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How Do Sportsbook Set Money Lines?

Josh Schwartz

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Publish Date: 08/20/2021

Fact checked by: Mark Lewis

Money Lines – How Do They Work?

In this sports betting guide, we’ll cover the different ways sportsbooks gambling websites determine sports betting money lines and odds.

Sportsbooks have one goal, to balance either side of the wager, and to do so in many different ways. This applies to all new U.S. sportsbooks, very little has ever changed about the process. If you’re asking yourself ‘how do sportsbooks set lines’, then read on to find out. We’ve covered everything you need to know about sports betting money lines.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaway
Money Lines – A Beginner’s Guide
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What Other Betting/casino Guides & Strategies Are Available?
Conclusion
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Key Takeaway

A favorite and an underdog is determined for each team to create sports betting money lines
The favorite is denoted by ‘-’ and underdog by ‘+.’
Moneyline odds are set for either side, i.e. -120 vs +200
Bettors choose a team to win, weighing up the odds
Place a bet on your chosen sports betting money lines

Money Lines – A Beginner’s Guide

Understanding Odds

Understanding the difference between spread betting and sports betting on the money line is vital for newbies betting online sports betting online. From there, we’ll go into sportsbooks lines> or the gambling money line and how it’s determined.

Sports betting point spreads are seen as a bet with some insurance. There is still a favorite and an underdog, however, the winner needs to win by a certain number of points. If the underdog is chosen and doesn’t win, the team cannot lose by more than a certain amount of points.

Sports betting on the money line is by far the simplest form of sports betting, where a winner is chosen outright. This is a rule sportsbook rules across the board, it’s what’s known as a two-way bet. This choice is made irrespective of the underdog or favorite but rather is down to personal preference.

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Understanding Money Line Odds

Betting on the sports betting money line is the most used form of gambling in America. The market is a two-way bet market, i.e., there are only two possible outcomes. So gambling on the sports betting money line only requires two things. Understanding the odds and potential payout if we bet either way.

So the teams have been set as favorites and underdog. You’ll need to understand what those odds mean to bet appropriately. The values seen next to the team names as either -120 or +120 are the money line odds. Lets use a $100 wager as an example for gambling odds gambling odds explained.

The underdog odds sitting at +120 mean that for a $100 wager, you stand to win $120. However, for the favorite, the odds sitting at -120 say that you need to risk $120 bet to win $100.

Primarily the underdog odds display what amount can be won per wager, and the favorite odds view what amount needs to be risked to earn a particular bet. To understand it in terms of payout is easiest. Picking an underdog to win will always have a higher payout than the other way around. Hence many punters favor the underdog in gambling money line bets.

Of course, these odds aren’t always going to be identical for each team. If you’re still confused, head over to our sports betting explained article.

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How Do Sportsbooks Set Lines & Odds?

Sportsbooks have a whole host of people and technologies working behind the scenes to compile the most competitive odds. These are known, to many firms, as a team of odds compilers. Generally speaking, odds compilers are highly intelligent and somewhat mathematically inclined, working with top software to compute odds.

4 Steps To Setting Odds & Lines

The following are the four most important factors that odds compilers take into consideration when calculating odds and how sportsbooks set lines.

Outlook

This is the starting point for odds compilers. Given the nature of the job, personal insight and perspective are greatly valued. Looking at all possible outcomes of the game at hand and weighing the statistics of each one is occurring. Determining the probability of all possible outcomes is a significant factor in setting odds appropriately.

As with sports betting on the money line, there are only two possible outcomes, a winner and a loser. Compilers then need to judge what the relative chances of each player winning are. Of course, the actual odds that are decided upon depending greatly on equality. How equally, or not, the players or teams are weighed up against each other.

Profit margins

Naturally, the sportsbook itself wants to make money from offering its services. Profit margins are built into the odds and lines, effectively securing a commission from punters. The commission will be earned for each wager made and is commonly known as the vigorish (vig) or the sportsbooks juice. And this is how sportsbooks make money.

Let’s use an example with two teams, both predicted with equal chances to win, so 50/50. The decimal odds for each team can look like this;

Team A: 2.00
Team B: 2.00

At first glance, these appear to be fair odds, but the sportsbook wants to make the commission remember. So they will adjust the odds to look something like this;

Team A: 1.91
Team B: 1.91

So now, when a $10 bet is placed, punters stand to win $9.10. The loser’s wager, $10, will be taken, and the payout made to the winner, $19.10. However, the difference that is left over will go to the sportsbook – in this case, $0.90. A balanced book is required to guarantee the sportsbook will make a profit in either scenario.

Predicted betting activity

Sportsbooks will likely have good insight into the expected betting patterns of its punters, regardless of the market in question. This is factored into the odds and lines set to take full advantage of potential profit and minimize exposure to risk.

If there’s an obvious favorite when sports betting on the money line, for example, the odds for that favorite will be significantly reduced. Plenty of wagers on the favorite are still guaranteed, but lower odds will benefit the sportsbook more with less to payout if the favorite does win.

Competitors odds and lines

As we’re well aware, there are hundreds of online sportsbooks to choose from today. Before, there would only have been a couple to choose from. Now, there’s a massive selection with many punters gravitating towards the best deals on offer. This is especially true when sportsbook promos are involved or a sports betting deposit bonus.

Hence comparing sports betting money line odds through a betting odds comparison can be very beneficial. Which the sportsbooks have learned as well. Considering what the rest of the sportsbook’s gambling money line looks like and offering a competitive odd or line is how sportsbooks attract punters. Massive discrepancies are rarely, if ever, seen between sportsbooks.

Adjusting Odds & Lines

The sports betting money line odds aren’t rigid, it’ll fluctuate slightly and be adjusted according to one of two factors. Never forget, sportsbooks betting lines and odds can change from the time they are released to the start of the game.

Alteration in outlook

This is not an unlikely event, as anything can change leading up to an event. The sportsbooks lines and odds might change. This could be due to some factor affecting one of the teams lined up for the game. This could be an injury, a particular player being unable to compete in the original lineup, etc. Sportsbooks will keep up to speed with any changes to the event and make changes accordingly.

The weight of money

Earlier, we mentioned that sportsbooks aim to achieve a profit with balanced books. This means for each market; a sportsbook will try to have a situation where it stands to pay out more or less the same amount of money, irrespective of the outcome.

Sometimes punters aren’t that predictable, though, and sportsbooks will need to try to make adjustments according to the weight of money coming in, to try and balance its books. This will impact the odds you get when sports betting money line.

What Other Betting/casino Guides & Strategies Are Available?

Of course, this review has only covered sports betting on the money line. Spread betting is another widely used strategy in sports betting. Punters can consult many guides on how to weigh in and win big using this strategy and how these sportsbook lines differ from the above.

There are also what’s called 3-way bets, which differ from sports betting on the money line. These bets will give you better odds because you can expand the number of outcomes by including things like the number of penalties. This way, you’ll still bet on the money line, but with extra qualifiers.

Many other guides are available for different styles of betting, like gambling over under. A sports betting strategy for the UK is also available. A guide to sports betting bankroll management is also available.

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Conclusion

Placing sports betting money line bets is a straightforward betting style. It is easy to understand the odds as well. Knowing how sportsbooks set lines is helpful. In choosing a bet to wager, make sure to weigh up the risks between favorites and underdogs. As you use your newfound knowledge, may the odds be in your favor. Now you know the answer when you’re asked ‘how do sportsbooks set lines?’