Moneyline Bet Explained: Draws, Overtime and Pushes
The definition takes one sentence. Everything that actually costs money sits in the settlement rules, and those change by sport, by market and by whether the draw was on the coupon.
§ ON THIS PAGE · 10 sections
What a moneyline bet is
Caesars states the definition in the form every sportsbook uses:
“A moneyline bet is a wager placed on which team or player will win a game or match outright”
Outright means the scoreline does not matter beyond who finished ahead. A team winning by one point pays exactly the same as a team winning by forty. That is the whole difference between a moneyline and a handicap or spread bet, and it is why the prices are lopsided: the market has to charge for the difference in quality somewhere, and with no handicap available the only lever left is the price itself. Reading those prices is covered in American odds explained.
"Moneyline" is the American name. On a British or European coupon the same market is usually called match result, match odds or match betting, and in a two-selection sport it may be labelled 12. The name changes, the bet does not.
Two-way against three-way
This is the distinction that decides your settlement, and it is visible on the coupon before you bet: count the selections.
A three-way market prices the draw as its own outcome. Smarkets describes the standard notation:
“The '1' refers to a home win, the 'X' the draw and the '2' the away win”
Caesars is equally direct about what that third option does to your bet:
“A 3-way moneyline adds a 3rd betting option: the draw”
| Market shape | Selections priced | Period usually settled on | If the scores finish level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-way moneyline | Two, no draw | Including overtime | Void if a tie survives overtime, stake returned |
| Three-way moneyline | Three, draw priced | Regulation time only | Draw wins, both team selections lose |
- Selections priced
- Two, no draw
- Period usually settled on
- Including overtime
- If the scores finish level
- Void if a tie survives overtime, stake returned
- Selections priced
- Three, draw priced
- Period usually settled on
- Regulation time only
- If the scores finish level
- Draw wins, both team selections lose
The price difference between the two shapes is not a bonus. A three-way market offers a longer price on each team precisely because the draw can beat you, and picking a team there is a materially different bet from picking the same team on the two‑way line.
Settlement by sport
The table below is the reason this page exists. Each row is a published operator rule rather than a general description, because the rules are not uniform and a sport-agnostic summary is exactly the thing that gets a bet graded in a way the reader did not expect.
| Sport and market | What counts | If the game finishes level |
|---|---|---|
| American football, match market | Overtime counts, except where the draw is priced in-play. | Bets void after overtime, unless the draw was offered. |
| American football, win in normal time | Overtime is excluded from settlement. | Tie is settled as the winner. |
| NHL and AHL money line | Overtime and any subsequent shootout count. | Cannot stand level, the shootout winner is credited a goal. |
| Ice hockey match odds, three-way | Regulation time only, overtime excluded. | The draw selection wins. |
| Basketball match result | Overtime counts unless the normal-time market was chosen. | Normal-time market carries a priced draw. |
| Basketball first-half money line | First half only. | Bets void, stake returned. |
| Baseball match result | Extra innings count for all bets. | Void, and suspended games do not carry over. |
- What counts
- Overtime counts, except where the draw is priced in-play.
- If the game finishes level
- Bets void after overtime, unless the draw was offered.
- What counts
- Overtime is excluded from settlement.
- If the game finishes level
- Tie is settled as the winner.
- What counts
- Overtime and any subsequent shootout count.
- If the game finishes level
- Cannot stand level, the shootout winner is credited a goal.
- What counts
- Regulation time only, overtime excluded.
- If the game finishes level
- The draw selection wins.
- What counts
- Overtime counts unless the normal-time market was chosen.
- If the game finishes level
- Normal-time market carries a priced draw.
- What counts
- First half only.
- If the game finishes level
- Bets void, stake returned.
- What counts
- Extra innings count for all bets.
- If the game finishes level
- Void, and suspended games do not carry over.
Three of those rows deserve the operator's own words, because they are the rows that surprise people.
Ice hockey is the one sport where the two market shapes sit side by side on the same event, and the two-way version explicitly absorbs the shootout:
“Money Line/Puck Line/Total Goals/Alternates - Includes overtime and any subsequent shootout for settlement purposes”
That is not a technicality. A shootout is a skills competition rather than hockey, and it decides your moneyline bet:
“In the event of a shootout, the winning team will be credited with one goal”
The three-way version on the same fixture stops at the end of regulation:
“Match Odds (3-way): Excludes overtime and will be settled on the result declared prior to any period of overtime played”
Basketball works the same way from the other direction, with the normal-time market carrying the draw:
“Overtime counts for this market UNLESS you are betting on the win match normal time market, which includes a draw price”
What happens on a tie
A widely repeated claim is that a moneyline bet on a US sport cannot end level, because overtime plays until somebody wins. That is true of some competitions and not of others, and the operator rules are written for the case where it is not true:
“If the match is a tie at the end of overtime, bets will be made void, apart from the market where the draw is offered in-play”
If ties were impossible the rule would not need to exist. Treat a two-way moneyline as a bet that can be refunded rather than one that must produce a winner, and check the competition rather than the sport: club and international competitions inside one sport frequently differ on whether a tie can survive.
The mirror-image case is the normal-time market, where a tie is not a refund but a priced outcome you could have backed:
“Overtime does NOT count towards settlement”
Shortened and abandoned games
The second way a moneyline bet ends without a straightforward result is the game not finishing. Here the threshold is a published number, not a judgement call, and it differs by sport.
Baseball uses an innings threshold that also protects the home team's uncompleted final at‑bat:
“In the event of a game being abandoned, 5 innings must have been played or the home team must be ahead after 4.5 innings for bets to stand”
Ice hockey uses a clock threshold:
“Games must go 55 minutes for bets to stand”
Note what those two thresholds have in common. Neither of them is "the game was finished". A baseball moneyline can be paid on a game that stopped in the sixth inning, and a hockey moneyline can be paid on a game abandoned at 56 minutes. If you are watching a game being called off, the question to ask is whether the threshold has already been passed, not whether the game is over.
Push, void and returned stake
The three words get used interchangeably and mean different things at settlement.
| Outcome | What happened | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| Push | The result landed exactly on a quoted line or handicap. | Stake back, no profit and no loss. |
| Void | The market cannot be graded, for example a surviving tie or a game under the threshold. | Stake back, and the leg is removed from any multiple. |
| Draw beaten | A three-way market finished level and you backed a team. | Nothing, the bet is a loser. |
- What happened
- The result landed exactly on a quoted line or handicap.
- What you receive
- Stake back, no profit and no loss.
- What happened
- The market cannot be graded, for example a surviving tie or a game under the threshold.
- What you receive
- Stake back, and the leg is removed from any multiple.
- What happened
- A three-way market finished level and you backed a team.
- What you receive
- Nothing, the bet is a loser.
A straight moneyline has no line to land on, so it cannot push in the strict sense. The operator rule that defines a push belongs to the handicap and totals markets sitting next to it:
“When a handicap/totals tie occurs (known as a "push"), bets will be made void, unless the Tie is offered”
The practical consequence is in multiples. A voided moneyline leg is removed and the remaining legs are recalculated at the shorter combined price, so a four-fold with one void leg pays as a treble. It does not void the whole bet and it does not pay as though the leg had won.
Pre-bet settlement checklist
Thirty seconds before the bet, not thirty minutes after it settles.
- Count the selections. Two or three?
- If three, confirm the draw is the outcome you expect it to be and that you are content to lose on it.
- Check whether the market name contains "normal time", "regulation", "60 minute" or "first half", each of which excludes overtime.
- For hockey, confirm whether the shootout counts for the market you chose.
- For baseball, note the innings threshold for the game to stand.
- Record the accepted price from the receipt, not the displayed price.
- If the fixture is postponed, check the operator's own carry-over window before assuming the bet is void.
Caesars gives the same advice in one line, and it is the only line on this page that applies to every sport without exception:
“Bettors should confirm settlement rules for each sport before placing”
Ownership boundary
This page owns the moneyline market and its settlement. Adjacent questions have their own pages so neither has to summarise the other:
- American odds explained for reading the plus and minus price attached to each side.
- Void bet rules for what a void does to a multiple.
- Handicap betting guide for the market that replaces the price gap with a points adjustment.
Two prices, one probability question
Turn both sides of the moneyline into percentages and see what the pair adds up to before you decide either is good.
Evidence manifest6 primary sources mapped to this guideView sources
Each source below is retained with the claims it supports. Operator sources describe published terms, not independent first‑hand performance.
- Caesars Sportsbook betting guide, moneyline (opens in a new tab)
- A moneyline bet is a wager placed on which team or player will win a game or match outright
- A 3-way moneyline adds a 3rd betting option: the draw
- A bettor must choose exactly one of the three outcomes before the match begins
- Bettors should confirm settlement rules for each sport before placing
- Sky Bet market rules, American football (opens in a new tab)
- Overtime counts for match market, apart from where the draw is priced in-play
- If the match is a tie at the end of overtime, bets will be made void, apart from the market where the draw is offered in-play
- When a handicap/totals tie occurs (known as a "push"), bets will be made void, unless the Tie is offered
- Overtime does NOT count towards settlement
- Sky Bet market rules, baseball (opens in a new tab)
- Extra innings count for all bets
- In the event of a game being abandoned, 5 innings must have been played or the home team must be ahead after 4.5 innings for bets to stand
- If this is a tie, bets will be void. Suspended games do not carry over
- Sky Bet market rules, ice hockey (opens in a new tab)
- Money Line/Puck Line/Total Goals/Alternates - Includes overtime and any subsequent shootout for settlement purposes
- In the event of a shootout, the winning team will be credited with one goal
- Games must go 55 minutes for bets to stand
- Match Odds (3-way): Excludes overtime and will be settled on the result declared prior to any period of overtime played
- Sky Bet market rules, basketball (opens in a new tab)
- Overtime counts for all markets unless otherwise stated
- Overtime counts for this market UNLESS you are betting on the win match normal time market, which includes a draw price
- If scores are tied, bets will be made void
- Smarkets help centre, what is 1X2 betting (opens in a new tab)
- The '1' refers to a home win, the 'X' the draw and the '2' the away win
- 1X2 bets are hugely popular on sports where there is the possibility of a draw
FAQ
What is a moneyline bet?
It is a bet on which team or player wins the game outright, with no handicap and no margin requirement. A one-point win pays the same as a forty‑point win.
What happens to a moneyline bet if the game is tied?
On a two-way market that includes overtime, a tie that survives overtime voids the bet and the stake is returned. On a three-way market the draw is a priced selection, so a level scoreline makes both team selections losers.
Does overtime count for a moneyline bet?
Usually yes on the two-way market and usually no on markets named normal time, regulation or 60 minute. In ice hockey the money line also includes the shootout, with the winning team credited one goal.
What is the difference between a moneyline and a spread?
A moneyline pays on the outright winner and prices the quality gap into the odds. A spread applies a points handicap so that both sides can be offered at a similar price.
Can a moneyline bet push?
Not in the strict sense, because there is no line for the result to land on. What people usually mean by a moneyline push is a void, where a surviving tie or a game that failed to reach the settlement threshold returns the stake.