ONLINE SPORTS BETTING, GENERAL INFORMATION...
Online sports betting offers fans ease and convenience when
it comes to putting a few bucks on your favorite sporting events. Online sportbooks
have given anyone who has access to the Internet, the opportunity
to place a quick wager on their favorite events, any time online.
An array of wagers can be placed on games that are to be played
that day. You can put your money down using the point spread or the
money line, and you can bet on the over/under. These three kinds
of popular bets may be placed on most baseball, football, hockey,
basketball, and soccer games.
When you wager on baseball or hockey the most
popular bet is the money line. Another common wager made by
sportsbook enthusiasts combines the point spread and money line.
In baseball this type of bet is called the run line, and in
hockey the puck line.
You may put money down on a team using one or more of these
types of wagers. An additional, and very popular wrinkle, we might add, is
the parlay, which allows you to substantially increase your
profit margin and but also your risk of losing.
ABOUT POINT SPREAD:
With the point spread, the team that's favored has points taken
away from their final score, or another way of looking at it, is that the weaker club is
given points. Point spreads are very common when wagering on
football and basketball. Let's say you're putting money on the
New England Patriots - Miami Dolphins contest and the point spread is 3½ with the
Pats at - 3½ . You wager on Miami and they lose 21- 20.
They may have lost, but you won some money. Why's that? In terms of the
point spread the handicappers have spotted the team from Miami 3½
points. For you to lose, New England would have had to win by at
least 4 points. According to the point spread, the bookmaker's
score was Patriots 17½ (21 - 3½ = 17½ ) and Miami 20. You
win the wager.
The half-points that odds makers put in point spreads are meant
to guard against a "push." As an example: the Utah
Jazz play the Minnesota Timberwolves at home and the home team is -1.
If the game ends with Minnesota winning by one-point, 86-85 and
you had put your money on the Jazz - do you win or lose? Neither
- it's a "push,", which means because of the point spread the
teams ended the game tied and you simply get back the money you
wagered. You don't win, don't lose, you tied.
THE MONEY LINE:
When betting the money line in either baseball or hockey, you're
putting dough on a team to win regardless of the point spread. A
money line in hockey would look like this: Columbus Blue Jackets
+280, Detroit Red Wings -360.
In the Blue Jacket - Red Wings contest, if you put $360 down on
Detroit, you can win $100. However, if you put $100 on Columbus
and they win, you get your $100 plus $280. It's important to remember that there is no
point spread involved in this type of wager.
Why is the money line set up this way? When playing the money
line, the team that is the underdog pays more for less of a
wager. While it costs a lot more money to bet on the favored
team, if they win you take in very little money. Also, if they
lose, you're out a greater amount of cash than if you'd bet on
the team that was not favored.
This type of bet is based on the fact that more people will
place their money on the club that is expected to lose because
it's cheaper and the payoff is much higher. Less money will be
put on the better team but more will be risked per bet and the
payoff will be substantially less. Either way, the bookmakers
are covered. If the favorite loses, the sports books make their
commission; if the favorite wins, the book makers break even.
Chances are the Jackets will lose, and the casino will keep that
money and pay out a small amount to those who took the favored
team. If the underdog wins, although the payout is high, the
casino has taken in a substantial amount of money on the
favorite and they actually make money.
THE RUN AND PUCK LINE:
Most online betting services offer hockey and baseball as a
point spread in conjunction with a money line. Thus, you have to
play the money line but you get the benefit of a basic point
spread. This combination of money line and point spread is
called the puck line for hockey and the run line for baseball.
Typically the point spread for baseball is set at 1½ runs and
for hockey it's 1½ goals.
THE OVER/UNDER WAGER:
When you place an over/under bet, you're wagering on the total
number of points that will be scored. When putting money on
soccer, you may find that the over/under on the contest between
Manchester United and Arsenal is 2.5. If you choose the under
and 2 goals are scored, you win. However, if three or more goals
are scored, you'd lose that wager. Typical over/unders in hockey
range from 5 to 7, while a typical over/under for baseball is
from 4 to 14 runs. The NBA basketball range varies quite a bit,
from 175-225 points.
The total number of points for the over/under is based on an
analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each team's defense
and offense, point trends, and match-ups. This bet really
demands a solid understanding of each team's potential on a
given night.
ABOUT PARLAYS:
There are many other types of bets in which you can engage, but
one that allows you to expand your winnings quickly is the
parlay. A parlay bet is simply a wager that combines two or more
bets. When you place a parlay, you must win every one of the
bets to receive any payoff. Using this method of combining
wagers gives you a much higher payoff on the same investment
that you can make on one wager. Of course, there is a greater
risk of losing.
If you parlay a bet on the Red Sox- Yankees run line, on the
Angels- Mariners over/under, a third pick on the Angels-
Mariners run line and a final pick on the Cubs- Cards run line,
you could get odds of 12 to 1. Placing an $11 single bet on each
of these wagers would mean you would put $44 down and get a
payoff of $10 per wager. If you won all 4 bets, you'd make about
$40. However, in playing a 4-bet parlay, one $11 bet could
result in a $110 profit.
There are many other types of bets in which you can engage and
online betting sites are constantly coming up with new twists.
When wagering, take some time to do your homework on the sport,
the teams, and the players. Wager wisely. Most gambling experts
will tell you that a professional who knows what they're doing
will win about 60% of the time. Most professional wagering is
not an attempt to win a lot at once; rather it's a steady
process where, with careful wagering, people turn a profit.
THE CAPPERS EDGE RECOMMENDS:
For the best overall experience in online sports wagering, we highly recommend Bet 365, Nine Sportsbook and VIP Sports in that general order. Bet 365 is not available for US wagers, but Nine and VIP are. All offer poker and casino action under the same roof so if you feel like a few hands of poker or want to try your luck at blackjack, you use the same account for everything.
|
