Understanding The Basic Types Of Sports Bets

By Author: Groshan Fabiola
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The following article is an introductory guide to basic bets available in a wide variety of sports. The types of wagers we will address here are straight bets, money line, over/under (O/U) totals, parlays, teasers and futures.

Straight Bets

Present in virtually any internet sportsbook and standing out as a highly popular approach to sport betting, straight bets involve beating the pointspread difference set by the bookmakers. Favorites are denoted by a minus sign (-) and underdogs by a plus sign (+) displayed next to the spread's amount. Occasionally, you may also come across games without an underlying spread - the PK (Pick) and E symbols (Even), respectively, may be used to indicate this.

Here is an example of a typical line on a pointspread:

401 Team A -3
402 Team B +3

The numbers to the left serve solely for wager identification purposes, and as a rule, the home team is always listed at the bottom.

If you were to bet on Team B, and the final score ended up to be Team A 22, Team B 20, the bet would translate into a win, since Team B had covered the spread by the minimum ...
... necessary margin, which is 1 point. However, if the point differential of the game was the same as the pointspread (e.g. Team A 22, Team B 19), you would be faced with a tie (also known as a push), in which case you would benefit from a refund, irrespective of which of the teams you had placed your money on.

Money Lines Bets

This category of bets doesn't involve pointspreads, but requires bettors to pay a larger vig when betting the favorite. Here is how a typical money line bet might be expressed:

401 Team A -140
402 Team B +130

If you were to bet on Team A, you would need to invest $140 for a potential win of $100. If you were to have action on Team B, paying $100 would get you a chance at winning $130.

Over/Under (O/U) Totals

With these types of sport bets, you can bet whether the total number of points scored by both teams in the match will be over or under the total number specified in the sportsbook. For instance, if the oddsmakers set an O/U bet margin of 36.5 and you have a hunch that the actual score will exceed this number, then you may want to bet over. If you suspect otherwise, you may want to bet under this margin.

Parlays

Parlays refer to a combination of at least two bets, irrespective of their type and value: they allow you to combine multiple pointspreads, O/Us, money lines, or any other types of bets into a single wager. However, to win with a parlay bet, you must hit all your picks. If you lose a single bet in the selection, you lose the entire parlay.

In case there is a push, if the sportsbook doesn't specify otherwise, the parlay drops to the next lowest number. Parlays involve a higher level of risk, but they also come with some very advantageous sport odds, so if you play your cards right, you will get to seize a bigger profit.

Teasers

Similar to a parlay, a teaser denotes a combination wager, which must include a minimum of two picks, and in order to collect on a teaser, you will need to get all your picks right. Unlike parlays though, the payouts for teasers are typically smaller, despite the spreads being adjusted in favor of the bettor, so that they will encourage people to play.

In the event of a tie in a two-team teaser, your wager is automatically refunded. When the tie or push occurs in a teaser that combines at least three different bets, the value of the teaser drops to the next lowest level.

Future bets

These types of bets also come with some very enticing sport odds, although by the time the game kicks in these can undergo multiple changes and fluctuate by quite a sensible margin. One of the most common future bets in the industry is guessing who will win the SuperBowl.

For more resources about Sport Bets or about Sport Betting or even about Sport Odds, please review these links.