Most of the bets you’ll ever place fit into one of three markets: the moneyline, the handicap, or the totals. Learn how to read them three and you can understand almost any market.

We will use a real world match as an example: tomorrow’s France vs Spain World Cup semi-final.

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1. The Moneyline: Who Wins

If you’ve ever watched a tennis match, you already understand the moneyline. You pick who wins. That’s it.

A moneyline bet is a bet on who wins, straight up. There’s no handicap and no points spread involved. You’re not betting on the margin or the score. You pick a team, a player, or a side, and if they win, your bet wins.

The word “moneyline” comes from the United States, and these bets are usually shown in American odds using plus and minus numbers like +150 or -150. The simple way to read them:

• The minus sign (-) marks the favorite, the side more likely to win.
• The plus sign (+) marks the underdog, the side less likely to win.

The numbers themselves just tell you how much you need to risk, or how much you stand to win, against a standard $100 stake. In Europe and most of the world, we use decimal numbers like 1.67 or 6.25 instead. Different format, exact same bet.

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Reading the Odds: France vs Spain

Here’s roughly how the moneyline looks for tomorrow’s match. Because it’s a soccer game, it has three possible outcomes, not two: France win, draw, or Spain win.

Outcome	Decimal Odds	American Odds
France to win	2.37	+137
Draw	3.24	+224
Spain to win	3.31	+231

France is the favorite. Their odds are the lowest of the three, so the market sees a France win as the single most likely result. Spain are the underdog, where their win is seen as less likely.

You might notice all three prices are plus (+) lines. That’s normal in a three-way market. The draw takes a share of the total probability, so no single side is short enough to become a minus price. France are still the favorite simply because their number is the lowest.

The odds also tell you what you would win:

• In decimal, you just multiply. A €100 bet on France at 2.37 returns €237 in total, which is your €100 back plus €137 profit.
• A €100 bet on Spain at 3.31 would return €331, a €231 profit, because you took the bigger risk on the underdog.

In American odds, it’s the same story told differently. France at +137 means a $100 stake wins you $137 in profit. Spain at +231 means a $100 stake wins you $231 in profit.

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The Trap: Two-Way vs Three-Way Moneylines

Now for a lesson this match could teach you the hard way.

A moneyline can be two-way or three-way:

• A two-way moneyline has two outcomes: Side A wins, or Side B wins. There is no draw option. You see this in sports that always produce a definitive winner, like basketball or tennis.
• A three-way moneyline has three outcomes: home win, draw, or away win. The draw is its own separate bet. Soccer uses this because matches can end level.

The Trap: A three-way moneyline in soccer, for example, is graded strictly on the 90 minutes of normal time. Extra time and penalties do not count.

France vs Spain is a knockout semi-final, so if it’s level after 90 minutes, it goes to extra time. Imagine France then win in extra time. On the three-way moneyline, the match settled as a draw at 90 minutes, so a pre-match bet on “France to win” would lose, even though France technically won the game to advance.

This is not just theory. It happened yesterday. Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1, but only after extra time. They were level after 90 minutes, so the moneyline settled as a draw, and those that bet “Argentina to win” lost their money. 

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2. The Handicap

Backing a favorite to just win often pays relatively low odds. Handicapping solves that by giving one team a headstart or deficit before kick-off, so you get a bigger price in exchange for a harder task.

• The favorite starts with a minus line. France at -1 means you take one goal off their final score.
• The underdog starts with a plus line. Spain at +1 means you add one goal to their final score.

You apply that number to the real score, and the adjusted score sets your bet. There are two main types, and they work differently:

• European Handicap (Whole Numbers, Three Outcomes): This uses whole goals only and works like a three-way moneyline. Take France -1. There are three results: France wins if they clear it by 2 or more, the handicap tie wins if France wins by exactly 1, and Spain +1 wins if Spain wins or draws. 
• Asian Handicap (Half Goals, Quarter Goals): This eliminates the draw option and adds half and quarter lines. This way the handicap is much closer to the real gap between two teams. This type allows refunds in your stake in some cases.

Let’s say that the match has started and the score is 2-0 to France. If you run that score through different Asian lines:

If the line is…	France 2-0 becomes…
France -0.5	France wins by 1.5 goals
France -1	France wins by 1 goal
France -1.5	France wins by 0.5 goals
France -2	Tie (0-0) you get your stake back
France -2.5	Spain wins by 0.5 goals

If you look at the France -2 row. France won by 2 goals, but once you take 2 goals off them, the adjusted score is tied. On an Asian handicap, a whole-number line that lands level is called a “push”, and you get your full stake back. A European handicap doesn’t do this and that is the main difference between the two.

Because France and Spain have similar odds, the real handicap on this match would be close to level, offering only a small edge to France. The other lines in our table are just to show how it works.

There’s one more Asian feature, the quarter line (e.g., -0.75). France might be offered at -0.75, a line that sits halfway between two positions. Your stake splits in two: one half goes on France -0.5, the other on France -1. Say France wins by one goal, 1-0. The -0.5 half wins, because they won by more than half a goal. The -1 half pushes, because they won by exactly one, so that part of your stake is refunded. 

You get your profit on one half and get the other half refunded. That split is what allows quarter lines to sit between a clean win and a full refund.

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3. The Totals: Betting on Goals, Not the Winner

The totals market ignores who wins and focuses on the combined number of goals instead. The bookmaker sets a line, and you pick Over or Under.

For France vs Spain, the main total line is set at 2.5 goals:

• Over 2.5 wins if the match has 3 goals or more.
• Under 2.5 wins if it has 2 goals or less.

The winner doesn’t matter at all. A 2-0 France win or a 1-1 draw both have 2 goals or less, so both settle Under. A 2-1 result, whoever wins it, totals 3 goals, so it settles Over.

Notice the line is a half number, 2.5 on purpose. A half line can never be landed on an exact number, so there’s no push. You either win or lose. If a bookmaker sets a line like 3.0 and the match ends with 3 goals, that would be a push and you would get your stake back. Same idea as with the whole-number handicap.

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Odds Are Only Prices, Not Predictions

One last thing, and it’s what actually makes you money. It’s true for all three markets.

With “Odds are not predictions” we are trying to show that France being the favorite means they’re likely to win. But it doesn’t mean they’re a good bet at 2.37. A price is only good when it pays you more than the real chance deserves.

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FAQ

What does +200 mean on a moneyline?

It means the team is the underdog. A $100 bet returns $200 in profit if they win, plus your stake back. The bigger the positive number, the bigger the underdog.

Why is the favorite a plus number in a three-way market?

Because the draw takes a share of the total probability. No single side is likely enough to become a minus price on its own, so the favorite is just the lowest plus number available.

Do moneyline odds include extra time?

Often no. A three-way soccer moneyline settles on the 90-minute result, so extra time and penalties don’t count. Always check the market’s specific rules first.

What does a -1 handicap mean?

That team starts with a virtual deficit. You subtract one goal off their final score, and the adjusted score decides your bet. They need to win by 2 or more to fully cover a -1 line.

What is the difference between Asian and European handicaps?

A European handicap uses whole goals and has a handicap tie outcome, meaning no refunds. An Asian handicap eliminates the draw option entirely, uses half/quarter goals, and refunds your stake when a whole-number line lands exactly level.

What is a total bet?

A bet on the combined goals scored in a match by both teams, completely ignoring who wins. You pick Over or Under a line set by the bookmaker, like 2.5 goals.

Why are totals lines usually half numbers?

Because half numbers can never be matched exactly, so there is no push. You always win or lose. Whole-number lines can push and refund your stake if the exact number is hit.

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Try It Yourself

The best way to learn these markets is to watch the prices move on real matches. Start your free 5-day BetUnfair trial at https://betunfair.io and see how prices shift before the market catches up.

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