Online Sports Betting Guide for Beginners
Today, you no longer have to walk to a land-based casino or call a bookie to bet on your favorite sports, this is because you only need reliable internet and a PC or mobile device to start betting on sports online.
Regardless of the legality of online gambling in the United States, the impending restrictions only apply to website operators, with an increased number of reputable, legit and safe sportsbooks ready and willing to accept sports bettors from the USA and always pays out bettor’s winnings, you no longer have to worry about not being able to bet online.
However, knowing that a sports online betting platform is safe is not quite enough. Just like any other form of gambling, you stand higher chances of maximizing your profits if you properly understand what you are doing and fortunately, this is very easy for sports lovers who are not afraid to take chances because it is very easy to learn and much fun to participate in.
If you are reading this right now, this is your best bet towards becoming a winning online sports bettor.
Our Favorite Sportsbooks
- 100% bitcoin bonus up to $1000
- Fast payouts and plenty of deposit options
- US players allowed
- Easy to use software
- best signup bonus in the business
- many slot games
- Easy to use software
- best signup bonus in the business
- many slot games
Getting Started With Sports Betting
Any form of gambling involves risking something in the hopes of gaining something else. This means you will be risking money hoping to win more money. It wouldn’t be gambling if there are no risks involved. Always remember that anything is possible in sports betting regardless of how small the odds are. This means that there is no guarantee and for that reason, you must avoid betting more money than you can afford
to lose.
When it comes to sports betting, the same applies to casino games, the smaller your winning chances, the more you get to win in case your bet is right. In the same way, the higher your winning chances are, the less you will win in case you are right. Technically, if you choose to place bets on your favorite team, you will probably win and you will receive a smaller payout. On the other hand, if you place bets on the underdog team, there is a higher chance you could lose, but in case you win, your winnings will be
bigger.
That is as basic as it can be, but other aspects are also essential to understand, particularly because you will be risking more of your hard-earned cash. Keep it balanced by knowing that anything can happen, you can either lose or win, but you do not want to lose your money for nothing.
How Sports Betting Odds Work?
It may seem like your normal two-team match looks much simple than the tournament structure, but regardless of the event or sport, you are placing bets on, the odds usually work in the same way.
Most odds are 200 or higher and can have a positive or negative symbol. In case the number has a positive symbol that is how much you would win if you place a $200 bet, while the negative symbol number is how much you will be required to bet to win $200.
In situations where there is a matchup between 2 teams, the team having a negative number is the one that is most likely to win (the favorite), while the team with a positive number is the least favorite to win, meaning a bet on the latter pays out higher than the former. In most cases, the positive number pays out at least double the amount while a negative number pays out less.
For instance, assuming the team’s odds are -150. If you place a $150 bet on the team winning and it does, you get to win $100 on the $150 bet. On the other hand, if you had instead placed a $10 bet, you may have won $6.06.
If let’s say, you had placed the bet on another team, and the odds had been set at +350. If you place a $100 bet and the team wins, you get to win $350. However, if you had instead placed a $25 bet, your payout will be $87.50.
This kind of bet is referred to as the Moneyline bet, where you simply bet on who losses, who wins or whether there would be a tie, while if you wager on the spread, the points usually made a huge difference.
However, this does not mean there are no exceptions. The match can be closer enough for both teams to have negative or positive odds and in some sports such as soccer; you can place a bet on the fact that there would be a tie, too. If you choose to bet from a group of individuals or a pool of different teams, you will see a series of a wide variety of odds presented and amazing runs from the final place can have incredibly huge payouts. For example, if you place a $1 bet on a +50,000 team, the payout will be $500. This is a great return on investment.
Also, you will realize that bets change every once in a while, particularly as the start of the match approaches and becomes more if the game starts and players start scoring more points and the time left for the game to end keeps reducing. However, once you have placed your bet, and it’s locked in, the payout stays the same regardless of how the odds increase.
Must You Do The Math?
You don’t have to use a calculator when betting on sports mainly because you do not need to fix numbers every time you want to be on an amount that is over $100. The most amazing thing is that you never have to worry about the mathematics since the internet can do all that for you. Do you want to know how much you can win? Just enter the amount you wish to bet and it will reflect on the next box over. Also, you can type the amount you wish to win and this will auto-fill the bet amount.
Beat The Spread And Win Big
Beat the spread is a common term that you will hear in most movies and TV shows, but since you want to learn how to become a successful sports bettor, read on to understand what it means.
As the game ends, the spread number is subtracted from the final score of the favored team or added to the least favorite team score depending on the team you choose to bet on. For example, if the current spread is 5 and you placed bets on the winning player or team, they will be required to win by over 5 points. On the other hand, if you choose to wager on the least favorite team, they will have to lose by less than 5 points. Technically, the spread number is dependent on the players, the team or the sport and
might be determined by the sportsbook.
For example, when it comes to college basketball where Pittsburgh is playing Syracuse and Pittsburgh is the favorite team. The Moneyline bet would be something like:
Pittsburgh: -230
Syracuse: 170
On the other hand, if the spread number was 4, then the spread bet would be
something like:
Pittsburgh: -4 (-115)
Syracuse: 4 (-115)
You can see how big the payout will be if you chose to bet on Pittsburgh. With a Moneyline bet, a $100 bet will payout $43.48. However, if you choose to bet the spread and Pittsburgh wins by over 5 points, your $100 bet will payout $86.96, twice as much!
On the other hand, in case you are betting on the least favorite team, a Moneyline bet will in most cases payout more, while the spread bet will in most cases pay out more if you are betting on the favored team. Keep in mind that some sporting events don’t offer the spread option, but you get a chance to place more specific bets on such sporting events.
In circumstances where the match ends in a tie after a spread, you will get your stake back, which is the reason why you will mostly see spreads such as 4-1/2 which eliminates the possibility of a tie.
Special Bets
The good thing about sports betting online is that you are not just limited to betting on just a tie, lose or win. One of the most popular bets that you can place on sports is known as the Over/under, where you guess whether the total score would be less or more than what the sportsbook sets it at. It’s quite simple, if you are right, you get to win.
Also, you can place a bet on whether the final score would be an even or odd number, who scores first, who wins the MVP and much more. You will find very fascinating and incredibly amazing bets at the top sportsbooks and now that you understand how odds work, it will be very easy to bet on any.
It will not be long before you start applying what you have learned here and start applying your approaches, like assessing the past scores to decide the over/under bet.
Sportsbook Bonus
A sportsbook bonus is the promotional provision of free bonus money that may be used to place bets on the sportsbook. Online casinos make such offers to distinguish themselves from other betting platforms, with a welcome bonus being the most common promotion. A welcome bonus is a reward the casino matches your initial deposit to a certain percentage up to a specific amount. For instance, if the casino offers a 100% welcome bonus up to $1000, they will double your initial deposit. On the other hand, if
you were to go for the maximum, you will deposit $1000 and your bankroll will be credited with $1000, which means you will have a$2,000 starting bankroll.
Nevertheless, it is important to check through the terms and conditions of any welcome bonus you want to claim mainly because these bonuses usually come with what is known as the rollover requirement. This refers to the number of times you should bet the total amount (bonus plus deposit) before you can cash out your winnings. Therefore, if you make a $1,000 deposit and the playthrough requirements are 30x, you will be required to wager $30,000 before you can be allowed to cash out your winnings
(winning and losing bets count towards rollovers). Some casinos will have a tier system and state exactly what you need to bet on to clear the rollover requirements, in most cases 100% betting on slot machines usually count toward the rollover requirements, but it is only 50% of sports bets that count towards the rollover requirements. The deal breaker is outlined in the terms and conditions which is the main reason why we highly recommended that you read them to understand what you need to do to clear the rollover requirements.
Online Casino Vs. Sportsbook
When it comes to online gambling, the available gambling platforms are divided into different categories including poker, bingo, sportsbook and casino and some offer all the four. However, that can be confusing at times, particularly if you are only interested in one of the four categories. Typically, all that these mega-websites do is add convenience to people that want to spread their betting out without having to register with multiple gambling platforms.
Bottom Line
Just like internet casinos, you need to examine a sportsbook to ensure it’s legit. You can find everything you need to look out for when looking for trustworthy and reliable sportsbooks here, as well as the comprehensive list of the best online sports betting sites here!
Finding the best sportsbook that is right for you is a daunting task, but one that we have resolved for you by recommending the best sites, once that is done, it’s now all about having fun.
What are you waiting for? Join any of the reputable sports betting sites we recommend and place a winning bet today!