What Does A Betting Line Of Mean

• What Does A Betting Line Mean
• Nhl Vegas Insider

Have you ever wondered how the odds and lines work at the sportsbook? Ever
been curious why the numbers are what they are and why they seem to “magically”
change? In this guide, we’re going to answer both of these questions and more.
We’re going to tell you why the odds and lines at the sportsbook move, and most
importantly what this means for you. We’ll also give you some tips that can help
you turn your newfound understanding into profit.

1. It is the betting “line” or gambling odds used to determine the parameters for wagering on either the favorite or underdog in a sporting event. The practice of wagering on a line was encourages.
2. The word line, in the language of a sportsbook, can refer to either the odds and/or a point spread in any sports contest. Let’s take a look at an imaginary line the way you’d read it off the board sitting in a Vegas sports betting lounge or on the screen at your online book.

The Goal of a Sportsbook

Money Line Bets Explained Money lines (also called American Odds) are one of the most common ways to bet on sports. They do not use a point spread, and are straight-up bets on who will win the game or event. To properly explain how to bet the money line, the first thing to understand is the difference between a negative and positive money line. Money line is also sometimes referred to as “American Odds.” The standard (and often implied) number is –110, meaning a successful bet of $110 would net $100 profit. This is the “juice”. A betting line is a form of wagering whereby the bookmaker or sportsbook set gambling odds and determine the favorite and underdog teams in a match. This handicap creates a margin (line) between the two teams, where there are only two outcomes possible, and sets the parameters for wagering on the game. An Example of How Betting Lines Work.

Before you can understand why lines move, you need to understand what is
going on behind the scenes. Sportsbooks are not charities. They are companies
designed to make a lot of money by offering betting action on sports
competitions. You probably already knew this. Here’s something you might not
know: even though the sportsbooks are offering bets to you, they don’t like to
gamble at all. Their goal is to try to guarantee that they are going to make
money on every single bet they offer.

How do they do this? What the sportsbook tries to do is get the exact same
amount of money on both sides of a contest. If they get $10 total bet on Team A
and $10 total bet on Team B, then no matter who wins, they can use the losing
money to pay the winners. If Team A wins, they take the $10 from the Team B
losers and pay the Team A winners. If Team B wins, they do the same thing, but
in reverse.

So, how does the sportsbook make money? If you’ve ever made a bet before, you
may or may not have noticed that the sportsbook is taking a little bit off the
top of each bet. This is known as the house rake (the “juice”). Instead of
paying back the full $10 to the winners, they take a very small percentage off
of the top as their profit for facilitating the bets.

Let’s look at a real bet to make sure you understand this before we move on.
Here is a real spread bet on an NFL football game:

• Denver Broncos -6 (-110)
• Dallas Cowboys +6 (-110)

If you bet $10 on the Denver Broncos and win your bet, you will get $9.09 in
profit back. That $0.91 that you aren’t getting back is the sportsbook juice.
So, if the sportsbook gets $10 in bets on the Broncos and $10 in bets on the
Cowboys, here is what their accounting will look like:

• Take in $10 on the Broncos (Casino has $10).
• Take in $10 on the Cowboys (Casino has $20).

Broncos win and bettors are owed their original bet back ($10), and their
profit ($9.09).

Casino gives back $19.09 to the Broncos bettors (Casino has $0.91).

As you can see, no matter who wins the game, the sportsbook is going to make
a profit. They aren’t in the business of gambling. If they could, they would
have every single game have the exact same amount of money bet on both sides and
take their small profit. So the goal of the sportsbook is to get the same amount
of money bet on both sides of every bet.

How do they do this? They achieve their goal by shifting the lines and odds
to entice or discourage action on the side of the bet they need. Let’s walk you
through the steps of this.

• Setting the initial line.
• Reacting to bets.

1. Setting the Initial Line

The first thing that the sportsbook needs to do is set the initial line.
Imagine this. Let’s say that Floyd Mayweather and Justin Bieber are going to
have a boxing match. If you have an IQ over 10, you know that Floyd Mayweather
(one of the most decorated boxers of all time) is going to destroy Justin
Bieber. If the sportsbook let you bet on this fight, who would you bet on? Well,
you and everyone else in the world would bet on Floyd Mayweather. All of the
money would come in on him, and the sportsbook would be out of money paying out
bets when Mayweather wins.

Obviously, the sportsbook would be terrible at business if they let this
happen. So, what do they do? They set the initial payout odds to try to deter
action on Mayweather and encourage action on J-Biebs. They’ll set the odds/line
to pay out a ton of money if Bieber wins and pay you very little if Mayweather
wins.

For example, they might set the starting line at this:

• Bieber (+9500)
• Mayweather (-9000)

This means that if you bet $100 on each of these “fighters,” here’s how much
you would win:

A $100 bet on Bieber would get you $9,500 in profit!

A $100 bet on Mayweather would get you $1.11 in profit.

The sportsbook does their best to set the line as close to accurate based on
what they think will happen.

If they are setting a point spread bet, they’ll attempt to achieve the same
thing by setting the point spread line as close as they can to what they think
will actually happen. Let’s go back to the NFL and say that the Browns are
playing the Patriots. The sportsbook thinks that the Patriots are going to win
by 8 points. They would set the line like this:

• Browns +8 (-110)
• Patriots -8 (-110)

These bets will pay out the same amount for a correct pick, but the teams are
forced to cover the spread. The Browns have to lose by no more than 8 points to
win, and the Patriots need to win by more than 8 points for you to win your bet.

2. Reacting to Bets

If the sportsbook set the line correctly and the bettors agree, they will end
up getting the same amount of money bet on both sides of the bet. If everyone
agrees that the Patriots are supposed to win by 8, half of the people will
probably bet the Browns and half will bet the Patriots. The thing is, though,
that it never works out this perfectly. First, the sportsbook is not always
going to be correct with their line. Second, it’s hard to predict how the public
is going to bet. Often, the sportsbook is going to end up with too much money
bet on one side of the bet.

To try to balance things out, the book needs to adjust the odds or the line
to try to entice action on the side of the bet that they want it on. Let’s look
at some scenarios with our earlier examples. Let’s say that people find out that
Bieber has secretly been taking steroids and boxing lessons and they think he
has a much better shot than originally thought. To back up their opinion, tons
of bets pour in on Bieber, and not a lot of people bet on Mayweather.

In order to fix this, the sportsbook needs to try to get more people to bet
on Mayweather and fewer people to bet on Bieber. To do this, they adjust the
payouts. They change the odds so that a bet on Bieber pays worse than it
originally did and a bet on Mayweather pays better than before. Here are what
the odds were originally and the profit you’d earn on a $100 bet:

• Bieber (+9500) = $9,500
• Mayweather (-9000) = $1.11

To try to deter and encourage the action as needed, the sportsbook changes
the odds to this:

• Bieber (+5000)
• Mayweather (-4500)

A $100 bet on Bieber now gets you only $8,000 in profit, and a $100 bet on
Mayweather will get you double what it did before: $2.22. The idea is that this
will get people to start betting more on the other side of the bet to balance
things out. If it doesn’t, the sportsbook will adjust the odds further until it
does. If it changes things too much, they will shift the odds back to try to
balance things.

The adjustments and odds changes will continue up until action on the fight
ends. The sportsbooks won’t be able to get things perfect, but they do their
best to get things as close as possible.

They’ll do the same thing with spread bets, but instead of changing the
payout odds, they’ll usually just change the point spread. On rare occasions,
they will alter the payout odds slightly if they really don’t want to change the
spread number, but that’s not often.

Sportsbooks like to get the same amount of money on both sides of a bet so
they never lose any money. To profit, they take a small percentage off the top
of each bet. To get the same amount of money on each side of the bet, the
sportsbook will adjust the payout odds or spread line to encourage or discourage
action on different sides of the bet.

Sportsbooks Operate Individually

Something important that we need to point out is that sportsbooks operate
individually. Yes, some books owned by the same parent company work together,
but most of them operate independently. What does this mean? This means that
these line movements are going to happen in relation to what is going on at
their individual sportsbook.

A sportsbook does not care what is going on at the book down the road. They
couldn’t care less about who they are taking bets on. All they care about is
what is going on in their sportsbook. This means that two sportsbooks could have
completely different lines on the exact same bet.

Let’s say there is a game between Team A and Team B. Casino 1 and Casino 2
are taking bets on the game. If everyone who is betting at Casino 1 is betting
on Team A and everyone at Casino 2 is betting on Team B, you’re going to see
drastically different lines at both casinos. You’ll get much better payout odds
on Team B at Casino 1 because they need more bets on that side of the game. At
Casino 2, you’ll get better payout odds on Team A because they need to get more
money on that side of the bet.

When we get to the “Why This Is Important” section below, you’ll see why this
information should be the cornerstone of your betting strategy.

Causes of Line Movement

You now understand that the line moves because the sportsbook is trying to
get the same amount of money on both sides of the bet. You also understand that
this is in response to how people are choosing to bet. So let’s talk about a few
things that happen that can cause the line to move quickly. Being able to
predict line movement can really help you place smarter and more profitable
bets. We’ll cover that in the “Why This Is Important” section below. First,
let’s talk about the catalysts for line movement.

The Public vs. the Sharps

Within the world of betting, there are two groups of people. First, you have
the “betting public,” which includes all of the recreational bettors who
typically make smaller bets. Second, you have the “sharps,” who are the bettors
who bet professionally and typically make much larger bets. While the betting
public makes smaller bets, there are a lot more recreational bettors, so they
still have a lot of influence on the betting lines.

Typically, if a line makes a big move as soon as it comes out or early in the
week, that is the sharp bettors taking advantage of a bad line. They usually
hammer a lot of money, and the lines will shift pretty quickly. If a line makes
a move closer to game time or late in the week, this is usually the betting
public making their bets. We say “usually” because nothing is absolute and the
sharps do make bets late in the week when things change.

Key Player Injuries

Two of the biggest causes of line movement are injuries or players being sat
for a game. A negative injury report can be enough to send the line moving
quickly as people bet accordingly. Imagine if Tom Brady suddenly got hurt in
practice a few days before a game. If the line prior to that was Patriots -10,
what do you think it’s going to move to? Most likely it will move to something
like Patriots -2 or -3, as they are now much less likely to win, and people are
going to start betting aggressively on the team they are playing until the line
moves.

Keeping an eye on injuries can help you get a leg up on the other bettors. If
you happen to hear about Tom’s injury before everyone starts betting on the
other side of the game, you can get an amazing point spread or payout price on a
bet. Players getting suspended or arrested can have the same effect. Basically,
if someone isn’t going to be playing or is doubtful to play, it’s going to have
an effect on the line.

Media Stories

The betting public has a strong tendency to overreact to news stories. Often,
a story will come out about one of the teams or players in an upcoming game, and
the betting public will immediately take to the books. This can cause the line
to move and create some great betting opportunities.

What you need to do when news breaks is ask yourself if it is or is not going
to have an effect on the outcome of the game. The media is in the business of
entertaining, so they’re going to be overplaying and hyping up stories to be
bigger than they really are. You need to ask yourself what sort of effect the
news is going to have on the game, NOT what effect it has on the narrative.

Why This Is Important to You

So, this begs the major question – why is any of this important to you? This
information is important for several reasons. First, we talked about how each
sportsbook will adjust their lines individually to accomplish what they need.
This means that different sportsbooks are going to have different lines and
different payouts on the exact same bets.

Here’s a simple question to explain why this is important: you want to bet on
the Patriots to win an upcoming game. You take a look at two different
sportsbooks, and here are the lines that you see:

• Sportsbook 1

Patriots -5 (-110)

• Sportsbook 2

Patriots -4 (-110)

Where would you make your Patriots bet? You would be insane if you chose to
make your bet at Sportsbook 1. Sportsbook 2 is giving an entire additional point
for the exact same bet. If the Patriots end up winning by four points, you would
lose your bet if you made it at Sportsbook 1, and push (get your money back) if
you made your bet at Sportsbook 2.

What we’re talking about here is called line shopping. Line shopping is the
process of taking a look at multiple sportsbooks before you place a bet to make
sure you are getting the best line or the best payout odds possible. If you’re
not line shopping, you’re leaving money on the table. Thanks to the ease of
online sports betting, you can line shop in a matter of seconds and make sure
that you’re getting the best price on every bet you make. If you don’t think
this is important, you must be brand new to sports betting and have a tough
lesson coming your way.

Another reason this is important is that you can start to predict when the
best time for you to bet is. If you can predict how the betting public is going
to react, you can know whether you should take a bet you’re interested in
immediately or wait to get a better line or payout.

Let’s say that you’re looking at an NFL game between the
Patriots and the Browns. Let’s say that early in the week the spread is Browns
+13.5. You have a prediction that the Browns are going to cover. Should you bet
right away? Well, let’s say that you think the general public thinks the Browns
are going to get crushed by the Patriots. Most recreational bettors don’t place
their bets until the weekend or day of the game, so you decide to wait. On the
day of the game, as you expected, bets pour in on the Patriots. The line moves
to Browns +14, and then you decide to make your bet. Because you accurately
predicted the line movement, you were able to get a “free” half point on the
game.

When you wait on a line, you do run the risk of the line moving the other
direction. If that happens and you don’t like the new line, you aren’t out any
money. You just don’t have to make that bet. If the line doesn’t move at all,
you can make the original bet you wanted without a care in the world. If the bet
moves how you want it to, though, you put yourself in a much more favorable
position to win your bet. These little half-point and small payout odds
differences can have a dramatic effect on your bottom line.

The Final Word

Hopefully by now you have a much better understanding of why sports betting
lines and odds change. Understanding why the line moves and what can cause it to
move can give you a big leg up on the competition and can have a big effect on
your end-of-the-day bottom line. At the very minimum, we hope that this guide
has motivated you to start line shopping if you aren’t already. Additionally,
though, we hope you start trying to predict line movement and incorporate it
into your betting strategy. If you can squeeze out a slightly better payout or
an extra half or full point on a bet, you’re going to be a much more successful
bettor.

Money lines (also called American Odds) are one of the most common ways to bet on sports. They do not use a point spread, and are straight-up bets on who will win the game or event.

To properly explain how to bet the money line, the first thing to understand is the difference between a negative and positive money line. Both money lines use $100 as the basis point for calculating payouts, but they’re calculated differently.

How to Calculate Money Line Payouts

A negative money line is indicated with a ‘-‘ in front of a number, like -230. The number represents the amount of money that would need to be wagered in order to win $100 in profit. So, a -230 money line would require a wager of $230 to win $100 more, for a total payout of $330 ($230 wager + $100 profit). Of course a $230 bet is not required, it’s just the basis for calculating the payout. With odds of -230, a $23 bet would return $10 in profit, or a $2.30 bet would return $1 in profit.

A positive money line is indicated with a ‘+’ in front of a number. In this case, the number represents the amount that would be won from a $100 wager. So, a +170 money line means that a $100 wager would return $170 in profit, for a total payout of $270 ($100 wager + $170 profit = $270). A bet of $10 would result in a $17 profit, and a total payout of $27 ($10 wager + $17 profit = $27).

More About Negative Lines

Generally a negative money line represents the favored team in a match. There are exceptions to this and we’ll discuss that later. For now, think negative money line = favorite.

In most two-team games like football, baseball or soccer, one team will have a negative money line, and the opponent will have a positive money line. The team with a negative money line is the favorite, and the team with the positive money line is the underdog.

Example:

• New England Patriots +140
• Indianapolis Colts -160

In this case, the Colts are the favorite. It would take a bet of $16 to win $10 in profit, for a total payout of $26 ($16 wagered + $10 profit = $26). For the Patriots, as the underdog, it would only take a bet of $10 to win $14 in profit, for a total payout of $24 ($10 wager + $14 profit = $24).

Since the favored team is considered more likely to win, and because no handicap is being used, it takes a larger wager to win a smaller profit on them.

More About Positive Lines

In a 2-team game where one team has a positive money line, they are always the underdog. Since they’re underdogs, it requires a smaller wager to win a larger profit.

Example:

• Pittsburgh Penguins +130
• New York Rangers -150

In this case, a bet of $10 on the Penguins would result in a $13 profit if they win, for a total payout of $23 ($10 wager + $13 profit = $23). For the Rangers, it would take a bet of $15 to win $10 in profit, for a $25 total payout ($15 wager + $10 profit = $25).

Games Where Both Teams Are Negative

In games like baseball or football, it’s not uncommon to see both teams represented with a negative money line. When this happens, it means the teams are very closely matched.

For Example:

• New York Yankees -113
• Boston Red Sox -107

In the scenario above, the game is considered very close, with a slight edge towards the Yankees. It would require a bet of $113 to win $100 on the Yankees, or $107 bet to win $100 on the Red Sox.

Sports With Multiple Teams or Competitors

Of course there are sports with multiple competitors in a single event, like horse racing, Olympic events, and golf. This is also the case in futures bets, where the handicapper is choosing between multiple teams to win a seasonal champion.

In this case, there will generally be one favorite, indicated with a negative money line, and the rest of the field will have positive money lines. Sometimes, when there are no clear favorites, there may not be a single competitor with a negative money line. In this case, the competitor with the lowest positive money line is favored.

Example:

Tiger Woods +600
Phil Mickelson +850
Martin Kaymer +1300
Lee Westwood +1600
Steve Stricker +2300

In this case, Tiger Woods is the favorite, but he has a positive money line. A bet of $10 on him would result in a $60 profit if he wins. A bet of $10 on Steve Stricker would result in a $230 profit if he were to win.

Converting Moneyline Odds to Fractional Odds

We all learned how to do fractions in elementary school, and once you understand money line odds, the conversions are simple.

How to Convert Positive Money Lines to Fractional Odds

To convert a positive money line into fractional odds, divide the number in the money line by 100.

Examples:

• +250 Money Line: 250/100 = 2.5/1 (5/2) Fractional Odds

• +400 Money Line: 400/100 = 4/1 Fractional Odds

• +650 Money Line: 650/100 = 6.5/1 (13/2) Fractional Odds

How to Convert Negative Lines to Fractional Odds

To convert negative money lines to fractional odds, divide the number in the money line by 100. Put that number on the right side of a fraction which begins with ‘1/’. Some numbers on the right side of the fraction will have a decimal in them. Since decimals are not used in fractional odds, they are removed by multiplying both numbers in the fraction by 2.

Examples:

• -200 Money Line: 200/100 = 2. Put the 2 on the right side of a fraction beginning with 1/, resulting in fractional odds of 1/2.

• -350 Money Line: 350/100 = 3.5. Put the 3.5 on the right side of a fraction beginning with 1/, resulting in fractional odds of 1/3.5. Multiply both numbers in the fraction by 2 to remove the decimal = 2/7 fractional odds.

• -650 Money Line: 650/100 = 6.5. Put the 6.5 on the right side of a fraction beginning with 1/, resulting in fractional odds of 1/6.5. Multiply both numbers in the fraction by 2 to remove the decimal = 2/13 fractional odds.

Converting to Decimal Odds

What Does A Betting Line Mean

Positive money lines show the profit that would be won from a $100 bet, not including the original wager. Negative money lines show the wager required to win $100 in profit. Neither of these reflect the total payout. This is different in decimal odds.

Using decimal odds, a handicapper can easily calculate their entire payout. For example, a team with decimal odds of 3.0 would be multiplied by the wager amount to calculate the entire payout. A $20 bet with 3.0 decimal odds would pay out a total of $60 ($20 x 3.0 = $60).

The calculation to convert a positive money line to decimal odds is different from the calculation of a negative money line to decimal odds. Here’s how they convert:

How to Convert a Positive Money Line to Decimal Odds

To convert a positive money line to decimal odds, divide the money line by 100, then add 1.

Examples:

• +200 / 100 = 2 + 1 = 3.0 Decimal Odds

• +350 /100 = 3.5 +1 = 4.5 Decimal Odds

• +625 / 100 = 6.25 +1 = 7.25 Decimal Odds

Negative Lines to Decimal Odds

To convert a negative money line to decimal odds, start with the number 100 and divide it by the number in the money line, then add 1.

Examples:

• -200 Money Line: 100 / 200 = .5 +1 = 1.5 Decimal Odds

• -350 Money Line: 100 / 350 = .286 +1 = 1.286 (1.29) Decimal Odds

• -625 Money Line: 100 / 625 = .16 +1 = 1.16 Decimal Odds

Pros & Cons of Money Line Bets

When compared to a point spread, for the underdog, the benefit of a money line bet is the increased odds a handicapper receives. For the favorite, the benefit is that no handicap is given to the underdog, making it more likely their bets will win.

For the underdog, the negative is that they don’t receive a handicap, making it more difficult to win these bets. For the favorite, the negative is that the punter receives lower odds than they do when they’re giving up points on the spread.

Comparing the money line to the run line in baseball or puck line in hockey, the benefit ‘can’ be slightly reduced juice (vig, or commission). For example, many online sportsbooks charge a 5% vig on baseball or hockey money line bets. However, it’s harder to find reduced juice on run lines and puck lines, where punters normally pay 10% vig. Over the course of a season and a lot of bets, 5% can be the difference of being a winning or losing handicapper.

Nhl Vegas Insider

Money lines are the most popular way to bet on MLB baseball and NHL hockey, so the lines can move dramatically from the time they’re posted to the time they close. If you know how to watch lines move and predict where they’re going, money lines can offer a lot of value. For example, when betting on big underdogs in baseball, the best money line odds can often be found as soon as the lines open – before other bettors see the same value you do and bring the odds down. For big favorites, it’s often best to wait until 1-2 hours before game time. For big games with a lot of action, sharp bettors often place big wagers just before a game, which can also create optimal betting opportunities.

For casual bettors, money line bets are easier to make. There is no point spread to mull over, and all that matters is that you choose the winner.