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 If
you're going to win at sports betting, you're going to have to
understand how some of it works under the hood. Sportsbooks have
a
language all their own and you'll want to have a handle on what to ask
for and what to expect in return. What are odds and who sets
them? How is the line determined? This article will
introduce you to some of the concepts and terms at a high level so that
you can begin to place your bets with more confidence.
The sport you decide to bet on will determine how you can bet as well
as how the odds are calculated. The Point Spread, or The Spread,
is typically used in football and basketball. It might look
something like:
San
Diego Chargers -3; Denver Broncos
If you place your money on the Chargers, they'll have to win by 3
points in order for you to win the bet. So in this example,
think of it as the Broncos having a 3 point lead before the game starts.
The purpose of the spread is to bolster the weaker team in an attempt
to even the market to equal numbers of bettors on each side of the
bet. The bookmaker charges a commission or Vig (a.k.a. Juice or The Take) and is the
counterparty for each bettor. When the betting action is
fairly even on both sides, the bookmaker is not too concerned who wins
or looses as its profits come from the commissions.
Many
times the spread will be expressed in half point fractions so there's
no tie, also known as a Push.
If there is a push, no money is
won or lost. The sportsbooks don't like this because they have to
refund all bets and can't cover their cost of doing business.
A sportsbook can however set a house rule that a tie wins or a tie
looses to
circumvent giving bets back.
Baseball betting is a bit different as this sport uses the Money Line
and it might look like this:
St. Louis Cardinals -1.20; Chicago Cubs
+1.10
So if you take the favored Cardinals and you want to win 100 bucks, you
must bet $1.20 for every $1 you want to win. Think of the
favorite as being the higher priced of the two. If you placed
a $120 bet on St. Louis and they won, you'd get the $120 back plus
$100. If you bet $100 on the Cubs and won, you'd get back
$110. In a Pick'em,
where no team is favored, both teams
would be listed at -1.10 and you'd have to wager $1.10 for every $1 won.
A Parlay bet is a grouping of
individual bets into one. If
you have a 3 team parlay you have to win all 3 bets.
The odds of doing this are higher, thus the payout is higher.
A Teaser bet takes the spread
and turns it in the bettor's favor by
some amount, often times 6 points. So if the line is 3.5 and a teaser
bet is placed on the underdog, the bettor gets 9.5 points. A
teaser bet on the favorite requires the bettor to take 2.5 instead of
giving 3.5. By taking more points the payout is less than
even money. There is also a Reverse
Teaser that alters the
spread against the bettor and if won pays more than even money.
The Over/Under bet has to do
with total points scored by both teams
combined. So if a football game's over/under is set at 32 and
the outcome is 28, bettors who took the under would win. If
the final score was 52 the over would win.
Whether you're dealing with a point spread or a money line, they both
are referred to as The Line.
It's essentially the odds for a
game expressed in a system type. Las Vegas casinos for the
most part are the end-all be-all for setting the line in the US.
This
is an art of sorts that takes countless factors into account some of
which are weather, injuries to key players, coaching match-ups, outcome
of past meetings, playing surface, vengeance factors, home field
advantage, the list goes on! In addition to this, opinions of
key industry professionals are weighed and computer algorithms are
applied. If betting action begins to become too one sided, the
oddsmakers may move the line to even out play. As mentioned
above, keeping the action even is in the sportsbook's best interest as
they don't want to end up giving back their commissions to winning
players.
This is a high level look at how sports betting works.
You are encouraged to seek out additional information depending
upon the sport you choose to bet on. Having a good understanding
of the inner-workings will increase your confidence and aid in making
better betting decisions.
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