Football Betting
football betting
how does the "moneyline" work when betting a football game?
When putting a bet down on a football game, one option is the moneyline. I don't truly understand this. For instance in week 4 (NFL):
Detroit is +375 and Chicago is -475. Does this mean i have to bet $475 to win $375?
LegFu nailed it.. That's the outcome of the bets. The money line is the US standard for $100.00
The - team you have to bet that amount to win $100.00
The + team you bet $100.00 to win the + amount.
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College Football Week 3: Betting previews and handicapping strategies for Week 3 in College Football
What are the odds and probabilities dealing with football betting lines?
How does the bookie have an advantage? How and why do the lines change?
This sounds like a homework question to me, but I'll bite (I don't know if an instructor will take work cited from Yahoo Answers, though).
A couple other people are on the right track so far. The bookie has the advantage because lines are calculated to infer a 50/50 chance of either side winning. Since bookmakers have a "vigorish" or juice built in to the payout lines, they make the most money when 50% of bettors bet on one team, and the other 50% bet on the other.
Lines change only when the bookmaker wants to sway future bettors to bet on one side. They do this when they have heavier action on one side so much that it affects their profits. Usually, they will increase the juice on a line before they change the line itself.
For example, this morning's line for San Antonio at Portland in the NBA had Portland favored -3. Right now, just before game time, the line moved to Portland -4. The line moved to Portland -4 because there was enough action on Portland to increase the spread to 4 points to encourage the public to take San Antonio +4.
