Types of Bets
Sportsbooks offer a variety of ways to wager on your favorite athletic events. The most common wagers are so-called straight bets, either on a money line or a point spread. But you can add to the fun by selecting parlays or proposition bets, or minimize your risk by opting for teasers.
Money Line Bets
Sometimes sportsbooks will offer only money line bets on a game, with no point spread. This is a straight bet, where you choose the team you think will win. On a straight money line bet, it doesn't matter what the margin of victory is; if your team wins the game, you win your bet.
A straight money line looks like this:
Team |
Money Line |
Giants |
-150 |
Bills |
+130 |
As shown here, the negative number on the Giants' line indicates they are favored to win the game. On a negative money line, you wager more than you win. In this example, you would have to bet $15 on the Giants to win $10, plus the return of your original $15 wager. To win $100, you would have to bet $150.
If you choose to bet on the Bills, however, you would win more than you wager. For this example, you would win $13 for every $10 you bet. If you bet $100 on the Bills, your payoff would be $130.
Spread Bets
The point spread is perhaps the most common sports bet. The odds-makers determine a favorite and predict the difference in the two teams' scores. When you place your bet, you're pitting your knowledge of the game against the oddsmaker and deciding whether the favorite can cover the spread. A point spread looks like this:
Giants |
-3 |
Bills |
+3 |
In this example, the Giants are favored to win by 3 points. If you bet on the Giants, their final score has to be at least 4 points higher than the Bills' final score in order for you to win your bet. If the Giants win by exactly 3 points, you don't win any money, but your wager is returned. If you wager on the Bills in this example, they have to win the game, tie, or lose by 1 or 2 points in order for you to win your bet. If the Bills lose by 3 points and you bet on the Bills, you lose your wager.
Point spread bets typically carry 11:10 odds, which means you have to wager $11 to win $10.
In almost all sportsbooks, the team listed on the bottom is the home team. This is true for all team sports and for all types of sports bets. Sometimes the home team is listed in all capital letters as an additional indication.
Over/Under Bets
Over/under bets also are 11:10 wagers, but instead of betting on the difference between the teams' scores, you bet on whether the total points scored will be higher or lower than the oddsmakers' predictions. Point totals often are expressed in half-points — for example, 291/2 in football, or 1921/2 in basketball. Here's what an over/under posting would look like:
Giants |
-3 |
-150 |
4 P.M. |
Bills |
+3 |
+130 |
44 ½ |
This posting gives you the point spread, the money line odds, the time the game is scheduled to begin, and the predicted total score. If you wager that the total points will be higher — also known as “betting the ball” — you win if the Giants' and Bills' scores, added together, total 45 or more. If you place an “under” wager — also called “betting the clock” — you win if all points scored total 44 or less.
Parlays
Parlays allow you to bet on two or more games for a better payoff. The catch: you have to win all the events in your parlay to win the bet, and the payoff odds are more heavily skewed from the true odds. In fact, the more games you parlay, the bigger the advantage for the sportsbook.
The true odds on a two-team parlay are 3:1, but the typical sports-book payout is 13:5. A three-team parlay usually pays around 6:1, instead of the true odds of 7:1. Six games might net you 40:1 or even 45:1 odds, compared with the true odds of about 63:1, while seven games will pay between 80:1 and 90:1, compared with the true odds of 127:1. Remember, you must win each contest in a parlay in order to win the bet. With even one loss, you lose your wager.
Some sportsbooks offer parlay cards that allow you to wager as little as $2. You fill out the cards by filling in a circle next to the teams you choose and the amount you want to bet. The rules for these kinds of parlays vary; always read the back of the card before you place your bet.
If any game in a parlay is postponed for any reason, that game is simply removed from the parlay bet as though it had never been included. A four-game parlay, for example, becomes a three-game parlay. A two-game parlay becomes a straight single-game bet.
Proposition Bets
Proposition bets — often called simply “props” — can be made on virtually any aspect of a particular game. In football, a sportsbook might offer proposition bets on how many field goals will be made, how many interceptions or completed passes will be thrown, how many fumbles will result in turnovers, and so on. In basketball, a sportsbook might offer a proposition bet on how many 3-point shots will be made, or how many free throws will be made. In baseball, the proposition might be how many home runs or how many strikeouts are made. In hockey, the proposition might involve hat tricks or penalties.
Props can be very broad or highly specific, ranging from totals in a given game to which wide receiver will catch the most passes. Most of these types of bets are over/under propositions. If the sportsbook predicts that there will be three field goals scored in the Giants-Bills game, for instance, you would bet that the total number of field goals will be higher or lower than 3. The typical prop bet offers 11:10 odds, but check with the sportsbook to make sure. Some props, especially the more exotic ones, offer better — or worse — odds.
Teasers
In a teaser bet, you essentially change the point spread to give yourself a better chance of winning, but in doing so you reduce the payoff amounts. At most sportsbooks, a teaser must involve at least two games, and, like the parlay, you have to win both games to win your bet. The payoff amounts vary according to how much you change the point spread. For example, a straight two-team parlay typically offers 11:10 payoff odds. If you tease half a point — that is, you add half a point to the point spread — the payoff on a two-team parlay drops to 5:6. Teasing a full point drops the payoff to 5:7.
Here's a look at how teasing changes the payoff amounts:
Number of Teams |
5-Point Spread |
5½-Point Spread |
6-Point Spread |
Two teams |
11:10 |
5:6 |
5:7 |
Three teams |
8:5 |
3:2 |
6:5 |
Four teams |
5:2 |
2:1 |
9:5 |
Five teams |
4:1 |
7:2 |
3:1 |
Six teams |
6:1 |
5:1 |
4:1 |
When placing a teaser bet, you change the point spread by a set amount. You can change the spread on all the games in your parlay by the same amount.
Buying Half Points
This is a rarer form of sports bet, which allows you to move the point spread half a point in your favor by accepting 6:5 payoff odds instead of the standard 11:10. Most experts recommend ignoring this option except on 3-point spreads in football. For those games, buying the half a point — sometimes called “buying the hook” — gives you a better chance of winning the bet, but at a reduced payout.
Futures
Futures bets allow you to wager on the outcome of an entire season — who will win the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Championship, the Stanley Cup, and so on — even before a single game has been played. Odds for each team winning are posted at the beginning of the season and adjusted from week to week or day to day during the season. Your odds on a futures bet are locked in at the time you place the wager. For example, assume that in April you bet on the Chicago Cubs to win the National League Championship at 100:1 odds. By September, if the Cubs are still in the pennant race, the odds might be only 12:1. But, if the Cubs win the pennant, you get paid at the original odds of 100:1.
Many sportsbooks offer futures bets on major events in horseracing, such as the Kentucky Derby or the Breeder's Cup. Usually, if the horse you pick for such an event doesn't start the race, you lose your wager.
However, the odds on a horserace are locked in at the time you place your bet, regardless of what the odds are on the day of the race.
Nevada sportsbooks are not allowed to accept bets on anything other than athletic contests. You might find odds posted on Most Valuable Player, the Heisman winner, Rookie of the Year, or even on the outcome of presidential elections or the Grammy Awards, but these are for amusement only — you can't legally bet on them.
Some futures bets are over/under bets; you bet that the St. Louis Cardinals will win more or fewer than eighty-five games in the baseball season, for example. Typically, these kinds of bets are offered on professional football and major league baseball teams, and occasionally on professional basketball teams. Other futures bets are more specific, such as betting that baseball player Barry Bonds will hit the most home runs during the regular season, or that quarterback Drew Bledsoe will have the most passing yards.
Oregon Sports Action
The Oregon Lottery allows people to bet on professional football during the National Football League season. The minimum bet is $2, and you must pick the winners in at least three games. Oregon also offers a number of “special play games,” where you can bet on such things as total points scored, sacks, field goals, completed passes, lost fumbles, rushing yards, and interceptions. A winning three-game ticket pays $5 for every $1 wagered; five- to fourteen-game tickets are paid out on a pari-mutuel basis.
