Sportsbetting can make the most boring game into the most exciting thing you have seen all year. Why? Because of a few smart bets of course.
How to Make the Game Even More Exciting
I’ve talked before about how sports betting can be so exhilarating and that it makes watching a game so much more fun if you have something riding on the result. Just imagine watching your favorite team or athlete play, as you would anyway. Then add the fact that you can win a lot of money depending on the outcome. It’s a thrill!
The Concept of Winning or Losing
Even if you are new to sports betting, the concept of winning or losing does not need to be explained. However, the language used when it comes to betting can be a little confusing for some and knowing at least the basics will help you get even closer to those adrenaline pumping big wins.
There are bets for everyone, if you just know what they are called and where to find them. I will go through some of the most popular types of bets and then you can put them to use. Cool?
In no particular order, here are the 6 most popular sports bets.
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1) Moneyline
The Moneyline bet can sometimes also be called a straight bet and is probably the most basic bet you can make in sports. You simply bet on whether you think the home team will win or the away team will win. Easy, right?
By looking at the odds before you place the bet, you will be able to tell who is the favorite. Last week I wrote about the different ways the odds can be portrayed and if you missed that article, just click here.
Since the decimal odds is my favorite, I will stick to those today as I’m giving you examples.
NFL Dallas Cowboys vs Detroit Lions
NFL
Let’s use the NFL and this weekend’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions as an example.
The above screenshot is taken from Stake.com and you can see the odds:
- Dallas Cowboys to win – 1.32
- Detroit Lions to win – 3.65
By looking at the odds, you can see that the Cowboys are the clear favorites.
If you were to bet €100 on the Cowboys to win and they did, you would win €132. Should you instead place your bet on the Lions and they win, you would win €365.
Pick a Winner
The money line bet is the easiest and all you need to do is to pick a winner. Unfortunately, your pick has no impact on the actual game so all you can do is to do whatever you can to support your team and pray for them to win.
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2) Point Spread or Handicap
I would say betting on the point spread or handicap does demand a little more of you in terms of knowledge. This type of bet comes down to a number and +/- and the number represents how many points one team is expected to win by.
Let’s continue with the same game and look at the point spread being offered at Stake. The image above gives you all the numbers you need in order to make your bet.
The reason why the point spread bet is also known as handicap bets is because that’s exactly what it is, a handicap that the team needs to overcome.
Handicap bets at Stake.com
Cowboys Are Favored
If you look at the top handicap number that says – 4.5, it means that the Cowboys are favored to beat the Lions by 4.5 points. Since you can’t score half a point, they would have to win by 5 points for you to win that bet.
Should you take that bet, your odds are 1.64. If you think that the Cowboys will win with more than 9.5 points, that bet would pay 2.14.
Knowing your teams and how they are playing at the moment, will give you an insight into what the difference between the teams will be and it can become very exciting, especially at the end of the game if you need the team to score another field goal for you to win.
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3) Over/Under
As there are two teams playing, another popular bet is the over/under bet. This refers to the combined score from both teams in the game.
Your casino will give you a total number and your job is to figure out whether there will be more total points scored or less.
Just so that we don’t get stagnant on the Cowboys vs Lions game, I’ll switch it up and find something in the NBA.
Cloudbet sports betting
Battle of Los Angeles
You can look forward to a very interesting game later this week when the two Los Angeles teams get ready for tip off in a heated battle between the Lakers and the Clippers.
After a tumultuous last season and weak pre-season, Lebron James is out to prove his status as arguably one of the best players of all time. Setting the tone against the cross town rivals will send a message and both teams want to be known as LA’s finest.
More or Less Points?
Will there be a ton of points being scored or will good defense shut it all down? Who knows, but the over/under is 220.5 points.
This means that no matter what the final score is, the total points scored by both teams combined will be either more or less than 220.5 points. Just to be clear, the score doesn’t matter at all as it’s all about the total points.
Let’s say you want to bet on the over. You don’t care if the game ends 111-110 or 118-3, the total is still more than 220.5 points.
If you want to stick to one team, you can do that as well.
Cheer For Both Teams
You can even bet over/under for halftime if you want to. The over/under bet is one of the few times where you will actually be rooting for both teams.
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4) Outrights
Ok, so now it’s time to look at long term bets or Outrights as they are often referred to. The focus is on betting on the winner of a season or an upcoming tournament.
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Look Into the Crystal Ball
An example of this would be who will win the English Premier League or who will win the Australian Open in tennis. The image above shows Cloudbet’s top 10 odds for Mens Singles in the next Australian Open.
Normally the earlier you bet, the better odds you will get. The difficulty lies in the fact that a lot can happen during a season in terms of injuries etc.
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Don’t Forget Your Bets
It can sometimes be a long wait until you find out the result of your bet and it does happen that players forget all about it. I mean if you place a bet in October on what team will win the NHL Stanley Cup in June, you can imagine it’s possible to forget it.
Therefore it might be smart to write it down somewhere so that you don’t miss out on your wins. I would hate for you to miss out on the money if you actually win your bet.
Sportsbet.io has some good bets on NHL, looking at the image above.
5) Prop Bets
Ok, let’s have some fun because that’s what the prop bets are. This has nothing to do with the actual outcome of the game. Instead, you can bet on what player will score the first touchdown? Will a golfer make a hole-in-one in the U.S. Open?
The Super Bowl is one of the most popular games to bet on and there are usually a ton of prop bets available. Who’s going to win the coin toss? A tradition for the winning team is to dump a bucket of Gatorade on the coach and if you want, you can bet on what color the Gatorade will be
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Have Fun, Be Smart
Prop bets can be tricky because there are so many of them and they are all fun, making it easy to make a lot of bets without thinking about the money you’re betting. My recommendation is the same as always, have fun but be smart.
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6) Parlays
Parlay betting might be the challenge you are looking for. This is where you make more than one bet and combine them all into one big bet that can give you a bigger payday.
Let’s pretend your parlay consists of 5 different bets. Seeing one bet after the other kick in and you are getting closer and closer to winning it all is a bigger rush than if it’s just one bet.
You can be on a run and your first 4 bets have landed. Now the big challenge is for that last bet to go in because if it doesn’t, it will ruin the entire parlay and you will get nothing. Not even for nailing the first 4 bets.
An example of different bets on the same game for a parlay
Mix Your Bets
With a parlay, you can mix all kinds of bets. You can even have all the bets on the same game. Feel free to use moneyline, over/under and why not a few fun prop bets while you’re at it.
Let’s Win Big
Let’s use the image above and an upcoming NHL game between the New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks as an example of a parlay:
- Winner – New York Rangers 1.47
- Scoring the 1st Goal – New York Rangers 1.63
- Will Both Teams Score – Yes 1.07
- New York Rangers winning by 2 Goals – 6.20
The odds of this parlay would be 15.90, giving you a €159 return on a €10 bet!
The Latest Action in the World of Sports
Now that you have all the knowledge you need to succeed at sports betting, all that is left is to place your bets and cash in on the winnings.
Stake.com, Cloudbet and Sportsbet.io are some of the places where you can turn for the latest action in the world of sports.
Good luck!
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