How to Make A Sports Bet: The Straight Bet

When betting on a sporting event, you’ll see one of two things—a point spread, a “money line,” or both. The money line is simple, it uses a mathematical equation to calculate the amount of money you must bet in order to make the odds correct. For example, if you want to bet on the Yankees, and the money line is minus 180, you must bet $18.00 to win an expected $10.00. Your expected pay out will be $28.00, not $18.00. In some cases, you can choose either the point spread or the money line. Lets say you want the Dodgers and they’re plus 220, which means they’re the Underdog, if you bet $10.00 on the Dodgers to win that game, and they do win, your pay off will be $32.00 (the original $10 bet plus the $22 pay out).