Sometimes learning how to place a sports bet can be daunting. We’ve put together a quick guide to the basics of sports betting to help you understand the most common terms used in the most common online sportsbooks. If there are any terms you are still unsure of, take a look in our sports dictionary.
How to read the Sportsbook betting odds
If you are new to sports betting online, one of the most confusing things is how the betting odds (also known as betting lines) are displayed.
The majority of bets are referred to in relation to $100. If there is a minus symbol in front of the number (eg -130) then the number refers to how much you must bet in order to win $100. So, for example, if the betting line is -170 you must bet $170 to make a $100 profit.
If the betting line is -300 then you must bet $300 to make $100 profit.
If the number is positive (eg +150) then it refers to how much you will win when you bet $100. So, if the betting line is +170 then you will make $170 profit for your $100 bet.
Remember always that you also get your stake back. So, if you bet $100 at +170 and your team wins then you get $170 profit plus your $100 stake back, for a total return of $270.
The fact that everything is expressed in terms of $100 does not mean you need to bet $100 every time. If you bet $10 at +170 then when you win you get $17 profit.
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Types of Sports Bets
On most US sports events, there are three different types of odds available for every event: the side, the money line and the total.
The most simple of these is the money line. This is simply a bet on who will win the game. So, for example, if the Indianapolis Colts met the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, the money line might be Colts -600, Seahawks +450. If you think the Seahawks will win, you can bet $100 to make $450 profit. If you think the Colts will win you can bet $600 to win $100. The money line bet is simply a bet on who will win the game.
The most popular way to bet is the side, also known as the point spread or line. In order to balance the two teams in the betting, the linesmaker (the person who sets the betting odds) will give the
stronger team a handicap to balance the two teams out in the betting. So, using the same example as above with the Colts and Seahawks meeting in a Super Bowl, the linesmaker may decide the Colts are 11 points superior to the Seahawks. If you bet on the Colts -11 you will get odds of -110 but you only win if the Colts beat the Seahawks by more than 11 points. If the Colts win by 10 points or fewer or they lose the game, all bets on the Seahawks
+11 are winners. If the game is won by the Colts by exactly 11 points then that is known as a ‘push’ and all bets are refunded to the players. The side or point spread is widely used across all American sports and is the most popular form of betting with US bettors.
The total is a bet on how many points in total will be scored by both sides combined in a particular game. Using the Colts vs Seahawks example again, the linesmaker may decide this game is likely to be very high scoring and set the total at 51. If you think there will be fewer than 51 points in total, you bet on the ‘under’. If you think there will be more, then you bet on the ‘over’. If there are exactly the total number of points then that is a ‘push’ and all bets are refunded. Sometimes you will see the total line expressed in half points – for example the total might be 42.5. This means it is impossible for there to be a ‘push’ because there is no game where you can score half points – the linesmaker sets the line that way so there is guaranteed to be a result.