A money line wager is the simplest and most common type of bet in lower scoring sports like MLB Baseball and NHL Hockey. When you make a wager on the money line, you are simply picking one team to beat another, straight up with no points added or subtracted. It can’t get any simpler than this, and there is no need to confuse the issue. If you wager on the money line you are betting on one team to beat the other. See the example below.
Miami Marlins 2.40
Atlanta Braves 1.62
If you make a money line wager on the Miami Marlins, they must win the game in order for your wager to win. This includes extra innings, unless otherwise indicated by your sports book. At Bet online, your wager includes extra innings unless you select “money line 3 way”. See below for more information.
Money line vs Money line 3 way
The main difference between a money line and a money line 3 way is that a money line wager will include any and all extra innings, while a money line 3 way is called such because there are 3 options for wagering: Miami Marlins, Atlanta Braves, and DRAW. You have the option to select a draw (or tie) between the two clubs instead of selecting one of them to win. Since the possibility of a tie is now an option, either selection will pay out more. If you select a money line 3-way, your selected team must win in regulation time (9 innings). You also have the option to select a draw (a tie) in which you will only be paid if the game is tied at the end of regulation.
The Marlins & Braves money line 3-way wager would look something like this:
Marlins 3.30
Braves 2.05
DRAW 3.60
The money line is what makes mlb betting so potentially profitable. Since sports like basketball and football are high scoring games, there is often a point spread, or handicap, placed on the teams to make them more even for betting purposes. This same spread does apply in baseball, but on a much smaller scale (1.5 runs). Most of the money that comes in on basbeall is wagered on the money line. With 2430 games in the MLB season, that gives plenty of opportunity for sharp bettors to cash in on positive expected value (+EV) bets. Since the betting public usually picks the favorite, and the betting public is usually wrong, sharp bettors can capitalize on +EV underdogs that have a much bettor shot at winning than what the betting public believes.