A Beginner’s Guide to Betting

Betting is a great way to enjoy the action of your favorite sports. However, there’s a lot of terminology to learn, and it can be easy for newcomers to get confused. We’ve got you covered with a beginner-level guide to some of the most popular betting terms and types of wagers.

Straight bets are the most common type of bet and involve placing a bet on the team or individual you think will win. The odds of a team or individual winning are set at the beginning of the season, and can change over time. For example, if a team is a large underdog, it’s likely that the odds will be lower than normal. If the team is able to win consistently, their odds will increase and they’ll be considered a better bet.

Spread bets, also known as point spreads, are a way to make an uneven game more fair for bettors. They do this by adjusting the odds for the two teams based on their expected margin of victory. For example, if the odds for the Toronto Raptors are -180, it means that they’re favored to win by more than a touchdown. Likewise, if the odds for a fighter are +180, it means they’re the underdog and have a higher risk.

Prop bets are wagers on specific occurrences during the game or event that aren’t directly related to the final score. These can range from predicting how many goals a player will score in an association football match, to betting on how many rushing yards a particular player will accumulate during a UFC fight.