off the current betting lines, so no longer do you need to go do any deep analysis to find out whether as straight bet is +EV. Here find spots where teasers increase the win rate by enough and you’ll have a +EV bet. This is all described in our article on teaser betting strategy.

Prop Betting Strategy – Prop bets are generally considered the easiest wagering opportunity for sports bettors to beat. In our article on prop betting strategy I give a full break down of the prop bet “which team will score first”. After reading that article you’ll have enough information to start finding +EV bets on this specific prop. In time, as you get experience you’ll be able to solve other prop bet on your own and then beat them using as similar method to the one I show in the example.

Must Read Sports Betting Books

If you’re new to advantage betting some books that will help you greatly with the basics are:

1) Sharp Sports Betting by Stanford Wong

2) Weighing the Odds in Sports Betting by King Yao

Once you’re much more experienced and ready to take things to the next level then I strongly Conquering Risk: Attacking Vegas and Wall Street by Elihu D. Feustel. This is a book for advanced sports bettors and not a good read for anyone not already winning. It is heavily math, statistic and handicapping intensive. If you eventually decided on a career as an advantage player at some point down the road you’ll want to work to understand what Elihu D. Feustel shares in this book.

No matter what methods you use to find +EV bets, the information contained in our article on finding maximum value is a must read. Next, if you’re thinking about purchasing picks, read our article on winning without a tout. In that article you’ll also find some information on getting free picks. Use that with the earlier mention getting max value article, and shopping the market and you’ll likely be turning an easy, yet slightly time consuming profit.

With this out of the way let me now cover the easiest way to get your bankroll started: “Bonus Whoring”.

A Free Lunch in Sports Betting

If you’ve heard the saying there is no such thing as a free lunch, well think again. Here are some bonuses that sports betting sites offer to players making their first deposit:

Money Line Bet Nfl

At the time of writing this Bookmaker is offering a massive holiday bonus of 25% up to $2,500 sports + 175% up to $1,000 poker + 100% up to $250 casino. If you don’t have an account, visit Bookmaker and register using Bonus Code THEGEEK on the sign up field. After logging in, head to the cashier where the available “deposit bonus codes” will be listed. Use this code and you’ll now have the added advantage of massive free play bonus.

Bovada offers 10% cash bonus on bettor’s first deposit. The best thing about this bonus is it is instant and it’s cash (as opposed to free play). Also no crazy strings such as rollover, hold period etc, simply roll your initial deposit and 10% bonus over a single time and it is free and clear your own money to keep.

Here you can get up to $1,000 in free bonus money. Getting the max bonus is a multi step process. First sign up, and be sure to leave the Promotion Code field empty. Next follow the steps on our BetOnline Bonus page to negotiate a massive bonus with their live support.

When you combine +EV bets with free bonus cash, winning at sports betting is a cinch. The only piece of the puzzle you have left is protecting and growing your bankroll. Our best advice here, never wager more than a few percent of what you have on hand on a single game.

Once you have this all down, while it takes other sports bettors a lot of luck to win, the opposite is true for you. A bookie beating an advantage player who uses responsible bet sizing, keeps his composure during downswings while making only +EV bets, is quite difficult. Follow this and the only ways you lose is horrible bad luck!

Once again don’t forget to take advantage of the bonus at www.Bovada.lv!

We wish you the best of luck and know soon enough you’ll be shacking your head confused the same at us, whenever you hear the statement “most sports bettors lose” and clearly you won’t be on of them.

Other Advanced Sports Betting Strategy Articles:

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For many bettors, placing a moneyline wager is the simplest way to make a bet. This type of wager is as straightforward as they come, asking bettors to determine the straight-up winner of a game or match.

Certain sports provide an additional option beyond the classic two-way moneyline. Three-way moneylines also allow sports bettors to bet either one of the two sides, but they provide an additional option by allowing bettors to put their money on the likelihood of the event ending in a tie.

Read on for a deeper look at which sports offer three-way moneyline betting and how to turn a profit when placing these wagers.

Three-Way Moneylines, Made Simple

Whereas a typical moneyline bet involves a bet on one of two options, three-way moneyline betting involves three options. When wagering on a three-way moneyline, you can bet either Team A to win, Team B to win, or for the event to end in a tie (sometimes referred to as a ‘draw’).

Naturally, three-way moneylines come into play for sports where the result may end in a tie and, as such, a winner cannot be determined through regular game time. Because it is harder to accurately predict an outcome with three choices rather than two, betting on a three-way moneyline will offer more value to bettors than a traditional moneyline.

Oddsmakers primarily employ three-way moneyline bets in two sports, hockey and soccer. Unsurprisingly, this is because these two sports are significantly more likely to end in a tie or draw.

The Three-Way Moneyline in Soccer

Wagers in soccer are decided after full-time, which refers to the full 90 minutes on the clock, plus any additional time that is added by the referee for injuries, stoppages, or any other reason. Unlike in the large majority of other sports, ties (“draws” in soccer terms) are extremely common due to the lower-scoring nature of the game.

In fact, draws occur so often in soccer that three-way moneyline betting is the most standard and popular way to bet on a soccer match. However, there are many other ways to bet on soccer as well.

Operationally, betting on the draw is just like betting on a side. However, when betting on the draw, you’re hoping for the score to be tied at the end of full-time. An example of three-way moneyline odds for a soccer match could be as follows:

As you can see, the option of a draw is listed in the same fashion as choosing either team as the outright victor. It is worth noting that regular season matches can always end in a draw, but some tournament-style matches will extend into extra time and possibly into penalties. In these tournaments (where winners are guaranteed thanks to penalty kick shoot-outs), three-way moneyline bets are predicated on a result being determined in the 90 minutes of full-time play. In this case, your bet will be graded as a loss if the side you select to win does so after regular time.

Three-Way Moneyline in Hockey

There are many hockey leagues around the world, but most hockey bettors wager on the National Hockey League (NHL).

Standard, two-way moneyline betting is a popular NHL wager. However, because games are often tied after three periods, most hockey betting sites also offer three-way moneylines on most games.

How To Win Money Line Bets

Two-way moneylines betting on the NHL ask you to pick a side to win outright, even if the game goes to overtime or ends in a shooutout. Whether your team wins after three periods, during overtime or through a shootout, if the team you pick wins—you win.

A standard, two-way moneyline bet looks like this:

To compare the differences, let’s look at three-way moneyline odds for this same game. Remember that the three-way moneyline eliminates overtime from the wager, meaning you’re simply betting on the outcome at the end of three periods.

How To Win Bet Daily

As you can see below, Vegas is still the favorite. However, in the three-way moneyline option, odds for both Vegas and Vancouver are longer. This means that if you select either team as an outright winner, you’ll see a better return on the three-way moneyline than you would on the two-way moneyline.

The tie is deemed the least likely option, so it offers the longest odds and biggest payout.

So if you’re looking for better value, longer odds, and higher payouts, three-way moneyline betting is the way to go. But remember, if you’re betting on a winner of the game, the bet is toast if they win in overtime or during the shootout. Three-way moneylines aren’t always the safest bet, but they can offer superior value.

Ready to Learn More Betting Terms and Strategies?

Three-way moneyline betting is just one of numerous ways to expand your horizons betting on sports. If you’re looking to learn more about betting terms, strategies and the sports betting industry, be sure to visit our 101 guides to sports betting.