Overlay betting is the practice of placing wagers on multiple events that share the same prize pool. For example, let’s say you’re a fan of the NHL and you wager $100 on the Pittsburgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup. You’d wait until after the Cup is presented to the winning team before you’d get your $100 back, as the Stanley Cup is also awarded to the defending champion (in this case, the Chicago Blackhawks).
The beauty of overlay betting is that if one of the events you bet on ends up not happening (in this case, the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Cup), you would not lose your initial investment. Your $100 probably won’t seem so bad in comparison to the $35,000 the Blackhawks had to pay to win the Cup in the first place.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Blackhawk’s win last year was very upsetting to hockey fans across North America. The team’s success has made them one of the most popular topics on sports betting sites worldwide. Since NHL games are rarely available for wagering, people have been searching for alternative betting opportunities.
Although the Stanley Cup playoffs are usually the main attraction, you’ll find most bookmakers offer some form of overlay on regular season games. The most popular forms of overlay betting are head-to-head betting and bet365 pool betting.
Head-to-Head Betting
Head-to-head betting is by far the most popular form of overlay betting. The phrase originated from horse racing, where you’d put down a wager on the outcome of a specific race and then wait for the results. If you bet on the favorite horse, you’d be putting your money, not on the horse, but on the fact that it will win the race. The idea behind head-to-head betting is the same – you’re betting on the outcome of multiple events that will all end up sharing the same prize pool.
The most popular types of head-to-head betting in the world of sports are the triple crown (baseball, basketball, and hockey) and the grand slam (baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer). Several bookmakers offer these types of wagers, as well as numerous others that allow you to bet on the outcome of various sporting events. One of the major benefits of head-to-head betting is the fact that you can track the current odds of each event and keep an eye on how your previous bets are performing. You can also use this feature to quickly determine the winner of a head-to-head matchup and place another wager on the next event, without having to wait for the odds to settle down.
Bet365 Pool Betting
Another option for fans of the NHL is to place a pool bet on the outcomes of multiple games. In a nutshell, a pool bet is when a number of people (in this case, sportsbooks) wager on the same outcome. When you place a pool bet on the NHL, you’re essentially gambling on the results of multiple games with a single financial stake. While head-to-head betting allows you to place wagers on events that will all end up being over at the same time, pool betting gives you the opportunity to continue placing wagers even after the events you’ve bet on have come to an end.
The popularity of pool betting is due primarily to the fact that it allows you to place wagers on a variety of sporting events. However, you’ll only find a handful of bookmakers who offer this type of service, which makes it a bit more difficult to do business. One of the major downsides of pool betting is that, since you’re placing a wager on the results of multiple games, your financial stake is divided between the winners. This could potentially lead to a lot of dispute if any of the games you bet on end up being a close call. It would be wise to keep an eye on the odds of all the games you’re laying down before doing so. Otherwise, you risk over- or under-estimating the true probability of a particular winner.
Other Types Of Overlay Betting
There are several other types of overlay betting that you can choose from. You can place wagers on the outcomes of multiple series involving different sports or teams. For example, you can wager on the American Football League (AFL) to win the Super Bowl along with the National Football League (NFL). You can also bet on the World Series of Poker to win and on exactly how many bracelets (a type of necklace given to winners of the WSOP) each of the players will wear when presenting the awards at the end of the season.
Whatever form of overlay betting you choose to pursue, make sure to keep in mind the rules and regulations that apply to you. For example, many books make it a requirement that you must be 18 years of age or older to place bets or else you run the risk of getting your account shut down. Keep in mind that legal gambling is regulated by your country’s government and individual states, so make sure you’re complying with the law wherever you choose to go. Last but not least, make sure you’re aware of all the risks that come with online wagering. It’s happened to the best of us, and it can happen to you too.