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How Best to Use Moneyline for American Football Betting

Steven D. Thompson
Author: Steven D. Thompson

Updated: 11/10/2024 11:21 AM

American football is a sport where you can find several betting options and opportunities like moneyline bets. Punters leverage this and place different wagers on the games. It's common then to see bet types like point spreads, prop bets, and many more during football events like college or NFL games.


However, we discovered that many punters focus only on certain bet types, ignoring the rest. For instance, points spread has gained wide popularity, and many punters see it as anal bet type for football. This bias is not always a good option as there are a lot of other profitable NFL betting markets. One of such is the moneyline. 


A moneyline bet is a simple betting strategy with the potential to reduce risks and possibly maximise winnings. It's also a popular American football betting pattern. Though many punters sideline it because it does not always offer huge payouts like points spread. However, punters that are masters in their handicapping skills can easily make good money off moneyline.


How do they do this? How can you make the most of moneyline in American football? Is moneyline bet profitable? All these and more will be thoroughly analysed in this guide by Betpack. We'll also be walking you through the best ways to utilise moneyline in American football.


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Table of Contents

    What is a Moneyline Bet?

    Betting on the moneyline is fairly simpler than the point spread. This is because punters only need to place wagers on who they think will win the game. It's as easy as that. In moneyline betting, punters are not worried about a team's ability to cover the spread or not. Instead, they simply look at the possibility of one of the teams winning.

    Moneyline odds come in positive and negative values. These betting odds simply tell who the bookmaker thinks will win the game or lose it. The team with the negative odds is considered the favourite. This means that they are the most likely team to win, according to the bookies' judgment. On the other hand, teams with positive odds are called underdogs. The odds indicate that the sportsbook does not think they will win.

    What is a Moneyline Bet? What is a Moneyline Bet?

    Favourites and Underdogs in Moneyline Odds

    You may wonder, how do bookies determine the favourites and the underdogs? It's quite simple. If a team has been having a long winning streak and a solid form, they are most likely to be the favourites. It is more pronounced when their opponent has not been up to par in their previous games. Therefore, the weaker team is the underdog while the stronger is the favourite. 

    Although, this is not always the case. There are circumstances where teams are evenly matched. In such scenarios, the best bookmakers from the list of all UK bookmakers assign almost equal odds to both teams. Though in cases where there is a wide skill gap between the teams, it's not uncommon to find huge differences in the odds.

    The concept of favourites and underdogs is how a fixed-odds bookmaking firm gets returns in the long run. This is how it works: bets on the underdog pay the most though they are less likely to win the game. In contrast, the favourites will pay out less if they win. This means that the underdog bets are the most profitable, but they are unlikely to win while the favourites pay out less but have a higher possibility to win.

    Calculating Wins in Moneyline Bets

    Having gotten the concept of favourites and underdogs in moneyline wagers, let's proceed to show you how wins are calculated. Assume that the New England Patriots from the AFC are going against the New York Giants from the National Football Conference during the NFL playoffs. The Giants may have +155 odds while the Patriots are assigned -190. In this case, the Patriots are the favourites, while the Giants are the underdogs. 

    With such odds distribution, a $100 bet on the Giants to win will pay out $100 + 155 = $255. However, punters will have to place $190 in a bet to get back $100 for a wager on the Patriots to win. In another calculation, a $100 bet will pay out $52.6, giving a total of $152.6 if the Patriots win.

    Betting on the underdogs looks more profitable but with higher risk. On the other hand, the favourites have less payout with less risk. Therefore, the moneyline is a great way to manage your risks. However, it's also very likely to see an upset where the underdog performs unusually well and beats the favourites. 

    Situations like this are not uncommon. That is why punters need to hone their handicapping abilities when placing any kind of football bet. Upsets can occur anytime, and they do occur. It will be a great opportunity to see this beforehand and place appropriate wagers.

    Top Three Tips for College or NFL Game Moneyline Betting

    Here are some important tips that will aid your success anytime you want to place a moneyline wager. You should make use of these points to ensure you are placing profitable bets. They include the following:

    Avoid Betting Blindly

    Blind betting involves handicapping a team without proper analysis of their ability to win. If your favourite team is going to be playing this weekend, it's usual that you'll want to place your bets on them to win. Well, if you're not concerned about winning money from your stakes, you may go ahead with that. However, if you place these bets to get some profits, you need to follow a proper strategy.

    This would involve analysing the winning ability of the two teams. To do this, you may have to check through the past NFL season records, current form, injury news, home advantage, and several other things. This way, you can be more precise in your outcome prediction. So, if you've checked and you think your favourite team has all it takes to make you proud, then you can go ahead to place bets on them to win or do otherwise.

    The long and short of it all is that you don't bet blindly. Besides, it's easy to get carried away with the attractive odds for the underdog and bet blindly. Still, upsets are very common in American football games.

    What matters then is that you put in good energy to carry out proper research. This ensures that you're making a good decision every time you visit an online bookie to place moneyline football bets.

    Get On the Lines Early

    If you've done your analysis and you are confident of your decision, don't delay your wagers. Placing bets early enough affords you the most value. This is because the odds tend to change depending on the volume of bets.

    If there's a strong favourite to win a match, the sports betting public likely rushes to place wagers on them as soon as the odds are out. As a result, the odds will possibly be adjusted due to the high volume.

    Therefore, getting in early gives you the most of the bets. There's a flip side to this, though: the public may be wrong in their judgment. You could cash out on this if you're able to spot a significant table-turning point that the public may not be seeing. Consequently, punters need to hone their handicapping skills and place their bets early if they are quite sure of their analysis.

    Check Out the Odds at Different Sportsbooks

    This is another important trick to getting the best value on the moneyline. Odds slightly differ at various bookies. Therefore, you shouldn't be stuck to only one site when making your college football or NFL betting decisions. Besides, some bookies are quick to adjust their odds based on recent happenings. Some others are a bit sluggish. That difference in processing could be an opportunity to increase your possible winnings.

    Moreover, sportsbooks nowadays offer punters various incentives to open a sports spread betting account with them. This could come as simple free bet stakes or free fixed odds bets. There could also be perks on accumulators. All these could impact your payouts. Therefore you should always check for various offers at different betting sites.

    Should You Place Moneyline Wagers? Should You Place Moneyline Wagers?

    Should You Place Moneyline Wagers?

    It is important to check whether you should place a moneyline bet or not. This betting market is less profitable compared to points spread. So why should you consider it in the first place?

    Firstly, you should understand that moneyline and point spread bets have different significance. There are times when a point spread bet is notal because of the little difference in the spread. For instance, a points spread underdog with a three-point advantage is likely to cover the spread or lose with more points. Punters may want to look towards moneyline betting to get the most value in such cases.

    Ultimately, it's a question of the punter's choice and risk-taking ability to determine whether or not to place moneyline bets. However, this betting market is great for punters looking to cut down their risks with a simple betting option.

    Pros and Cons of Football Moneyline Betting

    Before you launch out to place your next moneyline bet, let's quickly walk you through the pros and cons of this bet type. This will give you an edge when placing this bet.

    Pros

    Pros

    • It is the simplest bet type to place on a football game
    • Involves less worry on actual winning points or goal difference
    • Punters can easily manage their risks with this betting type
    Cons

    Cons

    • Has a lower payout compared to points spread
    • Restricts punters to only one betting option

    Final Words

    Betting on football money lines is a good option in many football events. Though it has lower payouts, players can clearly place their wagers without stress. Moneyline bets save punters the worry of calculating possible points spread. It is, therefore, a good betting choice, especially for those that are new to football betting.

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