What Is Moneyline in Betting? A Bet on Who Wins
A moneyline bet is a bet on which team wins the game, with no point spread involved. The number next to each team is the price: a minus number is what you risk to win $100, and a plus number is what a $100 bet wins.
Take Thursday night’s NFL game, Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay Packers, kicking off at 8:15 p.m. ET on September 24, 2026. DraftKings, as listed on ESPN early that day, had Green Bay at -245 and Atlanta at +200.
How to read a moneyline
The minus sign marks the favorite. At -245, you risk $245 to win $100, and you get $345 back if Green Bay wins. You do not have to bet $245: a $100 bet at -245 wins $40.82, for $140.82 back.
The plus sign marks the underdog. At +200, a $100 bet on Atlanta wins $200 and returns $300. The winnings scale with the stake, so $50 at +200 wins $100.
FanDuel’s house rules, filed with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and approved on March 27, 2025, put it the same way: “-120 means a player must bet $120 for every $100 they wish to win,” and “+150 means a player will win $150 for every $100 bet.”
| Price | You risk | You win | You get back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay -245 | $245 | $100 | $345 |
| Green Bay -245 | $100 | $40.82 | $140.82 |
| Atlanta +200 | $100 | $200 | $300 |
What the price says about the chances
Every moneyline can be turned into the chance of winning that it implies. For a minus price, divide the price by the price plus 100: 245 / 345 is 71.01%. For a plus price, divide 100 by the price plus 100: 100 / 300 is 33.33%.
Add those two and you get 104.35%, not 100%. The extra 4.35% is the sportsbook’s margin, often called the vig or juice, and it is built into both sides. Take it out by dividing each side by 104.35% and the prices say Green Bay 68.06%, Atlanta 31.94%.
That gives you a simple test. If you think Atlanta wins this game more than a third of the time, +200 is worth a look; if you think it is closer to one in four, it is not.
Favorites, underdogs and pick’em games
Some prices sit close together. Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, September 27, had Minnesota at -122 and Tampa Bay at +102, which works out to 54.95% against 49.50% before the margin comes out. A game priced like that is close to a coin flip. When both sides carry the same price, the game is called a pick’em.
Others are far apart. Kansas City Chiefs at Miami Dolphins, the same Sunday, had Kansas City at -650: you risk $650 to win $100, and $100 on Miami at +470 wins $470.
College football goes further. Missouri State at SMU on Saturday, September 26, had SMU at -50000 and Missouri State at +4000. A $100 bet on SMU at that price wins 20 cents, while $10 on Missouri State wins $400.
Moneyline or point spread
The point spread asks a different question: not who wins, but by how much. The same Falcons at Packers game had Green Bay -4.5 at -115, so Green Bay has to win by five or more.
The trade is price for risk. A $100 bet on Green Bay wins $40.82 on the moneyline and $86.96 on the spread, and the spread bet loses if Green Bay wins by four. For a heavy favorite, the moneyline pays little; for an underdog you think can win outright, it pays the most. Our guide to handicap betting covers the spread in detail.
Why moneylines move
Prices change between the open and kickoff. Green Bay opened at -360 and Atlanta at +285 in the same ESPN feed, so a $100 bet on Atlanta at the open would have won $285, against $200 at the price on September 24.
Bigger moves happen. Los Angeles Chargers at Buffalo Bills opened with Buffalo at -142 and stood at -345 by September 24, while the spread went from Buffalo -2.5 to -7. The feed does not say why a line moves, and neither do we: the point is that the price you take is the price you are paid at, whatever it does later.
Three-way moneylines in soccer
Soccer games can end in a draw, so the moneyline has three outcomes. Orlando City at Philadelphia Union in MLS on Saturday, September 26, was priced by DraftKings at Philadelphia -240, draw +400 and Orlando +450.
A draw loses both team bets. The three prices imply 70.59%, 20.00% and 18.18%, which add up to 108.77%, a wider margin than the two-way NFL line above. A $100 bet on the draw at +400 wins $400.
Parlaying moneylines
Two or more moneylines can be combined into a parlay, where every pick has to win. To price one, turn each moneyline into a decimal (1 + 100/245 for Green Bay, 1 + 100/345 for Buffalo) and multiply: 1.408 times 1.290 comes to 1.8163, so $100 returns $181.63.
That is $81.63 of profit from two favorites, and one loss wipes out the bet. With three or more picks, a round-robin splits them into smaller parlays, so one loss does not sink everything.
Questions about moneyline betting
Do I have to bet $100? No. The $100 in the price is a reference point. At +200, a $20 bet wins $40.
What does +200 mean? A $100 bet wins $200, and you get $300 back including your stake.
What does -245 mean? You risk $245 to win $100. A smaller bet wins in proportion: $100 wins $40.82.
Where are this week’s games? On our NFL predictions hub, and our guide for beginners covers the other bet types.