If you’ve ever visited ESPN, you may have noticed the large number of products with sports content that the company produces. In fact, ESPN is the U.S. arm of the international company called World Rugby. The worldwide governing body organizes the Six Nations Championship, the pinnacle of international rugby, and the World Cup, among other competitions.
Similarly, the NFL produces the Super Bowl, the college football championship, and the NCAA tournament, which serves as the premier competition for Division I football teams. And Major League Baseball produces the World Series, the postseason finale that decides the league champion.
All of these competitions and many more exist thanks to bets placed by fans and high rollers interested in leveraging the excitement of sports into profit. To this end, this article will discuss how you can bet on sports in points, an increasingly popular way of wagering that takes the uncertainty out of sports betting and allows you to profit no matter which team wins.
The Evolution Of Sports Betting
It wasn’t always this way. For decades, people in the U.S. and Canada either followed the outcomes of sports teams they cared about or turned on the television to watch games that interested them. But in the 21st century, sports betting has taken off as an activity, and the world of online betting has flourished.
Consider: in 2015, there were 45 million daily active users of fantasy sports websites like Fanduel, DraftKings, and FanDuel, according to the NPD group.
Each week, these users submit their fantasy sports predictions, which are then assessed by a sports analyst. The user earns points for their correctly predicted scores and winning picks, and they can redeem these points for real-world prizes, such as cash or sports tickets. In fact, fantasy sports competitions are so popular that some analysts predict they’ll be worth $11 billion by next year.
Although online sports betting is still a relatively new phenomenon, it’s available in most states and countries. And thanks to the legalization of sports betting in the U.S., Canadians can also wager on sports online legally. The world’s largest online sportsbooks, such as William Hill and 888 Sports, have offices in Canada and the U.S., so gamblers from both countries regularly use their services.
However, not all sportsbooks are created equal, and understanding the differences is important if you want to wager successfully. For example, the site mixtapewinn.com is a sportsbook that specializes in NHL and NCAAB games and has offices in Canada and the U.S. Unfortunately, due to the small size of their operation, they don’t offer as many betting opportunities as larger bookmakers do. If you want to bet on the New York Rangers, for example, you’ll have to go through several different bookmakers to get your wagers placed, which can lead to problems with chargebacks and bad beats.
Using Points To Bet On Sports
Thanks to the ever-evolving nature of the internet, online sports betting has given rise to new ways of betting, and one of the newest methods is points betting. Points betting allows you to wager on any sporting event or game in the same way you might place a wager on a horse race – except, in this case, the object of your wager isn’t a horse, but rather, one of the players, teams, or coaches involved in the competition. Points betting is often considered to be more “ethical” and “sustainable” than traditional sports betting because all of the money stays at the table and is thusly less subject to fraud and manipulation. Additionally, since there are no commissions or fees associated with points betting, you’re not contributing to the coffers of a professional sports league or team. And last but not least, since there’s no actual gambling involved, points betting is perfectly legal in all 50 states. (Some states, such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, do still consider it illegal to wager on sporting events, but most bookmakers, including the ones mentioned on this page, aren’t subject to this law.)
Although there are still some traditionalists who frown upon, if not outright refuse to accept, the notion of betting on sports, the tide is gradually turning in favor of legal and ethical sports betting.
The Benefits Of Points Betting
Thanks to the evolving nature of the internet and the growing popularity of online sportsbooks, points betting has become an acceptable and even ideal way to wager on sports. If you want to learn more, here are some of the benefits of points betting outlined by online experts:
Lower Home Loans
Since you’re not placing wagers on individual players or teams, but rather, on the outcome of sporting events, you’re essentially placing bets on the overall outcome of a game. This can boost your odds of winning, which in turn, can lower the amount of your home loan you have to pay back. For example, imagine you’re wanting to bet on the NCAAB football championship game this year between Clemson and North Carolina. The total combined score of this year’s contest is 38 to 31. You’ll need to favor Clemson to win, and in those circumstances, you’ll need to give them a 4-1 favoritism to do so. While it may not sound practical to bet on the overall outcome of a game, the lower your odds, the better when it comes to paying back a home loan.
More Exciting Events
If you’re a fan of major league baseball, you’ll have to deal with the excitement of the daily game, which may not always be exciting to watch. But when you bet on the daily games, you don’t get to enjoy the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat as much, as you do when betting on the overall outcome of a season. For example, let’s say you’re a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and you want to bet on the team to win the World Series this year. When they win, you’ll feel like you’ve won a large sum of money, but when they lose, you’ll feel deflated. You’ll be rooting for them, but it might not feel right to be that way, given the circumstances. On the other hand, if you bet on the Tampa Bay Rays to win the World Series, you’ll feel good no matter what happens. Your confidence in their ability to win will make you joyous regardless of whether they win or lose.
More Responsible Gambling
When you place a wager on a baseball game or other sporting event, you’re essentially picking a winner before the game has even started. This means that, in theory, you know exactly what you’re getting into – and that’s something many critics of traditional sports betting claim to be lacking. When you bet on the Reds to win the World Series, you know they’re going to win because they’re ranked higher than the Cardinals in the standings. You can’t change your mind after the game, and if you do, you’ll be subject to charges of ‘trying to scam the bookie.’ The ‘Trying To Scam’ stigma is something that ethical sports betting advocates like Jack Hoar try to stamp out.
As you can see, there are a number of benefits to betting on sports in points. Although it may not suit everyone’s betting style, there’s no question that points betting is the wave of the future of sports betting.
How To Place A Points Bet
Since you’re not placing bets on individual players or teams, but rather, on the outcome of sporting events, you’ll need to decide what form these bets should take. There are various options, but for the sake of this article, we’ll discuss two options: credit card gaming and virtual sports betting. (Keep in mind that most online sportsbooks only allow gamblers from the U.S. and Canada to bet with credit cards, so if you’re from another country, you may have to settle for virtual betting or use a different bookmaker. But fear not: many sites do offer international betting, so you’re not left out in the cold.)
Credit Card Gaming
If you’re a fan of baseball, you may want to consider placing bets on the sport using your credit card. In the United States, most large banks and credit card companies sponsor sports leagues and teams, which means you’ll have access to a wide array of games and events, just as you would if you went to the stadium or watching them on TV. (Some credit card companies, such as Barclay’s and Scotiabank, also offer betting as a side-bet option on certain events.)