Sports betting is one of the most popular sorts of gambling throughout the world because of all the different sports that can be bet on. There are different types of bets that can be made and it can seem very overwhelming for the first time sports bettor. However, I will outline below each bet can be made and how it does not have to be as overwhelming as it may seem.
The most three most common types of bets are money line, spread, and over/under. These bets apply to almost every sport and very easy to understand.
The money line bet is simply picking a team to win a game. You do not have to worry about by how many, just the fact that they come away with a win is all you care about. People like the simplicity of this bet. While these bets may be easier, they also may not pay out as much as other bets. If you bet on a heavy favorite the return might only be a 1/3 of what your original bet was. So even though the money line can be a very easy bet, the payout not might be worth the trouble. For example if you were to bet on the Yankees against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium with a top flight pitcher going for the Yanks they would be heavily favored. The odds would be set around -250/+230, which means for every $250 bet your payout would be $100. However, if you bet on the Orioles, they payout would be $230 for every $100 that was bet. The team with the negative sign in front will always be the team considered to be the favorite where as the team with the plus sign will always be designated as the underdog. The money line bet is most commonly bet in sports where there are not a lot of points scored. Baseball and Hockey are 2 popular sports for moneyline betting, but you can find money line odds on pretty much any sport the bookmakers post lines for including basketball and football.
Another type of bet in the over/under bet, this bet is simply picking whether the combined score of both teams will go over or under the designated number. For example, if the Over/Under for the Lakers-Celtics game was 195, then both teams would have to combine to score 196 points or higher to cover the over bet. Conversely the teams combined score would have to be less than or equal to 194 points to cover the under bet. If both teams combined for 195, then that is considered a push and you receive you original wager back.
Totals are very popular to the sports bettor because even if the game is a blowout and the spread is no longer in question more often than not the total is still in play. Totals are the main reason why the ratings on Monday Night Football don’t decline in the 4th quarter when one team is winning 31-7 in a blowout. If the total is greater than or equal 38 there is still another bet to be decided for the gamblers.
The last and most popular form of betting is the spread bet. This bet involves the bookmaker deciding how much better each team is by assigning a point value separating the teams. The most common sport will you see a point spread is in football and basketball. For instance, the Steelers are playing the Patriots in Pittsburgh and the spread is -4 for Pittsburgh. This means that the bookmakers believe that the Steelers should win by 4 points. So in order for you to win, the Steelers need to win by more than 4 points to win the bet. On the flipside, if you bet on the Patriots they would have to lose by less than 4 points or win the game straight up in order for you to collect on the bet. If the Steelers won by exactly 4 points this would be considered a push and both sides would get their money returned back to them. This form of betting is so popular because of the consistency of the payouts, which usually are $100 return for every $110 that is bet.
That is just the tip of the iceberg on sports gambling, however those are the most popular bets that are placed in all sports and ones that are universally known no matter which book you might place your bets at. If your sportsbook or local guy isn’t offering you all these wagering options it is time to look elsewhere.
