Punt the American Way at Sportsbooks
Last time I wrote about south africa betting scene. This time I want to write a bit about the US. As a sports punter I know how difficult it can be for novices to grasp certain sports betting concepts. But if you’re serious about punting on your favorite American teams then you’re going to have to understand moneylines. There are basically two distinct possibilities to consider here. The moneyline figures can be positive or negative. To say that moneyline odds are a likening to American odds would not be stretching the truth much. As a matter of fact, moneyline odds are a specific reference to the straight-up result of a game with no due consideration given to the point-spread concept. As mentioned earlier, there are both positive and negative figures to consider.
Positive figures (+) in front of the odds represented are a reflection of how much money stands to be won on a typical $100 bet. So if we were to have fractional odds of 5/1 they would be reflected as +500. Negative figures (-) on the other hand show how much money must be wagered in order to win a $100 bet. This is always done for the purposes of odds that are less than even. So a fractional bet of 1/2 would be shown as -200. The other option in moneyline betting is the term even odds. Thus it would be reflected as + or – 100 with most bookmakers not bothering to place the sign in front of the 100.
Moneylines in great detail
I’ve compiled a list of several points that should always be born in mind when playing the moneyline bets. Remember that moneylines are all about the team winning. With that in mind, let’s see what needs to happen with these bets:
- Moneylines change between the placing of the bet and the event’s starting time – but payouts depend solely on odds at bet placement
- In order for punters to win the bets, the team that he/she bet on must win the game
- When it comes to the same event, then both moneyline bets and totals lines can be placed
- Moneyline bets can be placed on 1 team while a Point Spread bet is placed on the other team
- Moneyline bets and Point Spread bets cannot be placed on the same team
- If there are tie games these are considered no action results
- Moneyline bets can only be placed on 1 team
To clarify much of the information that I’ve listed above, I’d like to make use of a simple example. Let’s say that a sports bettor decides to bet on Buffalo (-190) beating Miami (+285). That means that the bettor must wager $190 to win back $100 if Buffalo wins the game. But another sports bettor needs to wager only $100 to potentially win back $285 – a real treat and unlikely.
