Intro to Sports Betting

Introduction to Sports Betting

What is sports betting, by definition? It is a type of gambling that allows you to place a wager on a sporting event. These events can be anything from more traditional ones like dog or horse racing, which are surprisingly very popular, to more well-known sports like soccer, American football, hockey, etc...

Bets are typically made through bookmakers, better known as sportsbooks. These sportsbooks can be found at casinos or betting shops, which are more prevalent in Europe. The online sports betting market is becoming more popular, with powerhouse companies like BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Bet365, Caesars, and many more being legalized in diNerent countries.

Currently, 18-20 countries offer legalized sports betting, with the US being the most popular. In 2023, around 30% of surveyed Americans stated that they gambled on sports in 2023.

In this article, we will look at some common bets that players make, the most common events that take in the most wagering, and a few tips to become a good sports bettor.

The most common bet types

Money Line Bets

A money line wager is you selecting an outright winner of a match-up, regardless of point spreads or other variables.

Example: NFL Week 18

Bengals -130

Steelers +110

A $100 wager on the Bengals returns you $176.92; however, if you think the Steelers can win as underdogs, a $100 wager pays you out $210.00 if they win. Our suggestion for more extensive money line favourites, such as -225 and - 250, is to bet them together in a parlay and receive a payout of +102. Both bets must win for you to cash out. We will discuss a parlay bet more later in the article.

Spread Betting

A spread is the estimated scoring differential between two opposing sides, and you can bet on the underdog to cover that spread or the favorite to beat it.

NFL Example:

If the Baltimore Ravens are favored to beat the New York Giants by 7.5 points, the spread line would appear as Ravens -7.5 and Giants +7.5. This means the Ravens need to win by 8 or more points to beat the spread (cashing Ravens -7.5), the Giants would need to win or lose by 7 or less points (cashing Giants +7.5).

Totals (Over/Under)

This type of bet allows you to predict if the score will go over or under a total set by the bookmaker. The most common totals are full-game totals combined between both teams, however you can also do team totals or specific lengths of games, periods, innings, quarters or halves.

Example: Bluejays vs Rangers Full Game Total 10.5

Over would be 11 runs or more, and your bet wins

Under would be 10 runs or less

Parlay Bets

Everyone's favorite. Smaller wagers for bigger payouts! A parlay bet is a combination of any 2 or more individual bets combined into one, where all selected outcomes must occur for you to win. The more legs added to the parlay, the exponentially greater the payout if you win; however, the reward only improves because of your increased risk.

Example: NFL Week 18

If we like the Bills and the Texans to win on the money line and bet them together as a parlay, it will pay +218.

If we add more teams we may like to win their games on the Money line. Combining the Bills/Texans/ Colts/Eagles/ Cowboys pays at +660.

Let’s get more aggressive and do a 5 team NFL parlay with spreads Example: Colts -5 / Titans +1 / Packers -9.5/ Falcons -8 / Bills -2.5 +2439

Parlays are what the sportsbooks want you to wager on due to the difficulty of winning them, especially larger ones. We suggest trying two or three team parlays if you're going to play this type of wager to give you a better shot of winning long-term. For recreational bettors, larger parlays for smaller amounts are understandable. However, we suggest never betting on larger parlays with high wagers due to the lower odds.

Teaser Bets

A teaser is a parlay of mainly three or more teams (depending on the bookmaker) that gives the bettor an advantage at a lower spread margin. Most books have at least three games allowed and are available for American Football and Basketball. Teaser line adjustments start at 4pt to 10pt; the more significantly you adjust the line, the more it costs on pricing.

Example: NFL Week 18

4 PT Teaser (spread adjustment by 4 pts):

Bet: Ravens -13.5 / Steelers +6 / Bills +1.5 +175

7 PT Teaser (spread adjustment by 7 pts):

Bet: Ravens -10.5 / Steelers +9 / Bills +4.5 +120

Teaser bets can be profitable for bettors due to the friendly line adjustment. However, you must get at least three right, and we don’t suggest placing more teams in your teasers.

Player Props

A player prop bet is a wager placed out the outcome of particular player's performance. Since Fantasy sports have become so popular, player prop betting has followed. Player props are available in most sports and are prevalent in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and UFC. You can bet on anything from how many yards a player will get in an NFL game to how many touchdowns.

Most of these props work as an over-and-under bet at around -110 or greater on each side, so if you’re looking for higher-priced player prop bets, you will want to look at the Touchdown props in the NFL or adjusted lines where you can raise the line.

Live Betting

Live betting allows you to bet during a live game with adjusted odds from the original, which can be a great way to get an edge on the bookmakers.

For example, if a team goes up a touchdown, score or round and you believe that the other team or fighter can come back and win, you will get great odds on that team or fighter to do so.

It can be hard to predict how a team or fighter will show up before the event; however, you can get an edge in the live market to see how they are playing or fighting. Most bookmakers offer live betting for most sports. However, it can vary from sportsbook to sportsbook.

Future Betting

Placing a future bet is a longterm form of wagering, and is based on predicting future winners of leagues, series, awards, and more.

This type of wager is usually placed before the season starts on a team or to win the championship in their given sport. However, you can also place future wagers during the season as the odds market continues to shift.

Conclusion

Nowadays, sportsbooks offer many more types of wagers; however, in this article, I wanted to outline the most popular ones available at most sportsbooks. If you’re betting on sports, have a structured and safe betting system and know your limits before diving in.

Enjoy sports betting; it really does enhance your sports viewing.