Money line bets are the most basic way to bet a game. Unlike other sports like basketball and football there are no point spreads to bet on. The teams are almost always too evenly matched and thegames consistently too close for a sports book to offer runs to one side. So to compensate for this they offer what is known as a money line bet.
Like with any type of gambling, you never want to bet betting on sports with money you cannot afford to lose. Set aside a certain amount of money that you can use for your bankroll for the week, the month, or the season. A general sports betting strategy for money management is to only make bets with 1%-5% of your bankroll.
A money line bet for a game will have two sides to bet on, the favorite and the underdog. The favorite will have a money line such as -160. This means you, as the bettor, will have to bet $160 towin $100. The underdog will have a money line like +200. This means for every $100 you bet you will be paid back $200.
Can You Make Money Gambling
This is where a little math comes in to play and we talk about the concept of value. Lets say the New York Yankees have their star Cy Young award wining pitcher taking the mound against the lastplace Oakland Athletics. The Yankees are -280 and the Athletics are +260. Seems like an easy decision right? The Yankees couldn’t possibly lose to the Athletics! Could they? This is where valuecomes in to play.
The best way to explain value is by using a coin flip example. Lets say someone offers you a $100 bet on a coin flip paying even money. Heads they win $100, tails you win $100. That is abreak-even play. If you flip the coin 100 times they will win about 50 times and you will win about 50 times. At the end of 100 flips you would basically break even. However what if they were todo the same coin flip bet but offer you +200 odds. This means when they win they would still only get $100 but when you win you would get back $200.
How To Make Money Gambling On Baseball Team
Seems like a great bet right? That’s because they are offering you more value for your money. This is the same thing that a sports book does when they offer you a positive money line to enticeyou to bet on an underdog. Nobody would take the lowly Athletics against the mighty Yankees and their star pitcher at even money, but at +260? Now we have an even bet.