Bet on sports and you will find excitement at every turn. Understanding the terminology can be difficult for novice gamblers. Sports betting is simple and most of the terminology can be understood with just a basic explanation. There are four basic types of sports betting: props, sides, totals and futures. These will be explained and more.
Side Wagers
Side bets are the most popular type of sports betting. Side wagers (also known as straight wagers) are wagers in which you choose a team to win. Two variables are involved in side wagers: the pointspread (or moneyline). The pointspread refers to the sum of the points added to or subtracted from the favorite in order to determine whether or not the bet wins. The moneyline is the amount that a winner bet pays to the victor.
Baseball and other sports are almost entirely based on the moneyline. The pointspread is therefore assumed to be zero. Many sportsbooks offer a runline Link Alternatif SBOBET Sunday999 where the pointspread equals 1.5 runs. This means that the favorite must win by at least two runs and not one. The moneyline is also a key factor in hockey and soccer.
Basketball and football use the spread to a great extent. The moneyline, unlike baseball, is usually fixed or changes only a little.
Total Bets
You can also bet on a team winning — or covering the spread. The totals are set by the sportsbook. This is a number that they believe will bring in more or less bets. You bet that the sum of scores from the competitors will be greater than the total if you place a bet over. If you place a bet below, you will bet that fewer points are scored to the total.
Futures
For most traditional sporting events, sides and totals can be found. How does this work for nascar races or golf tournaments? You can place bets on tennis matches with either side, but what about betting on the tournament champion? You can also bet on the winner of the Super Bowl. Futures are used to place bets on multiple competitors. Each option comes with a moneyline that determines the payout. The longer the underdog, the greater the return. Even a small wager can yield many returns if you are able to correctly predict a longshot and win.
There are some disadvantages to betting on futures. The first is that a long-term future can make your stake (or the amount you wagered), unavailable for several months. Futures are often longshots with low payouts or favorites with little reward, making it tempting to place large bets. Wishful thinking is a great way to bet on your favorite players or team.
Props
Prop wagers can be offered for major sporting events. Anything that doesn’t fit in the above categories are considered prop wagers. Props are fun bets. The odds are often terrible and very rarely is any skill involved. There are hundreds of prop bets that can be made on the Superbowl every year, ranging from the coin flip to whether the game will end in overtime. You can also bet on individual players and teams. You can bet on the number or running yards of the running back and the quarterback’s interceptions.
Live Betting
Live in-game betting is now offered by some of the most advanced sportsbooks. These are prop bets but they have a very short duration. They need to be classified in their own categories.