How To Bet Effectively and Consistently That Beginners Have To Know
Over the past year, sports betting has emerged from the shadows and is back onto the mainstream. The stigma on gambling or betting on sports betting has faded quickly over time, thus opening up doors for legal online gambling industry to emerge. There are a few beginner’s tips to bet on sports;
Sports Betting Terms
Before we get into the different types of sports bet, it is important that you know the meaning behind sports betting terms.
Action – A wager of any kind.
Bookmaker – A person who is licensed to create betting lines and take wager.
Moneyline – In sports like baseball, soccer and hockey, there are so few runs/ goals scored that it doesnt make sense to only offer a spread. Instead, these sports offer a moneyline in which you bet on whether or not a specific team is going to win straight up.
Over/Under – Otherwise known as the total. This refers to the total amounts of points/goals/runs that will be scored in the game. If both teams combine to score more than the total then the over wins. If they combine to score fewer, the under wins.
Parlay – It is when a bettor makes multiple bets (at least two) and ties them together, you will need multiple events to all the wins for a higher payouts. This is a risky proposition, but potentially lucrative.
Return on Investment (ROI) – A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment.
Teaser – A special bet in which you are able to adjust the point spread or a total for a game. The more you change the spread, the lower the payout becomes.
Wager – Any type of bets.
Types of Sports Bets
1. Favourites vs. Underdogs
When the oddsmaker release a betting line on a game, the first thing they do is to decide which team should be your favourite and which team will be your underdog. The favourite will be your team that will be expected to win the game and will get a minus sign next to its odds. If the game is a toss-up, books will open it as a ‘pick’ or ‘pick’ em’.
2. Spreads
There are two main ways to bet on either a favourite or an underdog. The first is the point spread, which is to bet on the margin of victory. If you bet on the Patriots, they need to win the game by 8 points or more in order for you to win your bet. if the patriots win by 8 points or more, you ‘cover’. If the Patriots win by 7 points, that is called a push, and this means you will be getting back the money you originally bet. However, if the Patriots win by 6 points or fewer then you will lose your bet.
3. Moneylines
The second way to bet on a favourite or an underdog is on the moneyline. This is based solely on which team will win the game.
Favourites are again given a ‘minus’ designation, such as -150, -200, or -500. If a favourite is -200 then it means you will have to risk $200 to win $100.
Underdogs are given a ‘plus’ designation, such as +150, +200, or +500. If an underdog is +200, then it means you can bet $100 on them and if they win the game, you will get $200. If they lose the game, you will only lose the $100 you risk.
4. Over/Unders (total)
In addition to set a line for the favourite and the underdog, oddsmakers wil also set a total number of points scored in a game by both teams combined. This is called the total or over/under. Bettors can choose to wager on whether or not the game will go over or under the total.
5. Parlay Bets
A parlay bet is a bet on multiple bets winning. For a parlay to win, every ‘leg’ or bet in the parlay needs to win for you bet to cash. If you have a four-leg parlay and only three of those bets win, then you have a losing parlay ticket.
What makes a parlay an attractive option for many bettors is that it is a way to bet a low dollar amount and win a large dollar amount, as your profits get multiplied after each win.
A teaser bet is similar to a parlay in the sense that it is tied to multiple bets. The difference is that it is only for point spreads and is designed to have the same pay out as a single regular bet rather than an ambitiously large pay out.
For a teaser, it involves ‘teasing’ the spread of multiple games by a few or several points in the bettor’s favour. For example, let us say that you wanted to do a six-point teaser on two NFL games by backing the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots.
6. Prop Bets
A proposition or a prop bet is a bet that is not directly tied to the final score or result of the game. The most common type of prop bets are player props and game props.
The player prop is a bet on player’s performance, such as how many passign yards a quarterback has in football or if a basketball player has a double-double.
A game prop is a bet on something to happen in a game, such as the first team to score 20 points or which team will score first.
7. Middle Bets
Middle bets or middling is a form of arbitrage betting where you place point spread wagers on both sides of the game at different lines to ensure that either one of the bets wins or both bets win.
For example, lets say that at one sportsbook, the Carolina Panthers are 3.5-point favourites against the Tennessee Titans and you bet one unit on the Panthers.
At another sportsbook, the Titan are 4.5-point underdogs against the Panthers, so you bet one unit on the Titans.
With middling the Panthers/Titan game, you either win +1.82 units if the Panthers win by exactly four points or you lose only 0.09 units if they do not. Here are your three potential outcomes;
8. Future Bets
A future bet is a wager on the future outcome of a sporting event. This can include winning an MVP award, winning a league championship, or the total number of wins a team has.
Futures can also be player props, such as how many points a player averages per game or how many yards a quarterback will throw for in a season.
9. Live Betting
A live bet is a bet that is placed after a game has started. What makes live betting fun is that the odds are changing based on what is happening in the game.
In addition to being able to live bet on more traditional wagers such as moneylines, spreads, and totals, you can also live bet on more specific wagers such as the result of the next possession.
10. Point Betting
Point betting is a more volatile form of sports betting. Unlike a point spread where you win the same amount regardless of how much your team covers the spread by, with points betting, you win or lose more depending on how much a team surpassed or missed the spread.
The way pricing works for points betting is that the number of units that you win or lose by is equivalent to how many points the outcome is from the spread.
How To Place Bets
UEA8 collaborating with legal and trusted bookmaker, sports bettors can now take advantage of the multiple options. Head over to the SPORTS section and choose which provider you would want to bet with. For example, if you are starting with a bankroll of $100, you should risk no more than $5 per game.
Shop For The Best Line
Lines can vary based on the sportsbook; this is because different books have different clienteles. As a result, one book may post the Cavs -8 while the other has -7.5. having access to more than one sportsbook allows you to shop for the best line. Getting extra half-point might not seem like a huge deal, but it adds up over the long haul and increase your chances of winning.
The Differences between European Handicap and Asian Handicap
You have probably heard a thing or two about the handicap betting. Handicaps can be used in almost all sports events but mainly in global sports such as football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and even tennis.
Althought handicap is one of the most common types of markets in sports betting, many punters still don’t have a good grasp on them. There are actually two main types of handicaps: European and Asian
What are European handicap?
More popularly known as the three-way handicap, the European Handicap is similar to its Asian counterpart but it’s much easier to take in. It works by giving an advantage or points to the underdog by providing them with a ‘lead’ at the beginning of a match, or a ‘penalty’ to the stronger team.
These points are added or subtracted before the start of an event. Your bet wins or losses after the final outcome of the event is adjusted based on the handicap you put your bet on.
European handicap betting also uses whole numbers as opposed to the non-integral numbers used in Asian Handicap. Furthermore, it also functions similarly to 1×2 betting.
What are Asian Handicaps?
The Asian handicap betting market is perfect if you’re into something less common as 1×2.
In a nutshell, Asian handicap involves giving the stronger team a goal handicap, and the weaker underdogs a goal headstart. Therefore, in order for a bet to win, you must back the team with the higher score, considering their respective handicaps or advantage.
The goal of Asian handicap is to guarantee that a game will not end in a draw. Hence, by removing the chance of a draw, you will only have two options; to either bet on the home or away team.
Whilst Asian handicap sounds complicated at first glance, it actually makes things simpler by guaranteeing a winner because of the handicaps. On top of that, the Asian Handicap market is also known for having low spread and better prices compared to European Handicap.
Differences between Euroepan and Asian Handicap
While the two handicap betting markets can be similar, their differences can be classified into three parts; symbols or representation, number variants and match outcomes. We will discuss further on each one below.
Symbols/Representation
One of the key differences between these two types of betting handicap methods is on how they use different symbols for representation.
In Asian Handicap betting, its focus is on a specific team’s skill so it uses non-integral symbols such as ‘-1.5’ and/or ‘+1.5’ to be added or subtracted to the stronger and/or weaker teams.
Number Variants
Another difference to help discern these two is in how they use number variants. As mentioned above, Asian handicap betting has many varieties, including quarter-ball, half-ball and whole-ball handicap as opposed to its European counterpart which makes use of whole number variants only.
Match Outcomes
Lastly and most importantly, the key differences between these two is its respective match outcomes. In the Asian handicap market, there are only two possible outcomes, to give a lead to the home or away team. Whilst, the European handicap, there are three possible results to choose from. Bettors can either pick between betting on home, away or draw.
European versus Asian Handicap
While some punters prefer European Handicaps, Asian Handicaps have started to grow more in popoularity because you only have two options. However, in deciding which Handicap to use, it all comes down to what works for you , and where you will get higher profit.
