Betting on American Sports works like it would on any other sports market. There are leagues to bet on,
teams to back up, odds to predict and of course strategies to follow if you want to win.
In this ultimate guide to betting on American Sports : NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB, we will discuss the
sports scene in America, how it works, and the most popular sports leagues you can wager.
Furthermore, this guide features betting tips and strategies for these popular sports leagues.
The American Sports Betting scene is lucrative and has a large number of dedicated bettors who make
profits from it everyday. If you want to win it and enjoy the same benefits then you have to understand it
first; this guide will make the process easier for you.
Content:
- What is American sports betting?
- How does betting on American sports work?
- Types of American sports
● NFL
● NHL
● NBA
● MLB - Guide to betting on American Sports : NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB
What is American Sports Betting?
American sports betting is the process of predicting sports results and placing wagers on their outcomes.
You can bet on sports like American football, basketball, baseball, or hockey.
How Does Betting on American Sports Work?
American sports offer betting options, in which you can make your predictions on an event and stake
money for its occurrence.
Bookmakers set odds on occurrences based on the probability of them happening and then invite you to
bet on the side you think will win, with them taking the opposite of that prediction.
If an event has a high probability of happening, it poses lower risks and as such, won’t pay out as much as
an event with a lower probability and greater risk. The higher the risk the bigger the reward.
Most American sports betting also offers two sides – Team VS Team, Yes Vs No, others offer multiple
options like predictions for team championships.
Favorites And Underdogs
Favorites And Underdogs are common betting terms in American sports. These are two sides of a bet you
can wager on.
The favorites are the teams that have the higher probability of winning. These are the stronger teams in
the league. Due to the lower risk, the payout from betting on this side is smaller.
Underdogs are the weaker teams in the leagues. They have a lower probability of winning, which means
they have a higher risk. The payout from betting on underdogs is higher.
If both sides are evenly matched and have the same winning chances, then the odds are even for both and
is called “pick” or “pick em”.
Types of American Sports
There are four major types of American professional sports – NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.
Referred to as the “Big Four”, these sports are the wealthiest professional club competition in its sports
categories globally and have a huge fan following from around the world.
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is the most popular professional sports league in America.
It has 32 franchises divided between the National Football Conference (NFC) and American Football
Conference (AFC) which compete in 16 teams each annually, to win the Super Bowl.
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL) is North America’s second-oldest major professional team sports
league. It consists of 31 clubs in two conferences and 4 divisions.
In the NHL, The 3 highest-placed teams in each conference division enter the playoffs, followed by 2
wild card teams that also enter. These teams then compete for the Stanley Cup.
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) consists of 30 teams, with 2 conferences of 15 teams each,
which play a total of 82 games. These 15 teams are further divided into three.
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is USA’s oldest professional sports league, consisting of 30 teams.
From these 30 teams, 15 teams play in the National League and the other 15 in the American League. The
MLB season has 162-games, making it the longest major American sports season.
Guide to Betting on American Sports: NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB
In this section, we take an in-depth look into betting strategies for specific America sports and list
common types of bets as well.
Common Types Of Bets In American Sports
Moneyline Bets
Moneyline bets are the easiest and most common sports bet. If you bet on a team’s moneyline, it means
that you are betting on that team to win.
Point Spread
When you bet on Point Spread, you are betting on a team’s victory margin, rather than the final results.
Over/Under (Totals)
In Over/Under (Totals) or point total you are betting on a total to go over or under, and you wager on the
combined number points scored between teams.
Parlay Bets
American Parlay Bets are the equivalent of Accumulator Bets, you wager on multiple games and can cash
out only after all your bets win.
Teasers
A Teaser bet, just like the Parlay, is tied to multiple bets, but the difference is that it’s only for points
spread and has the same payout as a single regular bet, rather than a large payout.
A teaser involves teasing the spread of multiple games by a few or several points in your favor.
Prop Bets
A proposition (prop) bet is a wager that is not tied directly to the final score or result of a game.
There are two types of prop bets:
● A player prop is a bet on a player’s performance.
● A game prop is a bet on an event to occur in a game, like which team will score first.
Middle Bets
Middle Bets (Middling) is an arbitrage betting where you place points spread on two sides of a game at
different lines to assure that one or both bets win.
Futures Bets
In Future Bets, you bet on the future outcome of a sports event, like which team wins championships. It
also involves player or game props.
Live Betting
Live Betting is like In-Play betting, because here you can place a bet after a game has begun. In Live
betting, the odds constantly change based on what is happening in the game.
You can place live bets on money lines, spreads, totals, and result of the next possession.
How To Bet On NFL
Oddsmakers often use ATS (against the spread) which measures team performance against the points
spread, not just their opponents. These stats undermine yours, but give you more opportunities for your
bottom line.
One advanced strategy to adopt is the Pythagorean wins strategy, which calculates a team’s performance
from the previous year.
This strategy is smart because it looks at total wins, but also considers the points scored by a team and
compares it to the number of points scored against them. Historically, teams with the highest Pythagorean
stats often win the Superbowl.
Team stats are posted at the beginning of the season, using online calculators to do the required math.
How To Bet On NHL
Hockey has relatively low scoring, lots of teams to select from and lots of edges available for willing
gamblers.
Betting public for hockey places too much weight on the team with home ice advantage, and historically
although home teams have won more, odds were better for betting on road teams.
Value for the road team gets bigger when the majority bets on the home team, pushing the moneyline
odds higher on the home side. However, this creates good value for you if you bet on the road underdog.
Ideal underdog odds to back are the ones paying +185 or less because they have the most history of
successful winnings and highest return on investment.
How To Bet On NBA
One good advanced strategy for the NBA is going against the grain and betting against the public. This
works best with point totals and teams that have big numbers at home.
Average bettors remember a team’s home performance, speed of their play pace, points they’ve lost to
opposition, and bet that same way at that team’s home play.
But unfortunately, oddsmakers push the line higher, knowing that the majority of the betting public will
back favorites. This means you could get a great price backing the underdog or the under on totals in
those spots.
This strategy also works if the teams had a busy season or playing back-to-back.
How To Bet On MLB
When betting on MLB, pay attention to the relationship between the over/under line and how much the
underdog pays.
Statistically, when a total is higher (8.5 or more) and the game has the potential to have lots of scoring, it
favors the underdogs in terms of things like value and likelihood of an upset.
This is for underdogs of +150 or lower who can pull off a minor upset. It also works for underdogs who
lost their last game and the public is moved by a small sample size and the odds have increased.
