Sports Betting Lines Explained

Learn how to read betting lines, understand sports odds, and learn the differences between common betting types.

Oct 24 2024, 8:38am | 5:30 read

Sports betting has exploded in popularity around the US since the US Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) in 2018. Dozens of US states have legalized online sports betting, allowing many sports fans to make predictions about their favorite sports on the move and make money if they’re correct.

Online sportsbooks offer hundreds of different betting markets, but they present the amount of money you can make from your predictions with straightforward, easy-to-understand betting lines.

Read our complete guide to discover how sports betting lines work. We’ll cover betting lines for the most popular bet types and how to read the most common odds formats in US sportsbooks.

What are Sports Betting Lines?

A betting line tells you how much money you can make from placing a wager. The sportsbook sets the line and indicates how much profit you can make from your bet. Betting line odds are designed so you can calculate how much you can win from any stake easily, although most sportsbooks will complete this calculation for you in the bet slip.

Sportsbooks consider a variety of factors to determine betting lines, determining the likelihood of something happening based on the latest information. However, betting lines don’t always accurately reflect how likely a sportsbook thinks something is to happen. Betting operators will also adjust betting lines to encourage bettors to back both sides of an event.

Betting Line Bet Types

Every bet will have betting lines. However, some bet types require you to process two pieces of information rather than just the odds, such as the points a team scores. Below, we’ve listed some of the most common bet types and how you read betting lines for these wagers.

Moneylines

With a moneyline bet, you only have to predict which team or athlete will win an event. If you’re right, you get your stake and a profit. If you’re wrong, you get nothing. If the event ends in a tie, you get a push, which is the value of your stake. The only line you need to read is the betting odds on each outcome.

This is how moneyline odds would look like on an MLB game:

Toronto Blue Jays vs New York Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays: +200
New York Yankees: -140

According to the sports betting odds in this example, the New York Yankees are the team favored to win in this matchup.

Point Spread

You need to consider two numbers when reading point spread betting lines. The betting odds, which tell you how much you’ll win if your prediction is correct, and the actual point spread. With a point spread, your online sportsbook will apply a point advantage to the underdog and a point deficit to the favorite.

In an MLB game, the underdog may have a point spread of +2.5. This indicates that the team can lose by two points or win the game for your wager to be successful.

Point spreads are particularly popular for events where one side is incredibly likely to win, as players can wager on both sides of the point spread and still have a chance of winning. College football, where there can be serious mismatches in talent between teams, is a perfect sport for point spread betting lines.

Here’s an example of a point spread for an NHL game:

Anaheim Ducks vs Vancouver Canucks

Anaheim Ducks: +1.5 @ -110
Vancouver Canucks: -1.5 @ -130

Totals

While many bets require you to guess the final outcome of an event, with a totals bet, your sportsbook will set a total for points scored, and you have to predict whether the final amount is over or under this amount.

For instance, you could get a totals betting line of 212.5 points in basketball and have to guess whether the final combined amount is over or under this. It doesn’t matter which team contributes the most to these points as long as the final amount stands in line with your prediction.

Some totals lines won’t have a decimal number for points, so you can sometimes get a push if the number of points exactly matches the total line from the sportsbook.

You’ll have to consider the total and the odds when betting on totals betting lines. Here’s an example of how total betting lines can look for an NFL game:

Minnesota Vikings vs Green Bay Packers

Total: 44.5
Over: -140
Under: +110

Some sportsbooks will offer totals that don’t relate to the final score of a game, including over/unders for team and player props. For instance, you can bet on an NFL player to score over or under 76.5 rushing yards.

Different Sports Betting Odds Explained

Along with different bet types, there are a few ways online sportsbooks can display betting lines. Many sites will allow you to switch between different types of odds. Which betting odds are best is down to personal preference. For example, if you prefer betting smaller amounts, decimal and fractional odds are easier to read than American odds.

Read on to find out how to read the betting odds you’ll find at top US sportsbooks.

American Odds Betting Lines Explained

Most US sportsbooks display betting lines as American odds, although you can often change this. With American odds, you’ll get a three-digit number with a symbol. The symbol tells you how to read the three-digit number.

A minus (-) symbol tells you how much you need to spend to earn $100 profit. For example, you need to bet $120 with -120 odds to make a profit of $100, giving you a total payout of $220.

Meanwhile, a plus (+) symbol indicates your profit if you spend $100. So, you’ll get $300 profit from a $100 bet with odds of +300. Overall, you’ll have $400 in your betting account once the sportsbook settles the wager.

Fractional Betting Odds Explained

With fractional odds, the number on the left tells you how much you can make from the number on the right. If the odds are 5/1, you can make a $5 profit from a $1 wager. If the betting odds are 7/2, you can make a $7 profit from $2 or $3.50 from $1. You can always complete the fraction (divide the number on the left by the number on the right) to see how much you’ll make from a $1 wager.

Decimal Odds Betting Lines Explained

Decimal odds will tell you your total payout, including a $1 wager. For example, with decimal odds of 5.00, you’ll make a $4 profit from a $1, giving you a total payout of $5.

Sports Betting Lines FAQs

How do I read sports betting lines?

How you read sports betting odds and lines depend on what bet type you’re backing and what odds you are using. You can find more information on how to read betting lines for moneyline odds, point spreads, fractional odds, and totals using any betting odds with our complete guide.

Will betting lines tell me the favorite?

Some betting lines will tell you the favorite in an event at just a glance. With American betting lines, one team usually has a minus (-) next to the odds, which is the favorite. The underdog will have a plus (+) sign. You can tell the favorite with other odds by calculating which team or athlete has the lowest payout.

Are betting lines hard to understand?

No, betting lines are a straightforward way to understand how much money you can make from a wager. Three types of odds are used to display betting lines: American, fractional, and decimal. You can choose which odds format suits you best.

Will all US sportsbooks have the same betting lines?

No, while US sportsbooks will offer betting lines for the same bet types and events, the odds you get for each market will vary between betting sites. If you sign up with several US sportsbooks, you can shop between markets for every bet you want to place and find the highest-value betting lines.