Welcome to the wonderful world of sports betting. Chances are you are reading this for one of two reasons: you are thinking about diving headfirst into the gambling pool or you signed up with a “fantastic” offer from a sportsbook and have quickly waved goodbye to some money. Whichever reason brings you here you should leave with a basic understanding of betting along with useful tips to help build your winnings. Let’s get right into it with Sports Betting 101.

Spreads, Money Lines, and Totals

Most sports you can bet on have these three core bets, spread, money line, and total. The money line is perhaps the easiest bet to make. You are simply choosing who you expect to win the game, match, etc. you will typically see a range of positive (+300 for example) or negative (-150) numbers associated with each team but we will discuss that next. Totals are simple in that you are betting whether the combined score of the game or match will be over or under the listed score. Totals will almost always have a -110 associated with the bet but again that’s coming up. The combined score can move over time as information comes in (like weather and injuries) and bets are made. When you make your bet your total is set regardless of what happens. Sometimes this benefits you, sometimes it doesn’t. 

Spreads are the most complex of these three bets but still relatively easy to understand. The spread is how much the bookmaker expects the favorite team to win by. Spreads vary greatly by sport. The spread for a hockey game is typically 1.5 goals whereas a college basketball game could see a spread of 20 or more points. These are shown as +1.5 goals or -20 points for example. A positive number indicates an underdog – you win if the team’s score plus the spread is greater than the opponents you win.

You may hear/read this as “Team A is getting 3.5 points.” A negative score indicates a favorite as the spread would be subtracted from their score and would still need to beat their opponent’s score. Typically people will say “Team A is giving 1.5 goals.” Like totals, spreads can change over time; this is usually referred to as the line moving. 

Odds

All of the bets above will be associated with odds. These odds at American sportsbooks are represented as +100 and greater or -100 and lesser. As with the spread, a positive number represents an underdog and a negative number represents a favorite. When there is a positive number,+200 for example, say to your self “bet $100 to win $200” ($200 from our +200 example). When there are negative odds, -150 for example, say to yourself “bet $150 (from our example) to win $100.”

Odds can be used to understand how likely an event is to occur. If a team’s money line is -600, the bookmakers are very confident that the team is going to win (mathematically, there is a greater than 85% likelihood). In contrast, you may see a player prop (see below) of +900. The larger the odds the less likely an event is to occur (mathematically, there is a 10% chance of an event with +900 odds actually happening). 

Odds can vary between bookmakers as well as over the course of time. It is important to “Shop Odds” so that you can earn the most money for your bets. Even a small difference in odds can add up to significant gains over time. 

Prop Bets

Prop or proposition bets are bets on the game that are not directly related to the final score of the game. The most famous prop bet is the coin toss for the Super Bowl. Other trivial bets include how long the national anthem will last, and what color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach. Betting these novelty props can be fun but can also be a quick way to lose your wager as they are well usually a coin flip. In the NFL, you’ll find tons of prop bets such as these that are fun to bet on. 

Player Props are a favorite for bookies and gamblers alike. Typical player props will involve determining whether a given athlete will go over or under on a particular stat. When you are well-studied in the game and player statistics you are betting on, player props can more lucrative than the props mentioned above. 

Parlays

Novice gamblers love parlays and bookies love when novice gamblers bet a bunch of parlays. A parlay is when you combine two or more bets into a single bet. Your odds will be greater which means your payout will be greater. However, if any part of the parlay does not hit, you lose the entire wager. 

An example of parlay could be betting on two teams’ Moneyline. Both Team A and Team B are favored to win at -150. If you parlayed these two bets, you would get roughly +180 odds. Greater odds (+180 is greater than -150) mean a greater payout. When you look at the possible outcomes, the likelihood of hitting this parlay is only 36% and you would lose the entire wager on 74% of the outcomes. Furthermore, when a third team at the same odds is added to the parlay, the likelihood of the parlay hitting is reduced to under 22%. Again if all three teams hit, the payout is greater, however, as soon as any team loses, the parlay is broken and the wager is lost.

Parlays can be fun, but know your bankroll and bet less on parlays than on single bets to maintain your bankroll especially when you are newer to gambling.

Quick Tips

1. Determine your bankroll (how much you are willing to potentially lose).
2. Only bet 1-5% of your bankroll on any single bet.
3. Track your bets.
4. Take a break after a big or close loss to avoid emotional betting.
5. Only bet sober! There’s a reason alcohol is free in casinos!
6. Do your research.
7. Bet on sports you know and know the numbers.
8. Learn what the different bets are BEFORE you bet them.
9. Shop for lines from different bookies to ensure the best odds. 
10. Follow @FFFaceoff for Best Bets – we do the research for you! 

Need to take a break? Call the Problem Gambling Hotline at 1-800-9-WITH-IT

Read More:

Sports Betting Glossary

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