Three-Way Moneyline Betting in Kentucky

Win, lose, or draw—that is the question the three-way moneyline is asking. While traditional moneyline betting simply asks you to pick game winners, three-way moneyline betting introduces a third possible outcome: a tie.

You typically see moneyline odds on a favorite and an underdog to win any game. Pick a winner, and if they get the job done, you get paid at the moneyline odds as posted when you placed the bet. With 3-way moneyline betting, you’ll also see odds on the game ending in a tie.

Three-way betting is usually available in sports where a game can end in a tie, which means it is primarily a soccer thing. However, there are variations of the 3 way moneyline available in other sports. Here’s a complete guide to three-way moneyline betting covering them all, plus everything you need to know to get in on three-way moneyline action online here in Kentucky.

Three-way moneyline sports

Three-way moneyline betting is available only for sports where ties are possible and common. That means sports like baseball, basketball, and hockey are generally out because extra innings, overtime, and shootouts mean there’s always a winner. However, you may find regulation three-way moneylines for games in these sports, where the third option is a tie at the end of regulation time.

Football is generally out as well. Three-way moneyline betting may be available for NFL games. However, fewer than 1% of NFL games have ended in a tie since the NFL adopted overtime in 1974. As a result, the odds offered on the third option could get to a whopping +6000 or more. Even though that’s far from the odds of any game ending in a tie, most sportsbooks won’t allow three-way NFL moneyline betting to avoid the exposure.

That leaves soccer betting, where draws happen regularly, and three-way moneyline betting is the norm.

Two-way vs. three-way moneyline bets

Moneylines ask you to pick which side will win a game. You typically have two choices:

1. The moneyline favorite: Bet on the oddsmakers’ pick to win the game. Book your bet at the currently posted moneyline odds. The odds on the favorite have a minus sign in the front, indicating how much money you need to lay to win $100. When oddsmakers think the University of Kentucky basketball team will win easily over Louisville, the moneyline odds could be around -250 on Kentucky. That means you have to bet $250 to win $100.
2. The moneyline underdog: Bet on the side oddsmakers think will lose. Book your bet at the currently posted moneyline odds. The odds on the underdog have a plus sign in the front, indicating how much money you stand to win for every $100 bet. When oddsmakers think Kentucky will beat Louisville handily, the moneyline odds on Louisville will be around +195. That means you stand to win $195 for every $100 bet when correctly backing the Cardinals.

Three-way moneylines introduce the tie as a third option. Here, you can also bet on the game ending in a tie. You book your bet at the currently posted moneyline odds, just like you do with the underdog or the favorite. The odds on the tie have either a plus sign in the front, indicating how much money you stand to win for every $100 bet, or a minus sign, showing how much money you need to lay to win $100. It all depends on the likelihood of a tie.

When USL Championship soccer clubs Louisville City FC and Memphis 901 FC face off in Louisville, there will be three-way moneyline betting giving you the following betting options:

Three-way moneyline betting in this game allows you to bet on the game ending in a tie. The odds of the tie are +275. That means you stand to win $275 for every $100 bet if the game does end in a tie. Of course, you can still bet on either Memphis or Louisville to win the same way you might with a standard moneyline bet.

Other 3-way moneyline sports

3-way moneylines in football

Regular season NFL games can end in ties; they just rarely do. In fact, ties happen less than 1% of the time. Of course, NFL playoff games can’t end in ties, so there is no 3-way betting in the postseason.

The likelihood of ties is so small that many sportsbooks won’t post three-way moneylines for NFL games, but you can find them. When you do, the NFL odds will be quite long. Here’s an example:

The Bengals are slight moneyline favorites at home here, and the Chiefs are slight dogs. The tie offers the longest odds. You can turn a $100 bet into $6,600 if the game ends in a tie. However, the odds are that long for a reason: the chances of a tie are slim to none.

3-way moneylines in hockey

Overtime and shootouts mean NHL games can’t end in a tie. However, hockey games can be tied after regulation time. That means there’s three-way moneyline betting specifically for the result at the end of regulation time in hockey games. These are sometimes referred to as 60-minute lines. Here’s an example:

The odds will be slightly different on the favorite and underdog compared to the traditional two-way moneyline. That’s because the teams must win in regulation.

Three-way NHL moneylines are settled at the end of regulation time, and as you can see, the tight nature of NHL games means ties happen often enough that a tie is a long shot, but the NHL odds are never exceedingly long.

3-way moneylines in baseball

Baseball doesn’t have ties, but games that go to extra innings are tied at the end of nine innings. That means there’s three-way moneyline betting specifically for the result at the end of nine innings in MLB games. This is often sometimes referred to as the nine-inning line. Here’s an example:

The odds on the favorite and underdog are mostly the same as the traditional two-way MLB moneyline. However, you can also bet on the MLB game going to extra innings, which means it is tied after nine innings. Extra innings games are common enough that the odds on this third option are long but never too long (a la football).

3-way moneylines in basketball

NBA and college basketball games never end in ties. They’ll keep playing five-minute overtime periods until one team ends up ahead. However, games that go to OT are tied after regulation time, whether that’s 48 minutes in the NBA or 40 minutes in college ball. That means there’s three-way moneyline betting specifically for the result at the end of regulation time in basketball games. Here’s an example:

The odds on the favorite and underdog are close to the same as the traditional two-way basketball moneyline. Here, you can also bet on the game going to overtime, which means it is tied after regulation time. However, overtime basketball games are both rare and common enough that the odds are long but not astronomical.

Ties and the two-way moneyline

No matter what the sport, when a game ends in a tie, and you’ve placed a bet on a traditional two-way moneyline, the result is a push. Three-way moneylines consider the possibility of a tie, and you can bet on that possibility. Traditional two-way moneylines don’t consider the possibility of a tie, and you can’t bet on that possibility.

When a bet is a push, Kentucky sportsbooks return your stake. It doesn’t matter whether you back the home team, the road team, the underdog or the favorite; when the game ends in a tie, the result of all two-way moneyline bets is a push, and bets are returned.