If you’re a sports fan, chances are you’ve heard about betting on games and know that it can be very profitable — though it’s important to keep in mind that few people actually make life-changing money betting on sports (and even less do so over the long haul). With legal online sports betting available in many states, it’s more critical than ever to understand how to bet wisely.
Betting on teams and players isn’t as complicated as it may seem, especially if you’re new to the sport. The most basic bet is a moneyline wager, which is placing a bet on the team that will win a game. If you want to bet more complex bets, like a point spread or parlay, you’ll need to understand how betting odds work.
Odds, which are the percentage chance that an event will happen, are calculated by a team of betting oddsmakers. Depending on the sport, betting lines are represented in different ways. In baseball, for example, the odds are shown with a plus sign (plus) or minus sign (-). A plus sign means that a team is the underdog and has the chance to win. A minus sign, on the other hand, indicates that a team is the favorite and has the potential to lose.
A popular bet is a totals wager, also known as over/under betting. Rather than focusing on who wins a specific game, totals wagers predict whether the two involved teams will combine for more (over) or fewer (under) runs, goals, points and other game-related statistics than the posted amount.