Differences Between Money Lines and Points Spreads

Straight bets are the most common ones amongst the different wagering types, and the reason of their popularity is their simplicity, as the bettor is asked to make a single pick either on the money line, the side or the over/under, granting him a 50/50 chance of winning the wager.

When putting a bet on the money line, you are betting to a particular team, player or sporting event to win, you can either pick the favorite or the underdog, the favored line looks like -300, which means that in order to win $100 dollars, you need to place a wager for $300, which will pay you a total of $400, which is the amount you bet plus your winnings.

And when it comes to the non-favored team, you are provided with a line that looks like +400, which means that in order to make $400, you need to place a bet for $100, which is an indication of how hard it will be to win it, as you get to risk less to win more.

Wagering on the point spread allows the bettor to wager on a favored line that looks like -5, which means that in order to win the bet, your picked team needs to come up with a victory that can actually cover the spread. For example, if you bet on the Bulls -5, and the final score is Chicago 100, Miami 92, it means that you win the bet because when you take 5 points out of your team's final score, it comes to be 95, which is still higher than the 92 points from the Heat.

On the other hand, if the final score was 100-97, and you picked the Bulls at -5, it means that even though your selected team won the game, you lost the wager, as when you take 5 points out of the 100, you end up with 95, which is less tha Miami's 97 final points.

The difference between point spreads and money lines is that when you bet on the latest, you get to risk more cash on the favorite, but possibilities of winning are higher, while sides are often -110 lines, which means that for every $110 dollars that you wager, you will get an extra $100 in return, which makes it a more convenient way of placing wagers for regular bettors.

As you can see, both lines and sides are quite attractive, which is why it is quite recommended to try both for a while to check which wagering type is actually the one that is more appealing to you.