Understanding what you are wagering on is a key part of gambling responsibly. However, understanding what each type of wager means will help you pick the right sports wagers for you and to hunt down more ways to win. For example, you can find over/under bets that are a form of prop bet and you can make futures bets that make use of point spreads. It is worth noting that these categories are not all mutually exclusive. In this article, we’ll show new bettors what to expect and how to navigate their way through their sportsbooks’ betting options. Your chance of winning goes up significantly if you understand different types of odds format and how to calculate a potential payout. states enjoy legal access to online sports betting. And prop bet odds offer ways of wagering on games that go beyond just picking one team to win.Ībout half of U.S. Futures odds provide betting options on longer-term prospects. Points spread bets and over/under bets offer ways of handicapping an outcome.

More likely, shorter odds.īut there are plenty of other kinds of betting odds available to viewers of just about any sporting event.

You pick an outcome and the bookmaker offers you odds that roughly match the likelihood of the outcome. This is what most people imagine when they think of sports betting. The most basic form of sports betting odds is the moneyline. Once you’ve got the handle on how to caluclate sports betting odds, you then need to get to grips with the vocabulary of sports betting types. These are all just different ways of showing how much money the bettor will get back from their initial outlay. We’ll cover the three main ways to read betting odds – decimal odds, American odds, and fractional odds. However, after giving this article a read you’ll be speaking that language like a local. Sports odds can feel like learning a new language. Sports betting odds take several different forms and are calculated in a wide variety of ways. This How To Read Sports Odds offers a comprehensive look at how to interpret the numbers you see at a sportsbook.

Especially those who feel like they are a new bettor, who visit the sports betting world occasionally for entertainment purposes. Photo Credit: John Shishmanian/Norwich Bulletinįiguring out how to read sports betting lines can seem a nightmare for many bettors.

What does point spread mean in gambling