PHTAYA Moneyline Betting Explained With an NBA Matchup

Moneyline betting prices a straight win or loss with no points line attached, which makes it the simplest market to read once you know how the plus and minus signs work. This page covers how a moneyline is priced for a favourite and an underdog, works a hypothetical NBA matchup through the maths, and covers when a draw actually affects the bet. For the full breakdown of decimal, fractional and American odds behind these prices, see how to read betting odds first.

What Moneyline Betting Prices Instead of a Spread

A moneyline market asks one question — who wins the game — with no margin of victory attached. That’s what separates it from a spread market, which prices a points handicap on top of the win.

1. The favourite is priced with a minus sign (for example −150).
2. The underdog is priced with a plus sign (for example +130).
3. Whichever side wins the game, however narrowly, wins the moneyline bet.

Moneyline Odds: Reading a Favourite Against an Underdog

Moneyline odds convert cleanly to a decimal price and an implied probability, which is the fastest way to compare a favourite’s price against an underdog’s.

Side	American price	Decimal price	Implied probability
Favourite	−150	1.67	60.00%
Underdog	+130	2.30	43.48%

Add the two implied probabilities together and the total comes to 103.48% — the extra 3.48% is the sportsbook’s own margin, covered in full on the betting margin page.

A Hypothetical NBA Moneyline Bet, Worked Through

Suppose a hypothetical ₱1,000 stake on the game priced above.

1. Backing the favourite at 1.67 decimal returns ₱1,666.67 total — a ₱666.67 profit.
2. Backing the underdog at 2.30 decimal returns ₱2,300.00 total — a ₱1,300.00 profit.
3. Only one side can win: the favourite is more likely to (60.00% implied) but pays less; the underdog is less likely to (43.48% implied) but pays more.

When a Draw Voids a Moneyline Bet

A moneyline bet only needs a draw rule in sports where regulation time can end level. Two common handlings:

1. Draw no bet: the stake is refunded in full if the game ties, and neither side wins or loses.
2. Three-way moneyline: the draw is priced as its own outcome alongside the favourite and the underdog, and a tie settles that third price as a winner.

Basketball leagues such as the NBA and the PBA don’t end in a draw — both play overtime periods until a winner is decided — so a moneyline bet on either resolves on the final winner with no draw rule to apply.

Compare This to a Spread or a Margin

Two numbers worth carrying over from this page:

1. The 3.48% gap calculated above is a betting margin — every moneyline, spread betting and three-way market carries one, just at different sizes.
2. The 1.67 and 2.30 decimal prices convert the same way whichever market they appear in, so the conversion steps here apply to a spread line too.