Sports Betting 101

Straight Bets and Point Spreads

Ever since sportsbooks were created, the house has attempted to sway bettors from betting straight and instead have them wager on point spreads, moneyline's, parlays and so forth. For online betting this is no different, however, sports fans new to wagering, should know that point spreads and straight bets go hand in hand with one another. A straight bet simply put is when a bettor wagers on which team will win and which team will lose. This form of wagering has become common for the recreational bettor, otherwise known as the guy who puts down $2 on a winner.

The straight bet and point spread is commonly used in football and basketball and rarely in hockey. How the two go hand in hand, is that by betting upon whether or not a favorite will cover a point spread, is essentially picking the winner or loser. A point spread works in that the bookie will set a number of points in which they believe the favorite will beat the underdog. Your task as the bettor similar to determining the outcome in a totals bet, is to determine whether or not the favorite will cover the point spread.

For example when expecting the winner to cover the spread, you would make a straight bet of choosing the LA Clippers at -7 to beat the Toronto Raptors + 7 by seven or more points. If the Clippers win by seven, this is known as a tie, as this was the number determined by the house. As a result, you will be refunded your money for tying with the house. However if the Clippers win by more than seven, you win your bet. Conversely if the Clippers win by six or less or the Raptors pull the upset, then you automatically lose your straight bet as a result of the point spread not being covered.

 

How To Bet Parlays

The online sports betting world has taken off in recent years, with players choosing the convenience and reliability of the Internet to place all of their wagers. After choosing your sports book destination, players will be prompted to sign up, and once they have and are ready to begin playing, a variety of options become available. There are a multitude of bets players can lay, ranging from straight up, to buying points, to betting the number, but the one that is becoming the most common wager is the parlay bet.

A parlay, or accumulator as it is called in some circles, is a single bet in which two or more individual bets are placed together, with wins across the board being the only possible way for the player to win. While the odds of winning significantly decrease ranging from two wagers grouped together on a single parlay, or six wagers grouped together on a single parlay, the amount that can be won goes in the reverse direction, as the potential to win even more money is increased with every bet included in the parlay. Should any of the bets included in the parlay push, the parlay just becomes smaller, not including the total altogether. For example, if a player chooses MLB betting, and bets on the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays to win, then only if all three teams win does the player get his money. If even one of those teams loses, the wager is considered lost. If the Rays game is rained out, then the parlay becomes a two-team wager, and the player wins, just lesser money than he would have if the Rays had played and won.

 

Wizards Win Lottery While Nets Fall to Third

The NBA draft lottery continues to be the only big four sports lottery in which it is a rarity for the worst place team with the highest odds to win the draft, to win the lottery. This streak of seven years continued last night as the New Jersey Nets the NBA's worst team by a landslide dropped down to third in the overall draft, while the Washington Wizards seeded sixth worst jumped up to grab the number one spot. Fans betting on which team would receive the first overall pick must have been disappointed, as with a 25 percent chance all expectations were on the Nets to finally have something good happen.

Last season was not only the worst season for the Nets, but also one of the worst in league history as the Nets managed a record of 22 wins and 70 losses. NBA betting like any other league's betting can be difficult as picking winners and losers is no sure thing, but with the first 70 loss season in franchise history the Nets made it easy to place bets against them. On the other hand, the Washington Wizards finally received some good news in a season fans and ownership would each like to forget. Star point guard Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely by the league, after bringing guns into the Verizon Center, while fan favorites Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Drew Gooden were each traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers respectively. Many experts believe that the Wizards will select Kentucky guard John Wall, a player who was unbelievable during the March Madness tournament. If the league ever lets Arenas back in and he remains on the Wizards, a back court of Arenas and Wall will be an amazing site for years to come.

 

Rollovers & Bonuses

It’s pretty sweet that pretty much every sportsbook across the internet will give you a bonus simply for signing up and depositing funds into the book. Thanks to gambling search engine optimization and gambling social media marketing gurus, they pop right out at you when you do any search.

Whether it’s 10%, which is essentially the smallest bonus you can get, to 100%, which is one of the biggest, is always great to start your betting account when you are ahead.

But, as we all know, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The sportsbooks do give you a good depositing bonus to get started but there is something called a “rollover” that is attached with the bonus.

A rollover is essentially the amount of action – or times that you have to bet your funds – before you can withdraw money.

For example:

Say you deposit $100 into a sportsbook and they give you a 10% bonus with a 4 x rollover attached. That means you have to be both your $100 and the 10% ($110 in total) four times before you can withdraw your funds.

In this example, you have to bet $440 worth before you can withdraw.

So, say you bet $50 to win $50 on your first bet and you bet $20 and lose on your second bet. Now in total, you have bet $70 – or generated $70 worth of action – which means you now have to bet $370 before you can withdraw.

Some sportsbooks have higher rollovers (in some cases as many as 10 x) and some have lower ones. Clearly, it’s better to work with the sportsbooks that have lower rollovers because it means you can gain access to your money sooner.

So whether you're looking at horse racing betting odds or you want to bet some college football odds, take comfort in the fact that you get to start ahead of the game with a good bonus.