How to bet on sports
Gambling on sports is incredibly popular in North America.
In a much-quoted 2003 survey conducted by Markitecture and reported by
ESPN, about 118 million Americans 16 years of age or older admitted to
participating in some form of sports gaming at least once a year.
Office pools and friendly wagers are typical, but with the explosion of
Internet gambling, more and more people are entering the world of
chalk, vigorish and matador covers.
This article points the way
for newcomers who want to know how to place a bet - not the strategy,
but the method. Once you know what you're dealing with, the process
itself is fairly simple. It's also imperative to understand the system
before you can grasp the strategies you need to make a healthy profit.
The good book
Unless
you happen to be in Nevada, you'll be dealing with an Internet-based
betting organization. These, like their Vegas-based counterparts, are
called sportsbooks, and there are several reputable ones out there.
Their offices are based in locations where sports gaming is legal,
places like Australia, England and across the Caribbean, but many cater
to the American public in their selection of sports.
It is not
illegal to use these services, but legislators in the United States
have put pressure on credit card companies to disallow transactions
involving offshore books. That hasn't prevented bettors from using
services such as NetTeller to conduct their business. According to a
CNN report last year, market research firm Christianson Capital
Advisors expected Internet wagering to reach $18.4 billion in 2010, an
increase of over 322 percent from 2003's numbers.
Odds and sods
Sportsbooks
have access to the same odds information that places in Vegas use.
There will usually be some discrepancy among the books, which adjust
their odds depending on the betting patterns of their customers. It's
good strategy to find a handful of books that you find satisfactory,
then shop around to find the best line for the particular game that
interests you. But everyone has to start with that first book.
In
North America, odds are shown in what is known as American pricing, as
opposed to the decimal or fractional odds more common in Europe. If you
see a number with a negative sign in front, like -140, that means a
wager of $140 is required to win $100. Conversely, a number with a
positive sign like +140, or with no sign at all like 140, means a wager
of $100 would pay $140 if it wins.
Different sports have
different ways to play, both on the field and at the book. The odds on
a typical baseball game, for example, may be expressed like this:
This
type of listing is known as a moneyline. A bet of $100 on the Giants
will pay $220 if they win, while laying $240 on the Padres will pay
$100 if San Diego prevails.
The other common listing is the
pointspread (or 'spread' for short), which, even though it represents
an even-money offering, will feature a number like -110. Consider this
WNBA game:
| Monarchs | 2 | -110 | | Shock | -2 | -110 |
Here,
for a bet on the Shock to pay, the team has to beat Sacramento by more
than two points, while the Monarchs will pay as long as they don't lose
by more than two. A two-point Detroit victory would result in a push.
So,
why the -110 on both sides? That's because the book is charging $110
and paying out $100 on a winning bet. That's known as juice, vigorish
or vig, and that's how the books make their money.
Basketball
and football are the two sports where the spread will be heavily
featured. Hockey uses a pointspread system that incorporates elements
of both the spread and the moneyline, like so:
| Canadiens | 1.5 | -260 | | Bruins | -1.5 | 220 |
The
spread in this case is a (mostly) arbitrary number, usually half-a-goal
for regular season games and 1.5 for the playoffs. It's a bit
cumbersome, which goes to show how hockey isn't really a user-friendly
game for gamblers. Even more unwieldy are lines for soccer games, which
look like this:
Columbus vs. D.C. United
| +120 | +220 | +180 |
Yes,
there are three results you can bet on here. From left to right, they
are a win for the home team, a draw and a win for the away team.
Betting
on soccer and hockey may seem complicated, but if you follow those
sports, there's money to be made and fun to be had. Besides, when it
comes to hockey, betting on totals is more popular. Will the two teams
combine to score over or under five goals? That's the usual offering -
nice and simple. Totals are found alongside most lines for just about
any sport where they keep score.
| Jays | 190
| 9.5o
| -115
| Red Sox
| -208
| 9.5u
| 105
|
In
this example, the total for the Jays-Red Sox game is 9.5. You can bet
over or under the total, but if you bet over (o), it'll take a $115 bet
to win $100. The more scoring there is in a sport (basketball, for
example), the more likely you'll see -110 on either side.
A good
book will have a wide variety of sports available for betting. Auto
racing, golf, tennis, boxing and horse racing each have a small piece
of the North American pie. You can also find action on arena football,
mixed martial arts and just about anything else. Browse the sports
available at your book and see how the odds are listed.
Straight bets, parlays and teasers - oh my
The
straight bet is the most common offering found at the books. It's
simple: pick the winning team, factoring in the pointspread if there is
one. Betting on totals is also a form of straight bet.
Parlays
do good business, especially in Canada, where sports lotteries are
available across the country. Here, the bettor selects a number of
games (at least two) and all the picks have to come up favorably for
the bettor to get paid. The odds for parlays are fairly standard:
| Games | Odds | | 2 | 2.6 to 1 | | 3 | 6 to 1
| | 4 | 11 to 1
| | 5 | 20 to 1
| | 6 | 40 to 1
| | 7 | 80 to 1
| | 8 | 150 to 1
|
The
allure of the eight-game parlay is obvious, but picking eight winners
isn't so easy. Many experienced bettors avoid this type of bet. They
also shy away from teasers, where you pay extra money to move the
pointspread in your team's favor.
Future bets, where you wager
in advance on an outcome such as a team winning a championship, can be
tempting. So can exotic bets and propositions, which invariably pop up
during the Super Bowl. Will the coin flip come out heads or tails? Will
a streaker make his/her way onto the field? Make these wagers at your
discretion.
These are the basics when it comes to sports
gambling. Once you've got them down pat, you're in position to take the
next step. There are strategies for betting in general, and for each
specific sport. Knowledge is power, so keep learning if you want to
keep earning.
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| TRUSTED SPORTSBOOKS |
| So you're looking to lay a bet, but you don't know where to go. You know there are hundreds of sportsbooks online, but it's a minefield and you are afraid of getting RIPPED OFF. Well, you've come to the right place. Check out TSBNEWS.COM's most TRUSTED SPORTSBOOKS. |
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| BETTING
GUIDE |
| You might have been a sports fan all your life, but when it comes to BETTING, you may have no idea how to bet the POINTSPREAD or the OVER/UNDER. In fact, if the word PARLAY sounds to you like a discussion, then let us teach you HOW TO BET. |
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| SPORTS BETTING GLOSSARY |
| In a hunt for low juice, a sharp bettor got a beard to lay a dime on the dog against the spread. The favorite covered and the book kept the action but lost on the exposure. If this sounds like a foreign language to you, see our GLOSSARY OF BETTING TERMS. |
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