Decades ago, people had to place bets over their phones and their landlines, calling a neighborhood bookie to get down the action of a game of their choice. Now, in the internet age, of online sports gambling, one just needs to grab their smartphone and get into the action. While it definitely is much easier to make your NFL picks and much more in today’s age, there are a few do’s and don’ts one must learn before delving into online sports gambling.
Successful gambling requires a number of key factors: patience, restraint, knowledge, discipline, and much more. Whether you’re wagering a few bucks or thousands of dollars on a game, it’s always critical to bet with a clear head and carefully analyze all factors of the game or event before putting in the wager. Let’s get started and review how to be successful and add to your bankroll when it comes to online sports gambling.
Easiest Bet to Understand
There is a myriad of wagers that can be placed on sporting events. The easiest type of bet to comprehend is a point-spread bet. If Team A is -3 over Team B, Team A must win the game by MORE than three points for your bet to cash. If Team A wins the game by EXACTLY 3 points, the game is considered a push, you get your money back, and it’s essentially a tie.
In point-spread wagering, bettors are rewarded with the same profit for picking the favorite or underdog. In most cases, online sportsbooks take a 10 percent “vig” when it comes to all bets.
For example, in the same Team A vs. Team B bet, if one wagers $100 on Team A to win by 3 points and they win by 7, the bettor gets back his-her $100 wagers + their winnings of $90. The online sportsbook takes a 10 percent cut of the action.
More Than One Game
Another type of wager is called a parlay. This wager allows a bettor to combine games and increase their payout. While the reward is certainly greater in any type of parlay, the risk is obviously higher since instead of needing one outcome to swing in your favor, you are relying on multiple things to happen. Most sportsbooks allow parlays of up to 9 games.
Basically, an x-team parlay means you need to correctly predict the outcome of however many games is in that parlay to cash. The more games you have in the parlay, the harder your chances are to collect.
Many gambling experts feel that parlays are “suckers bets” since while they certainly can yield favorable results in the short term, in the long term, the probability of hitting multiple games diminishes significantly, and it becomes a losing proposition.
What The Heck Is the Moneyline
While grasping the concept of “straight” betting is easy for some gamblers, understanding the moneyline and how it works is important. In some sports, such as baseball and hockey, bettors will frequently need to place their bets on the moneyline.
The positives of the moneyline are that instead of needing to “sweat out” (worry) about not only the outcome of a game but needing your team to win by x-number of points, when you bet on the moneyline, all you are looking for is for your team to win. It does not matter if they cover the spread since, in moneyline betting, there is no point spread.
For example: If Team A is -210 on the moneyline, it means that they are a big favorite to prevail in the contest. – numbers mean teams are favorites, while + numbers indicate that a team is an underdog. In the above example, if a team is -210 on the ML, if you wager 210 dollars, you’d get 100 dollars back (+ your bet), so a 100 dollar bet on a team that is -210 will get one back $310 for a net profit of $100.
Conversely, if a team is +170 on the moneyline, they are an underdog, and betting 100 dollars to win on them will yield 170 dollars. Meaning if you wager $100 on a team that is +170, you will get back 270 for a net profit of $170.
