
Betting Basics: The Different Types Of Sports Betting
What are the types of sports betting? One of the reasons why sports betting is great is that there are lots of ways you can bet on a game. You don’t need to just bet on one team you expect to win a match, you can bet on the probabilities like the margin of victory, total number of points scored, and different types of bets too. But, sports betting is still a complex passion and has lots of depth. Most of its depth is based on the fact that there are a variety of options attached to the type of bet you want to place. Whether you are an experienced or new bettor, have a good understanding of the bet types you can wager on. The more knowledge you have, the more informed your betting decisions will be. With this in mind, let’s now talk about straight bets, money lines, point spreads, and prop bets. Let’s talk about the betting options that are available from your sports books. Read also: Key Differences Between Betting For Fun And Betting For Profit 13 Types Of Sports Betting Below are the types of sports bets and how they work: 1. Money Line Bets Moneyline bets are the most common and simplest bet types. When you bet a team’s moneyline, that means you’re backing them to win. For instance, if you favour the Cincinnati Bengals to win, you’d bet on their moneyline. If the Bengals win, you win your bet. But if they lose, your bet loses. When you visit a Prediction Site, money lines are the first bets you see, then points spreads and totals. These types of bets differ in the odds they provide. A match might have an underdog with long odds and a huge potential payout, while the favourites who are expected to win have short odds and low payouts. 2. Point Spread Point spreads are entertaining for more experienced bettors because they level the playing field. Here, the underdogs are given additional “phantom” points. The bets may be listed as: Buffalo Bills +14 (-110) Cincinnati Bengals -14 (-110) In this scenario, the Bills are expected to lose by 14 points. The oddsmakers gave them 14 “extra” points to add to their total. For that bet to the payout, Bills must win or lose by less than 14 points. If the final score is Bills 21 and Bengals 27, that would mean that the bills covered the spread. With the extra 14 points given by the point spread, they would have won over the Bengals. Similarly, the Bengals would need to defeat the Bills by more than 14 points to cover the spread. A final score of Bengals 31 and Bears 10, would show that Cincinnati covered the spread and won the bet. 3. Handicap Bets Handicap bets are quite similar to point spreads and are one more way for sportsbooks to level things for unevenly matched teams or players. The handicap present is to give an advantage to underdogs by giving them a “head start” the favourite has to overcome. The advantage a head start gives comes as points the underdog starts with to get an edge. The favourites must pass the edge or the underdogs use it to their advantage and you win that wager. Here’s an example: Manchester United is favoured against Leicester, this is the handicap the bookmaker gives: Manchester United: -3 Leicester: +3 This simply means that Leicester is starting the game with 3 extra points. If you back Manchester United, you’ll have minus 3 points from their final score. If they have more points than Leicester after the subtraction, then you win the bet. Or maybe you backed Leicester as the underdog. You’ll add 3 points to their total score, and if it’s higher than what Manchester scored, you’d win the bet. If Manchester scored three goals in that match, the official score is – Manchester 3 – Leicester 0. But with the underdog’s handicap, the final score at the sportsbooks will be: Manchester United 3 – Leicester 3 A handicap like this for Leicester creates a tie, so if you bet on them for the match, you’d win the bet. 4. Over/Under (Totals) The over/under bet also known as totals bet is a wager made for the combined score of two teams playing in a match. You bet against a total set by the sportsbook and if the combined score will fall over or under the number given. If you’re previewing the NBA odds at a sportsbook for the Golden State Warriors playing the San Antonio Spurs, the over/under for the game is 214. You’d think the matchup will be a shootout and wager on the over. If you win, you collect your earnings. Over/under are typically set at around -110 unless the total is overly high or low. This means betting $110 on the over would earn you $100 if it won. Total bets are another simple wager you can make whether you’re betting for football in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB or collegiate sports. These types of bets are present in halftime or period scoring. 5. Parlay Bets A parlay bet is a wager made on multiple bets winning. For a parlay to win, every “leg” or bet in the parlay must win for you to cash out your bets. If what you have is a four-leg parlay and only three bets win, you’d have a losing parlay ticket. Although most experts advise that you stay away from parlays because they suck you in, these bets are attractive because with a low amount you could win a larger amount, as your profits get multiplied after every win. So, betting $10 on a five-leg parlay including: Boston Bruins Moneyline (-215) Vancouver Canucks Moneylines (-155) Pittsburgh Penguins+4.5 (-110) David Pastrnak to score (+650) Sidney Crosby to score 20 points (-105) If all these 5 bets won, you’d earn a payout of $663.80. See: Betting Basics: Optimizing Your Betting Selections 6. Teasers Teaser