Betting
the Money-Line: Risking a Little to Make a Lot
Should you play the NFL money line? How profitable
can it be?
While
seasoned gamblers understand the money-line, many
sports bettors do not understand this betting option
and the huge potential benefits associated with using
it. This article will describe the money-line and
how it can be used to risk a little and win a lot
in the NFL.
What
is the Money-Line?
Playing
the money-line is equivalent to picking a team
(favorite or underdog) to win the game straight-up.
For this bet, there is no spread. If the team you
pick wins the game outright, you win your bet.
If the team loses, you lose the bet. And there
is no juice or vig (although the odds you get have
casino profit built in).
I
know what you're thinking just pick the favorite
each time and laugh all the way to the bank! Well,
it's not that simple. If this bet paid even money,
you would simply pick the favorites each week,
win more than 50% of your bets, and retire young.
That's why, of course, this bet doesn't pay even
money. If you select a favorite to win straight
up, you need to put down more than you can win.
If you select an underdog, you need to put down
less money than you can win. Let's look at a couple
of examples:
Example
1: Miami Dolphins -3 over Minnesota Vikings
For
this game, the sports book has set the Money Line
at -180 for Miami and +150 for Minnesota . That
means that if you want to bet Miami to win straight
up, you would need to lay $180 to win $100. If
you want to take Minnesota to win straight-up,
you would lay $100 to win $150.
Example
2: Buffalo Bills +6.5 over Green Bay Packers
For
the second game, the bookmaker has set the money
at -300 for the Pack and +230 for Buffalo . The
larger numbers reflect the larger spread. If you
can pick a 6.5 point underdog to win straight-up,
you would win $230 for a mere $100 bet.
Risking
a Little to Win a Lot
What
you may have noticed is that if you can successfully
pick underdogs to win straight-up, you can win
a lot of money without risking nearly as much.
I like this fact about the money line. And, if
you combine money-line picks into parlays, you
can really hit the jackpot with a small investment.
For example, if we parlayed Minnesota and Buffalo
with the money-line in the above example, a $100
bet would yield $725 in winnings. Throw in a third
team (say, the Giants at +4.5) and a $100 bet would
win $2,169.
Obviously,
it is harder to pick underdogs to win straight-up,
right? Yes, but maybe not as hard as you initially
think. The spread only comes into play about 84%
of the time in the NFL. In other words, the team
that wins the game doesn't cover the spread only
16% of the time.
Chart:
Winning Percentage Needed to Break-Even at Various
Money-Line Odds
Also,
since you win more than you bet when picking dogs
with the money line, you have to win a much smaller
percentage of your games to break even. The particular
percentage depends on the spread in the games you
pick (the higher the spreads, the fewer games you
need to win since the money line pays more for
higher spread dogs).
For
example, let's imagine over the course of the season
you were to pick 100 three-point underdogs to win
straight-up at a money line of +150. In this scenario,
you would only need to win 40% of those games to
break even. On the 60 losses, you would of course
lose 60 units (there is no juice on money line
bets). On the 40 winners you would win 60 units
(1.5 x 40).
If
you were to pick one hundred 6.5-point underdogs
to win straight-up at a money line of +230, you
would only need to win about 31% of your bets to
break-even.
So,
there is an opportunity to do well with the money-line
if you can select enough dogs that win straight-up.
What
it All Means
This season,
consider using the money-line to your advantage.
If you like an underdog and think they have a shot
at winning the game outright, you might be better
off putting that $100 on money-line for your team.
If they win straight-up, you'll rake in a lot more
profits than if you had just bet them to cover the
spread. If you aren't sure, split your bets and put
$50 on the dog to win straight-up and $50 to cover
the spread. If the team covers the spread but doesn't
win the game, you break-even. If they win the game,
you win both bets!