In some sports, there is more than one event that can happen on any given play. For example, in American football, there is a touchdown and a field goal. The same goes for basketball; a player can score a point or make a three-pointer. There are various ways to score in various sports. Different sports have different ways of scoring, and this can make it a bit confusing when you are just starting out. For this reason, we will discuss the odds in sports betting and how to interpret them.
One-Odd vs. Even Odds
In all sporting events, the house always has the advantage. This is because the sportsbook is legally required to take bets from all comers and can’t just choose who they take bets from. For this reason, in all sports books, no matter if it’s in Nevada or Australia, the house always wins. On the other side of the coin, if you are a long-time listener of SportsCenter, you might remember their iconic ‘odds’ graphic. This is the graphic that appears when a basketball game is one-sided with the home team winning by a large margin. In these situations, the lines are usually fairly even or in favor of the home team. When this happens, it’s usually because the players, the team, and the fans are all supporting the home team. This is referred to as a one-sided betting scenario, and it’s perfectly normal and acceptable to support your home team in this manner. It’s just the nature of the beast that as a fan of the home team, you’ll usually place a bet on them. In these situations, the oddsmaker will take the over and lay the cash on the home team. Because the line is in their favor, they will make a small profit regardless of whether the game ends in a win or loss. When a game is that one-sided, there is no reason to even consider wagering on it. When this happens, the lines usually stay pretty close to even. There is no sense in trying to ‘pick’ a winner in these situations because there is no hope in you winning anyway. So, in these situations, it’s best to avoid betting, or at least do so only as a fun activity, and nothing more.
Straight-Up vs. Against The Spread
If you are looking to get involved in betting on sports, one of the first things you’ll notice is that the majority of sportsbooks don’t offer betting on total scores. This is because most people who bet on sports don’t like to bet on the over or the under. They will typically bet on the straight-up or against the spread. The ‘spread’ is the line difference between the odds of two teams. For example, the spread for the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants is (-3) and the over/under is (-8.5). This means that betting on the Dallas Cowboys is 3 points and that betting on the New York Giants is 8.5 points. For whatever reason, people who engage in this type of betting enjoy it more than betting on the over or the under. They will usually look for events with large point spreads, such as the Super Bowl or the World Series. From personal experience, I can tell you that this type of betting is very fun and exciting, especially when you are winning. When you are betting on the spread, the lines will almost always be very close to even. This is because either team could potentially win the game by a large margin and the line is reflecting this. So, in these situations, it’s always best to choose the underdog and ride its coattails all the way to financial freedom.
Hopefully, this article has clarified some of the basic differences between oddsmakers and explained some of the meaning of terms that you might come across when reading or listening to news reports about sports. Now, you know what oddsmakers are and how to interpret their actions. You can place a bet on sports and feel confident that you made the right choice for your personal finances. Just remember: the house always wins, but sometimes, you can make some money off the insane sports fans around the country!