Understanding Betting Markets: A Beginner’s Guide to Sports Bets
The over/under line is priced at -110, which is more often than not the case for all football matches, whether that be the NFL or even the NCAA. In the above example, the Los Angeles Dodgers are -195 on the moneyline to defeat the San Diego Padres, who are +178 underdogs. This means that a $50 bet on the Padres would return $139; meanwhile, backing the Dodgers with the same $50 outlay would return $75.64. By “pleasing” the line, you’ve now taken on noticeably more risk. However, with that added risk comes a much greater reward if you’re successful on the bet.
How to Read Betting Lines for Other Bet Types
While US major sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL aren’t as popular in the UK, they are very interesting for betting purposes. The most popular vertical wagers include exacta, trifecta, and superfecta, where the goal is to guess the exact order of the top two, three, and four finishers. You may also encounter some combat sports props, like whether a specific fighter will record a knockout in the first round or within the first minute of the fight.
- Live betting transforms traditional betting types by introducing timing sensitivity and momentum-based decisions.
- Betting on over/under the total number of goals remains a popular bet type in soccer, too.
- For the four Grand Slam tennis events, the US Open, Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon, betting on the outright winner pre-tournament is among the most popular tennis bet types.
- Decide how much you wish to bet and if the multiple will be a win or each-way bet.
Types of bet
Beyond the track, delve into Football’s vast landscape, with Scores, Fixtures, and Expert Tips for leagues worldwide, including men’s and women’s competitions. You could back Horse A to finish first and Horse B to finish second. You might want to back Manchester City to win the Premier League and Chelsea to finish second. Unless the exact outcome is predicted correctly the bet is lost. Betting on cards can be fun – as there are statistics, gullybet news, form and data to back up your selections. Card betting is often popular when combined in a “build a bet” or “request a bet” format to effectively create an accumulator based on who will get carded, score, and win the match.
You first pick all of the wagers you are interested in—say A, B, and C. Instead of having lines adjusted in your favor, they are adjusted against your favor in exchange for a higher payout as compared to a standard parlay. Teasers are parlays with the lines adjusted by a certain number of points in your favor in exchange for a lower payout as compared to a standard parlay. Back to the Eagles vs. Cowboys example used above, let’s say the total is 44.5.
The number (e.g. 2.5) is the bookmaker’s prediction of the total score, and the odds (-110) indicate the payout for each side. The bigger the underdog, the bigger the potential payout — but also the greater the risk. Also called spread betting, this is about levelling the playing field. They reflect the implied probability of outcomes, helping you spot overpriced favourites or undervalued underdogs — and that’s where value betting strategies come in. Reverse bets are interesting, but they’re also fairly complicated and require more bettor patience.
As previously explained, ladder betting can be done on any sports market. You aren’t limited to just betting on the moneyline or the spread. A round-robin bet allows bettors to win bigger, but it is a far riskier type of bet.
In some cases, both teams/players will have a “-” sign in front of the odds number. In that instance, the outcome with the higher number after the “-” is the favorite. Higher odds might promise better payouts, but they also indicate lower probability. Compare odds across bookmakers to ensure you’re getting the best value.