Many people shy away from sports betting because they think that it is too confusing and takes too long to learn. This could not be further from the truth. Sports betting is actually quite simple, and we promise by the end of this article you will probably know more about sports betting than a lot of seasoned players. Sports betting at its simplest form is placing a wager on the outcome of a particular sporting event. If you are right, you win. If you are wrong, you lose. Sports betting can be confusing if you want it to be with the less popular more complex bets. However, if you stick to the popular and straightforward bets, it’s really easy and a heck of a lot of fun. We’re going to walk you through everything now, and you’ll be more knowledgeable than the majority of bettors when you get finished reading.
At the end of the day, all sports bets are made up of the same three components. No matter which way you slice them or how complex you try and make them, they will always boil down to the following three components: selection, stake, and odds.
1. Selection
The selection portion of the bet is as simple as what you are choosing to bet on, or what outcome you think is going to happen. You can’t just say, “I want to bet on the Superbowl.” You have to select which team you want to bet on or what specific outcome you’d like to bet. We’d love to find a way to sound smarter and overcomplicate this, but unfortunately, it is that simple. The different selections you can make are also known as the different types of bets you can make.
2. Stake
The stake is a fancy word for how much you want to bet. If you choose to bet $10 on a game, the stake is $10. This is where we get the term, high-stakes. High-stakes refers to people that are betting large amounts of money. High is the level, stakes are the amount being bet. The stakes you bet are usually completely up to you. Some sportsbooks will require minimum bets of a certain stake and some will impose a maximum bet/stake level. For example, a casino might have a $5 minimum stake and a $5,000 maximum stake. This means that you have to bet at least $5 but are not allowed to bet more than $5,000. Anywhere within that range is good to go.
3. Odds
The odds can sometimes be the most confusing part for players. In theory, odds are the likelihood that something will occur. For example, if the odds that you will make a free throw are 1 in 20, this means that for every 20 times you shoot a free throw, you will make one. The odds will determine how much the sportsbook will pay you for your wager if you win. Not every bet in the sportsbook is paid one to one, meaning, if you bet $10 you win $10. Actually, most bets are not paid this way. Sportsbooks will pay you based on the likelihood of what you are betting on occurring. The less likely something is to happen, the more you will be paid if you win. The more likely something is to happen, the less you will be paid if you win.
Odds in the casino are usually written as a fraction or as a money line. The money line is a way of writing the odds that is favored for use in the United States. It can be a little confusing if you are new to it, but we will walk you through it. Once players get the hang of it, most tend to like it more.
