So you’re interested in trying your hand at sports betting. Awesome! There are so many different ways to bet on sports, and even more exciting, there are so many different opportunities for you to win. Whether you like NBA basketball, the World Cup, or the Super Bowl, there’s probably a betting option for you. And if there isn’t, then you should make one! But, if you’re new to the world of sports betting, here’s a little bit of information about how it all works…
The Basics
Before getting into the fun stuff, let’s talk about the basics. When you bet on sports, you’re basically making wagers on the outcome of a sporting event. This can be anything from a traditional matchup like the Yankees vs. the Red Sox to an individual game such as the World Cup final or the NBA Finals. Your goal is to predict the winner of the game before or during the contest. This is called “staking” or “positioning” a wager and is typically done through online betting websites.
The main categories of bets you’ll encounter are listed below. Just remember: when in doubt, you should probably go with the favorite. The less you know about the team you’re betting against, the better.
Over / Under
The first thing you’ll encounter when you enter a sports betting website is a field for entering your guess on the total number of points that will be scored in the upcoming game. For example, if you feel that the Miami Heat will win by more than ten points in the upcoming NBA Finals matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, you could put down a wager on the under. If you follow sports and know that LeBron James is usually a force to be reckoned with, then you could predict that the final score of the game will be closer to ten points than to the expected 28. It’s all about having an edge and being able to recognize patterns.
College / Pro-Football / Pro-Basketball
You might be familiar with the expression “nobody wants to play the favorite,” which means that even though a team is usually considered to be the more attractive option (they’re usually considered to be the best of the best, after all), people still prefer to bet on the underdog. Fortunately for you, professional sportsbooks are fully aware of this pattern and are constantly offering up-and-coming teams in football, basketball, and baseball for sale. This is where you come in. You get to choose the team you feel confident will beat the favorite and collect your winnings when the underdog does exactly that. It’s all about having confidence in your choice and being able to back it up with historical data.
Soccer / Ice Hockey
Just like in the NBA, the sport of basketball has become so popular in other parts of the world that there are actually entire leagues dedicated to it. One of the most popular basketball leagues in Europe is the Euroleague. It was founded in 1994 and now features top European teams like Real Madrid and its archrival, Barcelona. If you’re a diehard sports fan and have always dreamed of playing in Europe, now is your opportunity. You can put down a wager on the outcome of any Euroleague game and ride the surge of momentum as the basketball season progresses. It’s the perfect opportunity for an aspiring bettor to test their mettle. And, yes, you’ll be required to have a team in order to make competitive wagers.
Tie Breakers
Did you know that in some cases, the winner of a game is determined by a sudden-death overtime session where the first to score wins? If you think that a game is going to be tied after normal play and the teams need to decide who will win by scoring a goal during sudden-death overtime, you could put down a wager on that. There are a number of tiebreakers that could be used in sudden-death overtime, but the most popular one is “heads-up,” winner takes all. This is a game of chance where you and the other person just have to guess which of the two teams will score the winning goal. There’s nothing random about this game; it’s all about having confidence in your selection. If you’re a true basketball fan, then you could also wager on the game’s MVP (Most Valuable Player) with the winner taking all the glory. It’s all about bragging rights in this one.
The Rest
What if the game you’re betting on isn’t one of the aforementioned sports? That’s when things get a little bit more complicated. Say you want to make a wager on the Super Bowl. There are actually a number of different ways you could do that. You could go with the over/under or try your hand at a spread bet where you think the Patriots will win but don’t want to lay odds on them specifically. Or, if you’re feeling extra daring, you could go with the under/over or the over/under/field bets, where you predict that one team will win but isn’t selected above. These options are fairly complicated and require a little bit of research to be successful. Still haven’t found the right team to bet on? No problem. Just visit a reputable sportsbook and they’ll be happy to help you find the perfect matchup. And don’t forget about bettor’s books either; they can be great for studying sports and getting a leg up on the competition.
As you can see, there are many different ways you could place a wager on a sporting event. But hopefully, this article gave you a good idea of how betting on sports works and introduced you to the fascinating world of professional sports betting. Now, it’s up to you to find the right place to make your first deposit.