The 83rd Oscars 2011: Best Picture Odds
The Social Network +100
The King's Speech -500
The Fighter +2000
Toy Story 3 +5000
Black Swan +2500
Inception +2000
127 Hours +5000
True Grit +2000
The Kids Are All Right +4000
Winter’s Bone +2500
The best way to explain the money line is to show an example of it in action, so we'll make up a hypothetical baseball game between the Cubs and the Dodgers. When looking at the odds for the game, the bettor will see something like:
Chicago Cubs +120
Los Angeles Dodgers -130
In this instance, the Dodgers are the favored team, as signified by the - (minus) written in front of the 130, while the Cubs are the underdogs, as designated by the + (plus) in front of the 120.
What these numbers mean is that those wishing to bet on the favorite, the Dodgers, will have to risk $130 to win $100, while those wanting to wager on the underdog, the Cubs, will risk $100 to win $120.
It's important to remember that even though money lines are expressed in units of $100, you do not have to bet that much money. The money line will work just as easily with a $5 or $10 wager as it does with a $100 bet.