Understanding the world of online betting can be a daunting task for the sports betting novice. You’re met with a wall of numbers, dots and dashes before you even get started. The key to enjoyable betting is in knowing how to read the odds. We’ll break it all down into manageable chunks, covering the different bets and odds, and how to read. As you prepare to dive into the world of sports betting, here’s a breakdown of how the lines work, starting with Spreads It would be really easy to bet on a game if you could put money on a. Sports Betting Explained: The Newbie’s Guide to Gambling November 7, 2019 As recently as a few years ago, most U.S. Lawmakers were steadfastly against the idea of legalizing sports betting. Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track cycling, auto racing, mixed martial arts, and boxing at both the amateur and professional levels. Sports betting is a type of gambling that involves wagering on the outcomes of sporting events. Those who bet on sports will often bet on everything from NFL and NBA games to tennis matches and even NASCAR races. As you’ll find out in a few moments, there is slightly more to sports betting than just picking one team or player to beat another.

As a fan, you don’t care if your team wins by a point or 100. A win is a win, though that 100-point win would be a little easier on the nerves.

In sports betting, how much a team wins by is usually all that matters.

The most popular way to bet for the two most popular sports, basketball and football, is with the point spread, also known as the “side.” Most baseball, hockey and soccer bets are on the moneyline, which is betting on a team to win straight up with adjusted odds. Football and basketball have moneyline bets available too, but most people will take the point spread.

The concept can be a bit confusing if you’ve never dabbled in sports betting before.

Why bet with the point spread?

The point spread was created to attract more action on a game. When the San Francisco 49ers are expected to blow out the Arizona Cardinals, it’s not enticing to lay $300 to win $100 on a moneyline. But when the 49ers are 11-point favorites and each side is -110 odds? That’s much easier.

In that example, the 49ers are spotting the Cardinals 11 points before the game starts, at least for bettors. The 49ers have to win by 12 or more points to cover the spread. If the Cardinals win or lose by 10 or less, that side wins the bet. If the game lands on 11, like a 21-10 49ers win, it’s a push and all bets are refunded. If you see a -11 that means that team is favored, and +11 means you’re taking the underdog.

Nothing sharpens your math skills better than trying to figure out how big your lead as a bettor is if you have a 22.5-point basketball underdog that is losing 90-72.

The problem with the point spread can be when a team — which really doesn’t care that you bet the favorite at -11 — has a 14-point lead but gives up a meaningless score at the end to win by only seven points. They’re still happy with the win. You, as a bettor, are not.

Point spreads lead to bad beats

The most infamous example of a bad beat with the point spread probably came in the 2004 Final Four at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Duke was a 2.5-point underdog against UConn. The Huskies rallied late and took a 79-75 lead on a free throw with 3.2 seconds left. The game itself was over; Duke couldn’t score twice in a few seconds. But Duke guard Chris Duhon pulled up for a running 3-pointer just over the half-court line and banked it in at the buzzer. Duke lost 79-78, but bettors who had Duke and 2.5 points won. March Madness is a huge event for bettors, and reports at the time estimated that Duhon’s “meaningless” shot resulted in a $30 or $40 million swing in Nevada. UConn players celebrated at the final buzzer. UConn bettors doubled over in pain. That’s the difference between betting the moneyline and the point spread.

Baseball and hockey have point spreads too, the “run line” in baseball and “puck line” in hockey. It’s generally 1.5 with odds adjusting accordingly. Taking a big baseball favorite at -1.5 runs can make the odds more palatable. Of course, betting the New York Yankees at -1.5 to bring down the odds from -190 to -110 isn’t too fun when they win 4-3 and you don’t cash a bet.

Betting on the point spread is the most common way to wager on sports. And the first time you take a favorite that wins the game but doesn’t cover the spread, you’ll understand every bettor’s heartbreak.

As recently as a few years ago, most U.S. lawmakers were steadfastly against the idea of legalizing sports betting. But in the last year and a half alone, more than a dozen states have legalized sports gambling—and that number is expected to rise in the coming months.

Did your state just make it legal for you to place bets on sporting events? If so, you might be thinking about giving it a try. Betting on sports is a great way to make things more interesting when you’re watching an NFL or NBA game.

Need sports betting explained to you before you get started? Check out our guide below, which provides you with useful tips to get your sports betting adventures off to a profitable start.

Begin by Signing Up for an Account With the Right Sportsbook

Now that sports betting is being legalized in more and more states, there are tons of people who didn’t bet on sports before beginning to do it. This has led to an influx in the number of sportsbooks located throughout the country.

If gambling on sports is legal in your state, you likely have more than a few options when it comes to sportsbooks. Track down the one that you like best so that you can start placing sports bets.

A good sportsbook should have:

• Plenty of experience in the gambling industry
• Sports betting options on a variety of different sports
• Easy deposit and withdrawal methods
• A helpful customer service department

A good sportsbook should also offer new customers a generous sign-up bonus. You can use this bonus to get your feet wet when you’re placing wagers on sports.

Bet on the Sports You Know Best

As we just alluded to, the best sportsbooks give people the opportunity to bet on just about any sporting events. From NFL games in Florida to tennis matches in Bulgaria, you should be able to bet on any sports you want.

That being said, you shouldn’t necessarily start betting on sports that you’ve never seen before just because you can. You should stick to betting exclusively on sports that you know and love.

You can give yourself a slight edge by betting on sports that you know about. You’ll have at least a little bit of insight into which teams and players are good and which ones you should stay away from betting on.

Get Into the Habit of Researching Bets Before Making Them

Many newbies make the mistake of waiting until the last-minute to plop down bets on sports. They don’t do any research in advance and often pay the price for their lack of preparation.

Don’t make the same mistake as these newbies! In the days leading up to a sporting event, you should:

• Pay attention to how the betting lines for a game change
• Take a look back at what’s happened the last few times two teams have played against one another
• Keep an eye on the injury report and monitor who will and won’t be playing for two teams

You can learn a lot about what might happen during a game by digging around and trying to find statistics related to it. A little bit of research can really go a long way for a sports bettor.

Learn About the Different Types of Bets You Can Place

A lot of new sports bettors are under the impression that betting on a sporting event calls for them to do little more than pick which team is going to win.

But this isn’t the only way to bet on sports! When you have sports betting explained, you’ll learn that there are so many other types of bets you can put down.

The bet we just described is called a moneyline bet, and to make it, the only thing you need to do is choose which team you think will win a game. There are several other types of bets you might want to consider making, though.

For example, point spread bets have become very popular over the years. To make one of these bets, you have to bet on either a favorite beating an underdog by a certain amount of points or an underdog losing to a favorite by under a certain amount of points or, better yet, winning the game outright.

There are also parlay bets that have turned into big moneymakers for sports bettors. To put down one of these bets, you’ll need to place moneyline or point spread bets on two or more teams and have all of the teams you pick win or cover the point spread.

Don’t be afraid to use the bonus that you receive from a sportsbook to test out the different types of bets available to you.

Figure Out How to Manage Your Money

When you first start betting on sports, you should create a bankroll for yourself. Your bankroll should be some sum of money that you can afford to gamble with.

You should also determine how much of your bankroll you’re going to use when placing bets on sports. It should be a small percentage of the total amount of money that you have.

Sports Betting Explained Over Under

If you have, say, $100 as your starting bankroll, you don’t want to throw down $50 on a single bet on an NFL game. That’s a good way to blow through your bankroll in no time.

Sports Betting Explained Football

Instead, you want to throw down $5 or so on each bet you make. This will make your money last a whole lot longer than it might otherwise.

Betting Line Explained

Go Win Money Now That You’ve Had Sports Betting Explained

Betting Explained

Betting on sports is so much fun. There’s nothing like sitting down to watch a bunch of NFL games on a Sunday afternoon when you know you have money on the line.

But you shouldn’t begin betting on sports until you’ve had sports betting explained. You’re going to have a tough time winning much money if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing while wagering on sports.

We’ve done our best to break down sports betting for you in this guide. But you should never stop learning about sports betting if you plan on being successful at it.

Read our blog to find more great advice on sports gambling.