Moneyline Betting Explained (for Canadian Bettors)

The moneyline is the most straightforward bet in all of sports wagering: you pick who wins, and that’s it. There’s no point spread to cover and no margin of victory to worry about — just a winner and a loser. This guide breaks down how moneylines work across the NHL, NFL, NBA and MLB, how favourites and underdogs are priced, and why soccer plays by different rules with its three-way lines.

What a Moneyline Bet Is

A moneyline bet is a wager on which team or player wins the game outright. There’s no handicap applied — the only thing that matters is the final result.

• The favourite carries shorter odds (a smaller payout) because it’s more likely to win.
• The underdog carries longer odds (a bigger payout) because it’s less likely to win.

This makes the moneyline different from the two other bets you’ll see most often at Canadian betting sites:

• Spread / puck line: the favourite must win by a set margin (e.g. -1.5 goals in hockey, -6.5 points in football).
• Totals (over/under): you bet on the combined score, regardless of who wins.

Because moneylines are so simple, they’re the natural starting point for anyone new to single-game betting — which has been legal across Canada since August 2021 under Bill C-218.

Odds Formats You’ll See in Canada

Canadian sportsbooks usually default to decimal odds (e.g. 1.65, 2.40), while American-style books show American odds (e.g. -150, +180). Nearly every book lets you toggle between them in the settings.

Decimal odds are the easiest to calculate:

stake × decimal odds = total return (your stake is included)

For example, $100 × 1.65 = $165 back, which is $65 profit.

American odds work off a $100 baseline:

• A negative number (-150) is what you must stake to win $100.
• A positive number (+180) is what you win on a $100 stake.

A few quick reference points:

• 2.00 decimal = +100 = even money
• 1.50 decimal = -200
• 2.50 decimal = +150

For a fuller breakdown of formats and staking, see our betting guides hub.

Hockey (NHL): The Two-Way Moneyline

Matchup: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens

• Leafs 1.65 (-154) — favourite
• Canadiens 2.30 (+130) — underdog

A $50 bet on the Leafs at 1.65 returns $50 × 1.65 = $82.50, a $32.50 profit, as long as Toronto wins — in regulation, overtime, or a shootout.

That last point is crucial for hockey. On the moneyline, an overtime or shootout win still counts as a win. This is different from the puck line, hockey’s version of the spread (usually ±1.5 goals), where the margin matters. If you’re new to NHL betting, the moneyline is the cleaner starting point.

Football (NFL/CFL): Betting Around the Spread

Matchup: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills

• Chiefs 1.55 (-182) — favourite
• Bills 2.50 (+150) — underdog

A $100 bet on the Bills at 2.50 returns $250 — a $150 profit — if Buffalo wins outright.

Football moneylines are especially popular in two situations:

• Backing heavy underdogs, where a modest stake returns a big payout if the dog pulls off the upset.
• Avoiding a tricky point spread, where you’re confident a team wins but not that they cover.

The same logic applies to the CFL, where moneylines run alongside the standard spread and totals markets.

Basketball (NBA): Watch the Steep Favourites

Matchup: Boston Celtics vs. Denver Nuggets

• Celtics 1.45 (-222) — heavy favourite
• Nuggets 2.75 (+175) — underdog

A $100 bet on Boston at 1.45 returns just $45 profit ($145 back).

The lesson here: NBA favourites are often steep, so backing them on the moneyline ties up a lot of stake for a small return. Many NBA bettors pair the moneyline with the spread when the favourite is heavily priced, since covering a spread offers better value than laying big odds to win outright.

Baseball (MLB): The “Dime Line” Sport

Baseball is a moneyline-first sport. Because runs are hard to spread the way points are in basketball or football, most MLB action happens on the moneyline rather than the run line (baseball’s ±1.5-run spread).

• Pitching matchups drive the price heavily — a dominant starter can make one side a clear favourite.
• Baseball offers steady value on underdogs, since even the best teams lose a large share of games over a long season.
• Standard moneylines settle on the full game, including any extra innings.

Because margins in baseball are tight and daily volume is huge, MLB is a favourite of bettors who like grinding out value across many games.

Three-Way (Soccer) Moneylines — the Big Difference

Soccer breaks the two-way mould. Because regulation time can end in a draw, the standard match line is a three-way moneyline (1X2) with three possible outcomes: Home win, Draw, or Away win.

Matchup: Toronto FC vs. Inter Miami

• Toronto FC win 2.60
• Draw 3.30
• Inter Miami win 2.70

Two rules make the three-way line different from North American moneylines:

• It settles on 90 minutes plus stoppage time only. Extra time and penalty shootouts do not count toward the standard three-way result.
• Because the draw is a separate losing outcome, three-way odds are usually longer than a two-way line on the same team — you have two ways to lose, not one.

If you’d rather bet a straight winner without the draw complication, many books offer a two-way “Draw No Bet” market, where your stake is refunded on a draw. With the World Cup 2026 partly hosted on Canadian soil, understanding three-way lines will pay off for anyone planning to bet the tournament.

Favourites vs. Underdogs: The Bottom Line

• Favourites win more often but pay less — you risk more to win less.
• Underdogs win less often but pay more — small stakes can return large profits.
• Neither is inherently “better.” Value comes from finding prices that don’t match the true probability of the outcome.

Getting Started in Canada

Moneyline betting is available at every legal sportsbook in the country. Ontario operates a regulated market through the AGCO and iGaming Ontario, where only registered operators may legally offer betting — see our Ontario hub for licensed options. Elsewhere, provincial platforms and offshore books apply, with most provinces set at 19+ (18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec).

When you’re ready to place a wager, Interac e-Transfer is the default deposit and withdrawal method for most Canadians — details on our payment methods page. And before you sign up, weigh a book’s odds pricing and welcome offers using our betting bonuses comparisons, since consistently better moneyline prices matter far more over time than any one-off promo.