[mrbaseball]

[ QUOTE ]
On pinnacle sports, the moneyline today for the braves v. reds today is -124 Braves and + 116 Reds.

I know that this means the Braves are favored and that you have to bet $1.16 on the Braves to win $1.00.

My question though is the basic question of what exactly do these odds mean? Suppose I do my handicapping and decide that I think the Braves will win X% of times. How do I do the math to decide if this means that this is a good bet?


[/ QUOTE ]

Actually you have to bet 1.24 on Atl to win 1.00. If you bet the Reds 1.00 would return 1.16

Here's what the -124 on Atlanta means: you take the 1.24 (what you bet) divide it by 2.24 (what you get back if you win). So 1.24/2.24=55.35% meaning Atlanta needs to win 55% of the time to break even. If you think they win significantly more often than 55% you have a bet. On the Reds side they will need to win at least 46.29% to break even. Or 1/2.16=46.29%

So if can can determine how often a certain team should win in a certain situation you can then determine if the line is offering you any advantage assuming that your handicap is accurate.