Sports Betting 101
Being new to sports betting can be an intimidating experience. At times it can almost feel like learning a new language, but once you understand what you’re looking at it becomes very simple. Every player has to start somewhere and we’re here to help.
How to read odds
Odds indicate how much money you will make if your bet wins. There are 3 different formats for displaying odds. Most apps, online operators and betting terminals support all three, so you are free to use the format you prefer. However, physical sportsbooks (e.g., a sportsbook in a casino) in the US use the American Odds format.
The three odds formats are:
– American Odds
– Fractional Odds
– Decimal Odds
American Odds
American Odds are the default format in the US. These odds mean slightly different things depending on whether they are the odds for a favorite or underdog, so let’s walk through each separately. Odds for the favorite are preceded by a minus (-) sign. This represents the amount of money you need to bet to win $100. For example, odds of -200 means you need to wager $200 to win $100 (to be paid $300). Odds for the underdog are preceded by a plus (+) sign. These odds represent the amount of money you stand to win from a $100 wager. For example, odds of +150 means that a bet of $100 would win $150 (to be paid $250).
Fractional Odds
Fractional Odds are most common in the UK, and will also be familiar to horse racing fans. These odds are presented with a slash (/) or hyphen (-) between two numbers. The numbers represent the ratio of profit to initial wager, where the numerator is the profit and the denominator is the wager. For example, odds of 4/1 means winnings of $4 for every $1 bet, in addition to receiving the initial amount wagered back. New bettors will notice that the second number is not always a 1, i.e 4/6. In order to determine what a bet of any size would pay, we use the equation: Total payout = [Stake (100fractional odds)] + Stake . For example, if we bet $100 at 4/6 odds this would equal a total payout of $166.67 or (100* 4/6 ) +100.
Decimal Odds
Decimal Odds are the most commonly used odds in the world, being the default odds in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Decimal odds are generally regarded as the most straight forward format. As the name implies, this format is presented as a number that represents the total amount paid (initial stake plus winnings) for every dollar bet. For example, odds of 3.25 would mean a total amount paid of $32.50 for a $10 bet.
Now that we understand how to read odds, let’s take a look at what the different bet types or “markets” are and what each of them represent. The 3 most popular markets are Moneyline, Spread and Over/Under.
Moneyline
The “Moneyline” bet is betting at its purest. A bet on this market is simply a bet on who wins the game. If your team wins, regardless of whether the team wins by 1 or 100, your bet wins. It’s important to note that if the team wins in overtime in Football, Basketball or Hockey, or extra innings in Baseball, this bet still wins. If a game ends in a tie in Football, however, neither moneyline bet on that particular game would win. For sports like Soccer, where games often end in a tie or “draw”, this market uses a 3 way moneyline where you can bet on either team to win or the game to end in a tie. In this instance, only the wagers on the correct result will pay out.
The advantage to betting on the Moneyline is its simplicity. All you need to do is successfully pick which team will win a given game. The disadvantage to this market is that the favorite will generally have the lowest payout of the main 3 markets, and the heavier the favorite the lower the payout.
Spread
The spread bet levels the playing field between two teams. This bet type accounts for the strength of each team relative to one another and represents an expected margin of victory for the favorite. In this market, the favorite “gives” or “lays” a certain number of points while the underdog “gets” the same number of points.
For example, let’s say the Boston Celtics are +5.5 at home against the New York Knicks who are -5.5. In this scenario a bet on the Celtics would win if they win the game by 6 points or more, while the Celtics losing or winning by 5 points or less would result in a losing bet. Conversely, a bet on the Knicks would win if they either win outright or lose by less than 5 points. The odds for Spread bets are displayed next to the points and are usually around -110 for both bets. While spreads are offered in Baseball, Hockey and Soccer, they are most commonly bet in Football and Basketball.
The advantage to betting the Spread is that they can make an otherwise one sided game interesting. The downside is that when betting on the favorite a narrower range of outcomes result in a win.
Over Under
The third major market is the Over/Under or “Totals” market. A bet on this market is a bet on the total number of points/runs/goals scored by both teams in a game. A bet on the over is a bet that the two teams combined will exceed this number, while a bet on the under is a bet that the two teams will combine to score less than this number. Like Spreads, the Over/Under market is available in all sports but most popular in Football and Basketball.
This market is an ideal choice for bettors who don’t have a strong opinion on either team but do have an opinion on whether the game will be high or low scoring.
Props
Prop markets are any market on a game that aren’t entirely determined by the final score. The most common type of prop markets are related to the performance of an individual player, but bookmakers may offer props on anything from faceoffs won in Hockey to corners and yellow cards in Soccer. Player props are structurally similar to Over/Unders, with the difference being they are related to a single player’s statistics (i.e receiving yards, goals, rebounds). Props are an attractive option for bettors with experience in fantasy or daily fantasy.
Futures
Futures or “outrights” markets are markets on the result of an entire season or competition. In this market you are betting on which team will be crowned champions of a league or competition. This is obviously a longer term bet, but is a good option for a bettor with a long term view of how successful a team will be over the course of an entire season.
Parlay
A parlay is a bet type that allows you to link multiple bets into a single bet with a higher payout. With this bet type bettors are able to link multiple bets, with the odds of each individual bet compounding upon each other into a single bet. The more individual bets added the higher the payout. In order for these bets to pay every linked bet must win, and if a single selection loses the entire bet loses.
Bet Sizing
One of the most important keys to long term success in sports betting is smart, disciplined bet sizing. The first step is to determine your bankroll. Your bankroll is the number you’re comfortable losing over a given period of time. Once you have determined your total bankroll you should wager between 1% and 5% of your bankroll per bet. This number may seem low to new bettors but disciplined bankroll management is critical to long term success. This approach will prevent you from having your entire bankroll wiped out by a bad streak of results. As you get more advanced you can graduate to more advanced staking strategies, but 1-5% is the range of stake sizes generally used by professional bettors and if it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for you.