There are close to 118 million Americans who punt on sports events each year. Kentucky Derby, March Madness and Super Bowl set new betting records year after year!
Considering the safety and ease they offer, a great number of sports bettors are now turning to online bookmakers for their punting needs. Online sports betting popular also because of the way it allows people to punt through their smartphones and mobile devices these days. Many of the reputed online bookies even offer different types of free bet options to new sign-ups.
While there are several different ways in which you can place sports bets on the Internet, let’s take you through the top three of them.
Moneyline bets
By far the simplest method of betting on MLB and NHL games, this type of bet is about selecting a particular player or team you think has a very good chance of performing well or winning the game. You simply select that player/team and place a bet on him/it.
Talking about the money line odds, they indicate the amount of money you stand to win if your bet turns out to be a winner. These odds are represented through positive and negative signs next to the team/player’s names. The negative sign indicates that the team is a strong favourite with sports bettors and the figure next to the negative sign indicates the amount of money you must bet to win $ 100. The positive sign on the other hand is an indicator of an underdog team.
Let’s say there’s a match coming up between Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers. The odds offered for this match are +185 for Texas Rangers and -225 for Cleveland Indians. This implies that you must bet $ 225 on Cleveland Indians in order to score a $ 100 win (if they win the match). At the other end, betting $ 100 on Texas Rangers would fetch you $ 185 if they win the match instead.
Spread bets
These are quite like money line bets, the only difference being that you must back a team to win/lose the match by a certain margin. Here’s an example to explain it better:
Let’s say team Cleveland Indians is favourite going into a match and is on the run line by -2.5. This team shouldn’t just win the match, but win it by at least a 3 points’ difference for you to win your bet. In the event that they don’t win by a 3 points’ margin, punters backing the opposition team would win their bets instead.
Totals
These types of bets involve guessing the combined total of both the playing teams. The predicted total is then compared against the mark set by the bookmaker. Total bets are placed prior to the start of the event, and you win only if your prediction turns out to be correct.
The above 3 are the most commonly indulged-in bet types when it comes to sports betting, particularly in relation to MLB and NHL.