Sportsbetting 101

Sportsbetting involves predicting what will happen during a sporting event and risking money on those predictions. There are three main types of wagers: moneylines, spreads and totals. Each has its own unique set of odds that reflect the probability of a specific occurrence occurring and therefore its risk/reward ratio.

Moneyline bets are based on the expected margin of victory for the favored team. For example, a -150 moneyline favorite implies a 60% chance of winning. Spreads, on the other hand, are a little more complicated, as they take into account a team’s relative strengths and weaknesses when making their predictions. The lower the spread, the better your chances of a bet winning.

The third type of sports wager, totals (also known as over/under bets), focuses on the final score of a match rather than who wins it. In other words, you’re betting on whether both teams will combine for more (over) or less (under) than a pre-determined number posted by the oddsmakers.

In addition, there are many other props, or proposition bets, which are wagers on non-traditional events and aspects of the game that don’t fall under standard point spreads, moneylines or totals. Some common examples include head-to-head bets in which a bettor predicts competitors’ performance against each other or individual player statistics like a pitcher’s strikeout total against a certain opposing team.

Lastly, there are parlays, which consist of multiple selections on the same team or event. These bets carry a much higher risk than single-team bets, but they can also offer lucrative payouts, especially when the bets are right.