Sports Betting 101: The Basics

In the world of online sports betting, all of the options can be quite overwhelming for fans looking to test their trade. However today betting fans we have two concepts to get you through those scary times and become the ultimate sports bettor. These two concepts can be used in all four major sports in North America and in European football. Today we look at how understanding point spreads and totals can be the difference between success and a onetime betting experience.

1.      Point Spreads – Initially when the major sports leagues were first created at the end of the 19^th century, fans were strapped to the money line wager. As a result, many bookies at the time were unable to spread out the wagers evenly as the majority of fans would bet the favorite. Years later in the 1960s, bookies began creating point spreads for basketball and football games in which fans could bet the underdog to at least cover when they lost. By doing so, the bookies were able to balance out the wagers and pay everyone. Here is what a point spread looks like in both football and basketball.

Example:

Bills +3
Bengals – 7

In order to win your point spread bets if you bet the Bills you need them to lose by a minimum of three points or win outright. While to win for the favorite you need them to win by a minimum of seven points.

2.      O/U Totals – Totals makes the world go around in the world of sports gambling. In essence, totals cover all four major sports as well as the European sports such as soccer football and rugby. As a new bettor how totals betting works is that a bookie or sportsbook will set potential total combined points for two teams in a certain game. Your job as the bettor is to guess whether the total points will be above or below what the bookie predicted. It’s as simple as that. Here is an example in Soccer

Man City
Liverpool
O/U 5

Final Score 1: Man City 0 Liverpool 1

The total predicted was five goals between the two squads, however to win when the total went under you need the final to be four goals or less. In this case Liverpool scored the only goal which made fans betting the under a winner. Conversely if you bet the over you would have needed the score to be totaled at six or more goals.