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Sports betting has a long history. This is proven when looking through old movies, when you can see that betting games such as martial arts, horse racing, dog racing, etc., were considered entertainment by the ancients. Today. with the development of the Internet, sports betting is developing strongly. With just a smartphone, you can participate in all sports betting games anytime and anywhere.
In the past few years, the football betting industry has once again experienced a strong renaissance, leading to the fading of the stigma against gambling that has existed for decades in the popular culture of America. Thence, opened the door for a legal, multi-billion dollar sports betting industry to emerge.
All Types of Bets that Bettor Need to Know
Sports betting at present has been legalized in many states and quickly attracted the participation of millions of sports fans in the betting market. If you are a beginner, let’s sport experts from CasinoMentor help you to familiarize yourself with industry terminology.
Below we will summarize the types of bets you need to know:
1. Favorites vs. Underdogs
These two terms can be easily explained when the odds providers offer a betting line for a match, they decide which team is the favorites and which is the Underdogs.
- Favorites are stronger teams that have a greater chance of winning the match than the other team. This team will be predicted to win the game and will get a minus sign next to that team’s odds
- Underdogs are the other team, the team is considered weaker and can lose the match and will get a plus sign on the odds side.
If the game is a toss-up, books will open it as a “pick” or “pick’em.”
2. Spreads
There are two main ways you can bet on favorites or underdogs.
The first is the point spread, which means you will bet on the winning margin. Favorite “gives” points, Underdogs will “get” points.
To understand easily, we will give the following example:
Let’s assume the Denver Broncos are 7-point favorites (-7) against the Kansas City Chiefs…
If you bet on Denver Broncos, they need to win by 8 points or more for you to “cover”. If they win with 7 points then the match is considered a draw and you will get your bet back, that’s called “push”. If they win by 6 points or less, you lose your bet.
On the other hand, if you bet on the Kansas City Chiefs, you need the Jets to either win the game by six points or fewer for you to win (or cover) your bet.
3. Money Lines
The second way to bet a match is to bet on the money line. This way just depends on which team will win.
Favorites will be denoted “minus,” For example: – 400, -300 or -1000. You will understand that if favorites is -400 then you have to risk $200 to win $200. If favorites win, you get $200, but if they lose, you lose $400.
Because the favorites are usually the stronger team and are expected to win, however, you may take more risk when betting on them.
Underdogs will be designated as “plus.” For example: +400, +500, +1000. Contrary to favorites, if Underdogs is +400, that means if you put $200 on them, if they win the game you will get $400. If they lose, you only lose the $100 you risked. Because the weaker team is expected to lose, there are more rewards for betting on them.
This way of betting will usually be applied when betting on sports with lower scores such as baseball, hockey, and football.
4. Over/Unders (Totals)
In addition to the above two bets, bookmakers will also set the total number of points scored in a game by both teams combined, this is Over/Unders (Totals).
A bettor can bet on whether the game will result in the total.
For example, a match between the Indiana Pacers and the Orlando Magic could total 220. You would bet on 220 or under 220. If the total is over 220 you will win your bet, however, if the total is 219 down, you will definitely lose.
5. What Does -110 Mean?
The oddsmakers will put “tax” on each bet, often referred to as “juice” or “vig” (short for “vigorish”). Juice is the commission you have to pay to the sportsbook in order for them to accept your bet.
Assuming the Denver Broncos is -5(-110) which means that if you want to bet on the Dencer being the 5-point Favorite, you need to bet $110 to win $100.
Alternatively, juice can also be a positive number. For example, Penn State is favorites -8 (+110). That means if you bet $100 on an 8-point Penn State and it covers, you win $110. If it loses, you only lose the $100 you bet.
Where to Place a Bet: Best Online Sportsbooks
You can refer to the list of reputable Sportsbooks below to bet:
- Draftkings Sportsbook
- BETMGM
- PointsBet
- 888Sport
- Sugar House
- Bet365
- and more
Thanks to the legalization of sports betting in many parts of the United States, bettors will have a wide variety of options to play with. Choose for yourself the most prestigious Sportsbooks for a great experience when betting.
