Guide to Legal Sports Betting
Welcome to the sports betting guide. This page will teach you everything you need to know to get started making smart bets and winning fat stacks of cash at legal sportsbooks. Sports betting options are available in all fifty states, because the United States has never ruled against using any online sportsbooks. There are some land-based options in America, but they aren’t worth your time unless you live in or near Nevada. The federal government passed a bill back in 1992, called the professional and amateur sports protection act, and it outlaws unauthorized betting. If you want to walk into a casino and place a bet, be prepared to travel to Nevada and spend a boat load of money on plane tickets and hotel rooms, because it is the only state in the union with a full-fledged land-based sportsbook. But forget that, the best place to do any sports betting is online. I’m speaking the truth.
Americans can connect to an online sportsbook and place bets on their favorite teams from the NFL or the Major League. The online books may be overwhelming when you see that there are 30 different sports to pick from. That literally means thousands of betting options for each player, every day. Sportsbooks might be confusing for a newbie, but that’s exactly why we’re here. You’ll learn the ins and outs of making smart bets and choosing from the wide variety of different wager types. Smart bettors apply their knowledge of the game and the teams to make money at online sportsbooks.
It’s important to understand how each of the odds work in order to make competent decisions on where you place your bets. You wouldn’t want to place a bet on the wrong team, and knowing which team is favored is necessary. The most common style in the United States is called American odds, and many legal online sportsbooks prefer this method. However, you may come across other styles like fractional and decimal styles. These are less common for many sports, but they are still available and the best ways to bet on some things.
American Odds - American odds are the most common style that players will see on any sports betting website. To start with, there are a couple symbols that will determine whether or not a team is a favorite or an underdog. An underdog is slang for the team that has the smallest chance to win the game. A favorite is a team that has a higher chance to win the game. An example of American odds will be +110, or -110. On any binary bet, that is a wager between two teams, one will have the + sign and be an underdog, and one team will have a – sign and be the favorite. With the numbers we just quoted, to win $100 on the favorite, you must bet $110. Conversely, to win $110 on the underdog, you only need wager $100.
Fractional Odds - Fractional odds are pretty complicated for novices to understand. This style is not as prevalent among online sportsbooks unless you are betting on futures, but here is a brief explanation. These numbers are set in fractional form, for example, you may see an odd online that is 10/15. The denominator or the number on the right represents the amount of money a player must put down to win the yield. We will say that the 15 stands for a $150 bet. The numerator or the number on the top of the fraction, represents the amount of winnings you’ll earn for that $150 wager. 10 stands for $100. This means on 10/15 odds that if a player bets $150 and wins, they’ll take $100. Odds that have a larger number on the bottom than the top represent the favorites, and fractions that have larger numbers on the top than the bottom represent the underdogs. If you can do simple math, you can figure these odds out. However, the best online sportsbooks have odds calculators for you, so you don’t have to do any math at all!
Sportsbooks offer their players many different types of bets. They want something for everyone, and experienced players like more options. When you view a sportsbook online, they’re going to have the most common styles of bets on the main page, but don’t hesitate to try some of their other choices when placing a ticket.
Money Line - You don’t need a math degree to figure out these odds. There are no stats involved other than the W/L column. Players who choose a money line wager on a NFL team are picking the team that they think will win the game. Underdogs will return more than you wager and the favorites will return less than your wager, but a winner is still a winner.
Point Spreads – Point spreads are going to be offered on any football game. Also, they have spread bets for baseball, basketball, and other sports. These wagers are determined by the total of points in between the winner and the loser. For example, if a football team wins by a touchdown, their spread is +7. This is a great way to bet on your teams if they are the underdog, because you still have a chance to win. The point spread evens the playing field for the bettor by handicapping the odds.
Parlays – A parlay is considered a string bet. That means that for any parlay ticket the player will need to pick multiple contests and combine them with a chance at an increased payout. For a parlay to be successful, all of the individual picks must be winners. Pushes, cancellations, or no actions don’t qualify as successful tickets. You can pick from propositional bets, multiple sports, or periodical bets for a parlay. The best part is, the winnings from successful bets are compounded. Though it might be impossible, a successful 15 team parlay could payoff odds around 16500/1. We’re talking thousands of dollars for each dollar you wager, this kind of bet makes millionaires of the most skilled bettors.
Over/Under – This is the last most common style of bet you’ll find. The over / under bets are based on the total points scored by both teams in the game. Players will be given a number, for example, 40 points in a football game. When a player picks under, they’ll think that less than 40 points will be scored, and if they’re right, they win! This also works for the other side, if you pick over 40 points on this example, and the teams score 58 points combined, you win! Talk about a true 50/50 chance for making money at an online sportsbook.
Find Out More: Laws That Regulate Sportsbooks