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Wisconsin Football: Sports betting basics

By Tanner Nestle

EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 05: Head coach Paul Chryst of the Wisconsin Bagers waits with his team to enter the field before a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 5, 2016 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - NOVEMBER 05: Head coach Paul Chryst of the Wisconsin Bagers waits with his team to enter the field before a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on November 5, 2016 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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Wisconsin Football - Dontye Carriere-Williams
GREEN BAY, WI – SEPTEMBER 03: Dontye Carriere-Williams #29 of the Wisconsin Badgers jumps into the stands after a win over the LSU TIGERS Tigers at Lambeau Field on September 3, 2016 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Money Line

Money Lines are super easy to understand. If you want to bet on the money line, it means you pick a winner straight up. No spreads are involved. Nothing fancy. Whichever team wins on the field determines who wins the money line.

The tricky thing about money lines is how they pay out. A bet on Wisconsin to win outright isn’t a very bold bet and isn’t going to be paid out if it hits. A bet on Western Kentucky to win outright, however, is a very bold bet. If it wins, it will be rewarding.

In games like this, money line bets on Wisconsin are going to be difficult to come by. According to Oddsshark, the best Wisconsin money line bet you can find is valued at -22999. What that number means is you must wager $22,999 to win $100. That’s not a risk anybody will want to take. It’s not worth it if you win, and it’s beyond crushing if you lose.

However, a Western Kentucky money line bet is currently at +8500. In other words, a $100 wager pays $8,500 if it wins. This is much more rewarding, but only if you believe Western Kentucky can win. These numbers are only so large because of the nature of the game. For comparison, one of the more compelling matchups of the weekend, Michigan vs Notre Dame, only offers a money line of -102 for Notre Dame. In such a tight game, the value may not be worthy of any wagers.

Odds

Odds are very similar to money line payouts and are probably more common outside of the sports betting world. Team A has 5/1 odds to win its conference, for example. Those 5/1 odds are equal to a +500 value. So a $100 wager would pay $500. And the Western Kentucky money line of +8500 is interchangeably 85/1 odds. When you see either of those numbers they mean the same thing. They’re only different for presentation purposes and only vary due to preference.