Straight Wagers

A straight wager is a single bet placed on a point spread, money line, or total. A bet is placed on the favorite (team with the odds in its favor), the underdog (the team with the odds against it) or the final score of the game (over or under a predetermined total).

The favorite is indicated by a minus sign (-) and the underdog by a plus sign (+). If there is no favorite, there won’t be any numbers next to the teams’ names and the risk will automatically be assigned as -110. In this case, to win $100, you must risk $110. If you win the wager, the risk ($110) will be refunded to you, plus the $100 in winnings ($110 + $100 = $210). The 10% risked is known as the juice. The “juice” or “VIG” is the difference between what is wagered and what can be won. When the number next to a team’s name is positive (which will be the case when you bet on an underdog), it means you risk less to win more.

NOTE: In baseball you can make your bet conditional on which pitcher is starting. You have the ability to specify in advance if you would like your bet to be withdrawn if the pitcher that is supposed to start is changed.

Point Spread

A point spread is set for each game based on which team is favored. In order to win, you must “cover the spread.”

• If you wagered on the favorite and it wins the game by more than the spread, you covered the spread.
• If you wagered on the underdog and the favorite wins by less than the spread, you win.
• If you wagered on the underdog and it wins the game outright, you win.

NOTE: If the favorite won the game by the exact amount indicated by the spread, the game ends in a tie (or push) and all money is refunded. You do not win or lose any money.

Money Line Wagers

Of all the bet types, the simplest and most common is a moneyline bet. When betting on a team’s moneyline, you are betting on that team to win.

For example, if you like the New York Yankees to win, you would bet on their moneyline. If the Yankees win, your bet wins. If the Yankees lose, your bet loses.

Total Wagers (Over/Under)

Apart from moneyline and spread bets, one of the most popular types of sports bets is the point total. These bets are commonly known as over/under bets, as you are essentially wagering on whether the total points scored will go over or under a specified value.

In a total bet, you are predicting the combined number of points scored by both teams. For instance, in a football match between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants, if the point total is set at 45.5, it means you are betting on whether the total points scored will be over or under this value.

For clarity, consider a final score of Eagles 21, Giants 17, which results in a total of 38 combined points. In this case, the under bet would be the winning choice.

Buying Points

The option to buy points provides you with an opportunity to enhance your odds by reducing the spread, thereby increasing your chances of winning when your team scores fewer points. Point buying is applicable to football and basketball, specifically for game sides and totals. Players have the flexibility to purchase up to one full point at a cost of $0.10. However, if buying on or off the three-point spread in the NFL or NCAA Football, an additional $0.25 will be incurred.

Example:

Let’s say Detroit is listed at -8, but the player wishes to buy it down to -6 to increase their chances of winning $100. In this case, the adjusted line would be Detroit -7, requiring a wager of $150 to win $100. Considering the initial line is -110, an extra ten cents is added for each half point, resulting in the new line of Detroit -6 -150.

Proposition Wagers

Propositions, or “props” for short, are called “specials” by many online bookmakers. Props are markets that aren’t related to the final outcome or score of the game. They’re derivatives of the point spread and total and are sort of the “game within the game” for bettors. Originally, they were merely novelty type wagers for the Super Bowl, but now they are offered everyday for a variety of sports.

Props can be grouped into two categories, player props, and team props. The most common props are:

• Who will win the coin toss.
• Which team will score first.
• Whether either team will get a pick six in the first quarter
• Which player on the Patriots will score the first touchdown
• What color of Gatorade the players will dump on the winning coach

NOTE: These props only scratch the surface when it comes to this market. Prop markets can be extremely large. Many sportsbooks offer hundreds of proposition bets on an NFL Sunday and dozens on a night with a full NBA slate. It’s up to the oddsmakers’ imagination, but proposition markets have an unlimited number of options.

Futures

Futures, also known as “outrights,” are wagers that are placed on an event that typically takes place several weeks or months later. However, they can also be bet on within a shorter timeframe until the event is decided as well.

The most common future wagers are centered on the championships of major sports. Bets on which team will win the NBA Championship, Super Bowl, or World Series are the most common type of future wagers.

NOTE: Unlike point spread or total wagering, future markets cannot push. Bettors will either win or lose their bet.

Parlays / Accumulators

A parlay bet is a bet on multiple bets winning. For a parlay to win, every “leg” or bet in the parlay needs to win for your bet to cash. If you have a four-leg parlay and only three of those bets win, then you have a losing parlay ticket.

What makes a parlay an attractive option for many bettors is that it is a way to bet a low dollar amount and win a large dollar amount, as your profits get multiplied after each win. For example, if you bet $10 on a five-leg parlay that includes:

• 1. Dallas Mavericks +5.5 (-110)
• 2. Miami Heat Moneyline (-172)
• 3. Baltimore Orioles +1.5 (+128)
• 4. Toronto Blue Jays Moneyline (-270)

NOTE: Combined into a parlay, these bets become a single wager with odds of +843. A $10 wager would pay out $84.33 if all of those bets hit.

Another method bookmakers can use is where they set the odds as fixed based on the number of selections you make. This is most often used to point spreads and over-unders where the odds are the same for each selection. Here’s a sample chart based on fixed parlay odds:

Teasers

A teaser bet is similar to a parlay in the sense that it is tied to multiple bets. The difference is that it is only for point spreads and is designed to have the same payout as a single regular bet rather than an ambitiously large payout.

For a teaser, it involves “teasing” the spread of multiple games by a few or several points in the bettor’s favor. For example, let us say that you wanted to do a five-point teaser on two NBA games by backing the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors:

Original Line:

• Miami Heat -4
• Golden State Warriors -5.5

But I think each team could benefit from a boost, as I expect both games to be close. I could “tease” this parlay by +5 points, adding 5 points to each point spread, so they now become:

Five-Point Teaser Line:

• Miami Heat +1
• Golden State Warriors -0.5

The spreads have changed by 5 points each, and the odds of this two-leg teaser parlay are now +100. Teasers are common among invested bettors who carefully track team performance over time.

“If” Wagers

‘If’ wagers allow you to make multiple bets contingent on the outcome of the preceding bet. You place a bet that will only proceed if the first bet is won or tied, depending on your specification. The amount on subsequent bets in an “if bet” cannot exceed the amount wagered in the first part.

These bets do not need to occur in the same order as the game times. Moreover, you are not required to reinvest all your winnings in subsequent bets; instead, you can choose the amount to bet in each game. The condition “if win only” is termed single action, and “if win or tie” is referred to as double action. If the preceding bet results in a push or is canceled for any reason, the remaining bet(s) will not be placed. The selections for the “if bet” must be made during the same call (or internet session).

Example (Double Action):

• Dallas Cowboys -5 $110 to win $100
• IF (if win, tie, or cancel)
• Carolina Panthers +4 $110 to win $100

If the Cowboys lose, the wager stops there and is scored a loser -$110. If the Cowboys win +$100, the wager continues to the Panthers wager. If the Panthers win, the wager is a $200 winner. If the Panthers lose, the wager is a $10 loss.

Reverse Bet

Reverse bets are simply if bets that work in all directions instead of going in one specific order. When it comes to putting money down, a reverse bet with two selections is two if bets. So, if you have only $110 to wager, you’d split that money into two $55 wagers and move forward.

Let’s go with the same setup as above:

You’ve decided to wager on the two favorites (Steelers and Buccaneers) to cover the spread. You’ve chosen the Steelers as your first selection and the Buccaneers as your second. Four possible results could play out, but in two different directions:

Direction 1

• The Steelers cover the spread, and the Buccaneers also cover their spread.
• The Steelers cover the spread, but the Buccaneers don’t.
• Neither team covers the spread.
• The Steelers don’t cover the spread, but the Buccaneers do.

Direction 2

• The Buccaneers cover the spread, and the Steelers also cover their spread.
• The Buccaneers cover the spread, but the Steelers don’t.
• Neither team covers the spread.
• The Buccaneers don’t cover the spread, but the Steelers do.

Round Robins

With a round robin, you can place multiple, smaller parlays at once. Instead of one large, single parlay that ties together the outcomes of all events, you can include all possible combinations of your events. Round robins are wagers where the customer picks 3 to 8 teams and matches them in as many two team combinations as possible.

You then use these teams to create as many two-team combinations as possible. The amount you bet is the amount that gets wagered on each two- team parlay. So, if you bet $50 on six two-team parlays, you’re betting a total of $300.

If one of your teams in the round robin loses, then all parlays associated with that team lose, as well. If one of your teams pushes (reaches a draw), all parlays associated with that team become straight win/moneyline bets.:

Example:

You bet on those three teams at those presented spreads. With these three parlays, your potential payout for each is 2.6x your bet. If you bet $100 on each combination between these three teams, you’ll be looking at this:

• If all three teams cover their spreads and you hit all three parlays, you’d win $780 ($260 x 3).
• If only the Patriots and the Ravens cover, you’ll win one parlay, taking home $60 (win $260, lose $200).
• If only one team covers, you lose all three parlays and lose $300.

NOTE: Round robins are a solid way to minimize your losses without dropping your potential payout too significantly.

Live Betting

Live betting is sometimes called “in-play” or “in-game” betting. It simply means you’re betting on a game while it’s already in progress. What makes live betting fun is that the odds are changing based on what is happening in the game.

In addition to being able to live bet on more traditional wagers such as moneylines, spreads, and totals, you can also live bet on more specific wagers such as the result of the next possession.