Sports Betting Explained

There are so many new terms and things to learn for new bettors. It can often be intimidating. That’s why we are here to help! Here are some notes to help you understand sports betting.

Moneyline

The moneyline is the most straightforward bet in sports. This is when you pick a team straight up to win, and the only thing that matters is the final score. This is a great bet to place if you are new to the market because there is not much intensive betting information to understand.

The one thing you need to know is how to determine an underdog from a favorite and how that affects your payout. An underdog will have positive odds, and a favorite will have negative odds.

This number will correspond to your payout. The higher the odds, the higher your payout will be if the bet hits. The lower the odds, the lower the payout will be for your risk.

Example:

1. The Patriots are favored on the moneyline at -200 against the Jets at +170.
2. A $100 bet on the Jets would win $170 because they are the underdogs.
3. To win $100 betting the Patriots, you must risk $200.

The Spread

The spread betting is slightly trickier to understand than the moneyline. The spread is the great equalizer because it evens out the playing field between favorites and underdogs. This is when you are betting on how much a team will win by or be within at the end of a contest.

A minus sign identifies a favorite, and an underdog is made clear by a positive sign. These symbols will have a number attached to them, which you are betting on.

Example

1. The Patriots are -6.5 versus the Jets, meaning they are favored by 6.5.
2. The minus sign means win by in spread betting.
3. This would also mean the Jets are +6.5.

If you take the Patriots to cover the spread, they must win the game by a touchdown. If you like the Jets to cover, they must be within six points or win the game. The plus sign is translated to be within or win.

There is more value in spread betting because of the higher risk than the moneyline.

The Total

The total is the fancy way of naming the over/under. Total betting is the final traditional wager. Once you understand total betting, you will be able to place any traditional bet.

The total is when you bet on if a game will be over or under a certain total. Let’s look at another example, but with the NBA betting. The concept is the same for all sports.

Example

1. The Hawks are playing the Heat, and the total is set at 210.5.
2. You need to pick if the combined score will go over or under this margin as a bettor.
3. It’s very easy once you get in and start placing bets.

Best of luck as you begin betting. Start slow and good things will happen!

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