A moneyline bet is the simplest wager in sports betting: you pick which team or player wins the game, and the margin does not matter. If your side wins, the bet pays. If it loses, you lose the stake. The only thing that changes from game to game is the price, which tells you how much a win pays.
If you can read the two numbers beside the team names, you can read any moneyline on an Ohio sportsbook app. Here is how that works.
How a Moneyline Bet Works
Every moneyline lists each side with an American odds number. One side usually has a minus sign and the other a plus sign. There is no spread to cover and no total to guess. A team that wins by one point and a team that wins by thirty both cash the same ticket.
That is the main difference from a point spread. On a spread you are betting on the margin. On a moneyline you are betting only on the result. The price carries the difficulty instead of a point handicap.
Reading the Price: Favorites and Underdogs
The minus sign marks the favorite, the side the market thinks is more likely to win. The plus sign marks the underdog. The two numbers mean different things:
- Minus numbers (favorite): the amount you must bet to win $100 in profit.
- Plus numbers (underdog): the profit you would make on a $100 bet.
The examples below use made-up teams and made-up prices. They show the arithmetic, not a view on any game.
| Side | Price | Bet | Profit if it wins | Total returned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home team (favorite) | -200 | $100 | $50 | $150 |
| Home team (favorite) | -200 | $200 | $100 | $300 |
| Visiting team (underdog) | +170 | $100 | $170 | $270 |
| Visiting team (underdog) | +170 | $20 | $34 | $54 |
Two formulas cover everything. For a favorite, profit equals your stake times 100 divided by the number. For an underdog, profit equals your stake times the number divided by 100. Our odds explainer has a calculator and more worked examples if you want to practice.
What the Price Tells You About the Market
A moneyline price is also the market's estimate of how likely a side is to win. You can turn it into an implied probability:
- Favorite: the number divided by the number plus 100. At -200 that is 200 / 300, or about 66.7%.
- Underdog: 100 divided by the number plus 100. At +170 that is 100 / 270, or about 37.0%.
Add those two together and you get about 103.7%, not 100%. The extra 3.7% is the sportsbook's built-in margin, often called the vig or juice. Every market carries some, which is why the same moneyline can look slightly different from one app to the next. If you are curious how that margin works, read about the house edge.
A -300 price is expensive because you risk a lot to win a little. One upset costs you the profit from several wins. The price is not a guarantee, and a short price is not a reason to bet bigger.
Ties, Draws and Overtime
What happens when there is no clear winner depends on the sport and on the sportsbook's house rules, so check the rules for the market you are betting. Some examples from FanDuel's published Ohio house rules, as of October 2026:
- In American football, moneyline wagers are voided (refunded) if the game ends in a tie.
- In baseball, a tied game makes the moneyline a push.
- Sports with a real chance of a draw, such as soccer, often offer a separate three-way market where the draw is its own selection.
Overtime is the other thing to check. In many sports a moneyline settles on the final result including overtime, but some markets are labeled "regulation only" or "3-way." Read the market name on the slip before you tap confirm. If a result lands exactly on the number, see our explainer on what a push is.
Moneyline vs. Spread vs. Parlay
New bettors often mix these up, so here is the short version:
- Moneyline: pick the winner. The price changes with how lopsided the matchup looks.
- Spread: pick the winner after a points handicap. Prices are usually close on both sides.
- Parlay: combine two or more selections, including moneylines, into one bet where every leg must win. See what a parlay is for the details and the added risk.
Moneylines are popular in lower-scoring sports such as baseball and hockey, where a one-run or one-goal margin decides a lot of games and a spread is less useful. They are also a natural fit when you simply want a result.
Common Moneyline Mistakes
- Ignoring the price. Picking the winner is only half the job. A bet is only worth making if the price makes sense for the risk.
- Betting more on short favorites to "make it back." That is how a small loss turns into a big one. Keep stakes in line with your plan. The 1% rule is one simple way to do that.
- Taking the first number you see. Prices differ between apps. Checking a second app takes a minute.
- Skipping the market name. Regulation-only and three-way markets settle differently from the standard moneyline.
The Bottom Line
A moneyline bet asks one question: who wins? A minus sign marks the favorite and means you risk more than you win. A plus sign marks the underdog and means you win more than you risk. The prices include the sportsbook's margin, so compare before you bet and read how your app treats ties and overtime. Compare prices across apps before you bet.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does moneyline mean in sports betting?
A moneyline is a bet on which team or player wins the game, with no point spread. The sportsbook lists a price for each side, and the price sets how much a winning bet pays.
Is a moneyline bet the same as betting to win straight up?
Yes. People say "straight up" or "to win" to mean the same thing. You win if your side wins the game, regardless of the final margin.
What does -150 or +130 mean on a moneyline?
A -150 favorite means you bet $150 to win $100 in profit. A +130 underdog means a $100 bet wins $130 in profit. Smaller or larger bets scale in proportion.
What happens to a moneyline bet if the game ends in a tie?
It depends on the sport and the sportsbook's house rules. For example, FanDuel's Ohio house rules void football moneylines on a tie and treat a tied baseball game as a push. Check the rules of the app you use.
Are moneyline bets legal in Ohio?
Yes. Sports betting has been legal in Ohio since January 1, 2023 for people 21 and older who are physically in the state, and moneylines are a standard market at licensed Ohio sportsbooks.
Sources and verification: Tie and push handling was checked against FanDuel's published Ohio sportsbook house rules (fanduel.com/fanduel-sportsbook-house-rules-oh) in October 2026. Other sportsbooks write their own rules, so confirm in your app. Ohio sports betting is regulated by the Ohio Casino Control Commission (casinocontrol.ohio.gov). The price examples use hypothetical teams and numbers only.
You must be 21+ and physically in Ohio to bet. Sports betting is entertainment, not a way to make money, and nothing here is a pick, a prediction or a guarantee. Only wager what you can afford to lose. If gambling stops being fun, call 1-800-GAMBLER or the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-589-9966, or visit org.ohio.gov/help.
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