The Moneyline is the market on the winner of a match, usually with two outcomes and no draw. It's the standard result market in tennis, and one of the most common in basketball. Unlike 1X2, it doesn't explicitly build in a third outcome for a draw.
What is the Moneyline?
The Moneyline is the market on the winner of the match, usually with two outcomes. Unlike 1X2, it usually doesn't build in a third outcome for a draw.
It's the standard result market in tennis, where the format of the game rules out a draw, and one of the most common result markets in basketball.
Moneyline vs 1X2: what changes
The key difference between Moneyline and 1X2 comes down to the number of outcomes and whether the draw is possible.
| 1X2 | Moneyline | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical outcomes | 3 | 2 |
| Draw | Possible | Usually absent |
| Football | Very common | Variable |
| Tennis | Not suited to the final result | Standard |
| Basketball | Variable | Very common |
| Extra time | Depends on the market | Depends on the rules |
Extra-time rules aren't universal: they vary by sport and by operator, on the Moneyline just as on 1X2. Always check the exact market rules before betting rather than assuming they match what you saw on a different market.
Example: a tennis Moneyline
In a tennis match, two players, two possible outcomes: the Moneyline applies directly, with no need for a draw.
| Selection | Odd |
|---|---|
| Player A | 1.65 |
| Player B | 2.30 |
On a €15 stake placed on Player A, a win for that player returns €24.75 (€15 × 1.65), a net profit of €9.75. If Player B wins instead, the €15 stake is lost in full — there's no in-between outcome on this two-way market, unlike 1X2 where a draw breaks the all-or-nothing logic. The same arithmetic applies whichever side is the favourite: only the odd, and therefore the size of the potential profit, changes.
As with any market, these two odds convert into implied probabilities. The detail of that conversion is explained on the page dedicated to implied probability.
Edge cases: tennis retirement and basketball overtime
Retirements and interrupted play come up often enough on a two-outcome, no-draw market that operators write dedicated settlement rules for them.
In tennis, a player retiring mid-match is the most common edge case on a Moneyline. If a player retires before the match is finished, most operators void and refund bets as long as too few games or sets have been played; past a threshold set by the operator, often the end of a full set, the bet can instead be settled on the score reached at the point of retirement, with the retiring player's opponent declared the winner. The exact rules vary noticeably from one operator to another and should always be checked before betting.
In basketball, overtime is generally included in Moneyline settlement, unlike football, where a result market usually covers regulation time only. The reason is simple: a basketball game never ends on a tie, so the Moneyline market follows the final result, overtime included, unless stated otherwise by the operator. A match stopped before full time for a reason unrelated to play — a security incident, an equipment failure — generally follows the same logic as a tennis retirement: refunded if the operator's settlement threshold isn't reached.
Margin and implied probability on the Moneyline
Like any odds market, the Moneyline reads with the same tools as 1X2 or a handicap: every odd contains a margin, and margin is the mechanism, not a sign that anything unusual is happening on that particular price. In the example above, the odds of 1.65 and 2.30 correspond to implied probabilities of 60.6% and 43.5%, a total of 104.1%: that 4.1-point excess is the bookmaker's margin, whose general calculation is explained on the bookmaker margin page. On a two-way market with no draw to spread the margin across, that excess is concentrated on just two prices instead of three.
How OddScore uses the Moneyline market
OddScore tracks the prices offered on the Moneyline market by dozens of bookmakers, in tennis and basketball, removes their margin and compares how they evolve over time.
The goal isn't to predict the outcome of the match, but to make it easier to read how the market prices each of the two outcomes, and how that pricing evolves up to kickoff.
Understand how OddScore analyzes odds movements →
Dig into the market
Odds movements are only part of the story. Here are the next topics to read.
Types of sports bets
Market, selection, line, odd: the main families of markets.
See the guide1X2 betting: understanding the 1, X and 2 odds
The equivalent three-way market, with an explicit draw.
Compare with 1X2Implied probability of an odd
Converting an odd into a probability, and what it means.
Understand the conversionFrequently asked questions
What is the Moneyline?
The Moneyline is the market on the winner of a match, usually with two outcomes. It's the standard result market in tennis, where there's no draw, and one of the most common in basketball.
Does the Moneyline include a draw?
Usually not. The Moneyline is mainly used in sports where a match always ends with a winner. When a draw is possible (football, for example), the corresponding three-way market is 1X2, not the Moneyline.
What's the difference between Moneyline and 1X2?
1X2 has three outcomes, including the draw. The Moneyline usually has two outcomes, with no draw. A winner market in football is more rarely labelled Moneyline than 1X2 in French-speaking betting practice, but the two-way logic stays the same.
Does extra time count on a Moneyline?
It depends on the sport and the operator. Some Moneyline markets include the result after extra time when a draw isn't a possible outcome in that sport; others are limited to regulation time. Always check the exact market rules.
Is the Moneyline used in football?
The term is mainly used in tennis and basketball. In football, the most common result market remains 1X2, with three outcomes, because draws happen often.
Does OddScore track the Moneyline market?
Yes, in tennis and basketball. OddScore tracks the prices offered on this market by several bookmakers, removes their margin and compares how they evolve over time.
Sources & methodology
This page combines standard Moneyline market vocabulary, settlement rules published by Betfair, a licensed operator, and OddScore's own observation of Moneyline odds offered by several operators in tennis and basketball.
- Describe the outcomes of the market and the sports where it's most commonly used, with a fully settled worked example.
- Note that extra-time rules vary by sport and by operator, cover the tennis retirement edge case and connect the market to margin and implied probability.
- Betfair — Exchange general rulessupport.betfair.com
- Betfair — Charges and commissionbetfair.com
- UK Gambling Commission — Definitions of terms