Wager is a term used when referring to the terms of a bet, whether it’s a bet between friends, colleagues, or a casino versus sports book wager. The wager in betting simply refers to how much you are willing to risk on a certain event occurring. You are using this risk to try and gain some amount of reward. For example, you might risk $10 on a $20 item at a casino, hoping to win $30. Let’s say you do win your $30, that’s your wager, and you have to pay the casino $10. That’s your loss (the $10 wager) plus the reward (the $30 win).
Types Of Wagers
There are four different types of wagers that you might encounter when betting:
- Wager-to-Win
- Wager-to-Place
- Wager-to-Place And Win
- Dollar Cost Average (DCA)
Each of these types of wagers entails various risks and rewards. For instance, a wager-to-win entails the potential for a large loss as well as the potential for a large gain. The key difference between these types of wagers is how you are going to pay off your wager. In a wager-to-win, you are essentially risking your wager to try and win a larger amount of money. For example, you might place a $10 wager on a $20 item at the casino and hope to win $30. In a wager-to-place, you are risking your wager to place a smaller amount of money than the item cost. For example, you might put a $5 wager on a $100 item at the casino. In this case, you would win $5 if the item cost $100 at the end of the day. In a wager-to-place and win, you are risking your wager to place a smaller amount of money than the item cost and also to win a larger amount of money. So in the example above, you are risking your wager on a $20 item at the casino to win $30 as well as paying the $10 to place the wager. In all cases, if the item costs more than you wagered on it, you would lose your wager. In some cases, you might also lose your own money. For example, if a $100 item at the casino costs just $5, you would lose $5 and would have to place another $5 wager to win the $30 reward.
Wager-To-Win
Wager-to-win is when you put down a wager in the hopes of winning a certain amount of money. This amount might be determined by the cost of the item or game, or a combination of the two. For example, you might wager $100 on a $500 item at the casino. In this case, you are essentially betting that the item will cost at least $500 at the end of the day. If it does, you win $100. If it doesn’t, you lose the $100 wager. In other words, you are risking $100 on a $500 item at the casino to win $100.
This type of wager is generally accepted in online gaming, where most casinos now allow you to wager what is known as real money. Since betting with real money is considered to be more risk-prone than betting with a credit card, many casinos impose limits on how much you can wager per day or per hour. The upside is that you can walk away from the table at any time, whereas with a credit card you are likely to keep losing money until you realize your mistake and reverse the transaction.
Wager-To-Place
Wager-to-place entails betting that an outcome will fall in a certain range. For example, you might wager $100 on a $500 item at the casino. In this case, you are essentially betting that the item will cost between $400 and $600 at the end of the day. If it does, you win $100. If it doesn’t, you lose the $100 wager. In other words, you are risking $100 on a $500 item at the casino to place $100.
This type of wager is generally accepted in live gaming, where the house advantage is built into the game, and in online gaming where most casinos allow you to wager what is known as virtual money (also called “pro-rated” money). The downside is that with a wager-to-place, if the item costs less than your wager, you still lose your wager. In some cases, this might be several hundred dollars. For example, if a $500 item at the casino costs just $100, you would lose $400 and have to place another $100 wager to win the $100 reward. If you are using real money in this case, you might also lose your own money, since the casino would take a financial hit if they lose a large amount of money on an obvious scam.
Wager-To-Place And Win
Wager-to-place and win is a variation on the wager-to-place theme, where you risk placing a smaller amount of money than the item cost in the hopes of winning a larger amount of money. For example, you might put a $5 wager on a $100 item at the casino. In this case, you are essentially betting that the item will cost between $95 and $105 at the end of the day. If it does, you win $5. If it doesn’t, you lose the $5 wager. In other words, you are risking $5 on a $100 item at the casino to win $5.
This type of wager is generally accepted in online gaming, where most casinos allow you to wager what is known as virtual money (also called “pro-rated” money). The downside is that you will never know if the item cost more than you wagered on it, and you might also lose your own money, since the casino would take a financial hit if they lose a large amount of money on an obvious scam.
For example, if a $100 item at the casino costs just $5, you would lose $95 and have to place another $5 wager to win the $5 reward. If you are using real money in this case, you might also lose your own money, since the casino would take a financial hit if they lose a large amount of money on an obvious scam.
Dollar Cost Average (DCA)
Dollar cost average (DCA) is a wagering term used when referring to the average cost of a wager over a period of time. So if you are using a credit card in a casino and wager $1,000 on a roulette table, over the course of a year, your average cost per wager will be $1,000 – even if you only wager $100 once. For example, if you use a credit card and wager $1,000 on a roulette table, the casino will take a hit of $1,000 the first time you place a wager, then they will take a hit of $999 the next time you place a wager, and so on. Your average cost per wager will be $999 over the course of a year – not $1000 as you might expect since the table will pay you back $1,000 at the end of the year. Let’s say you use a credit card and wager $1,000 on a roulette table. After your seventh wager, your credit card will be declined and you will have to place an additional $1,000 to verify the transaction. In this case, your average cost per wager will be $1,000 for the year – not including the bonus that was previously given to you for using your credit card in the first place.
Now that you are better equipped to wade through the semantics of a wager, it’s time to move on to discussing some general guidelines for placing wagers.