TLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Wanna wager on sports?
First, make certain you understand what you are doing — and the odds against you.
Seven U.S. states now offer you legal sports betting, and as many as 30 more will consider jumping on board in 2019. So below are a few of the basics — as well as a few more esoteric aspects — of gambling on sportsbetting. ___
PONY UP
The largest difference between placing a legal sports bet with a casino or racetrack or their online affiliates and placing one with an illegal bookmaker or”bookie” is that with legal betting, you have to put your own money up . Illegal bookies will permit you to bet on credit, the most appealing element of the illegal business and one which is expected to allow them to continue to function, and perhaps still thrive, in the brave new world of sports gambling.
Say you would like to bet $25 on a football game legally. You have to hand the window clerk $25 and get a ticket confirming your bet. Typically, if you win, you will receive back your original $25 stake plus your winnings, that won’t amount exactly to a different $25 because of…
THE VIG
This really is the vigorish, also known commonly as the”vig” or the”juice” — the bookmaker’s cut of the activity. Oddsmakers try to set betting lines as precisely as possible to pull an equivalent amount wagered on every group involved in a particular game. They use money from losing bets to repay people who make winning bets, while maintaining a percentage for themselves. That percentage varies, but usually is around 10 percent, to ensure a successful $25 bet would earn you a $22.50 profit.
HOW TO BET
Among the most popular ways to bet on sports is through the point spread. If the Seattle Seahawks are favored by 4 points against the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle should win by 5 for a Seahawks bettor to win their wager. Minnesota backers would win if the Vikings win, or perhaps when they lose as long as it’s by 3 points or fewer. A last margin of exactly 4 points for Seattle is regarded as a push, meaning the bets are reimbursed.
You might also do a cash wager that does not demand a point spread. Instead, simply choose the group you think will win. Oddsmakers set this money line ratio based on stakes of $100, essentially telling gamblers just how much they’d win by betting $100 on an underdog, or just how much they’d need to put up to win $100 to a favorite.
To get a heavily favored group, state the Boston Red Sox placing their very best pitcher against a weak opponent having a bad rake, that could involve placing up $350 of you own money to win only $100, a bet that would be recorded in sports novels as minus-350. Big underdogs pay off well, but only if this team wins the match. A wager on a team using a money line of plus-410 will give you a $410 profit on a $100 bet.
Another popular option is that the over/under, also known as the total. Oddsmakers set a number for the whole amount of points scored by both teams combined, state 52??1/2 points between the Chiefs and Raiders. Gamblers bet whether the combined final score will exceed that amount or drop short.
TEASERS
Don’t like the amount offered by the point spread or the over/under? Change it. Bookmakers offer the chance to increase or lessen the odds, known as”teasing” it, by a particular amount, usually about 6 factors, though other amounts are available. It must be applied to combined wagers on two or more games, or two bets on precisely the same game. For instance, if the New York Giants are favored by 3 points within the Washington Redskins, and the Los Angeles Chargers are preferred over the Baltimore Ravens by two points, a gambler with a 6-point teaser could diminish the line on the Giants game to possess the Giants as a 3-point underdog instead of a 3-point favorite (getting 3 points rather than giving 3), and the Chargers as a 4-point underdog rather than a 2-point favorite (getting 4 points rather than committing 2). Lines can be adjusted upward or down, and they can involve numerous matches. In one match, a bettor can reduce or increase the point spread and the under/over complete on precisely the same game.
The catch here is that ALL stakes in a teaser must win; if even one does not, the entire betting ticket is a pity. That’s why they call it a”teaser,” since it may seem so simple to manipulate the odds to where you need them, and there is a decent chance of losing the entire thing.
PARLAYS
This is one of the areas gamblers can get crazy. To raise the payoff on a bet, gamblers can string together a series of bets on multiple games, or even multiple bets inside the exact same game. This is called a parlay. It is a means to potentially win a great deal of cash for a little wager. However, these stakes are losers. They’re among the maximum earning stakes for sport books, since, as is true for teasers, each one of the bets in a parlay has to win, or else the whole ticket is a loser.
Hang around gamblers long enough and you’ll inevitably hear a story about how someone missed a big parlay payout thanks to a tiny margin on a single game.
PROPS
There are also tons of other things to bet on, including so-called proposition or”prop” bets on things which may occur during matches. You could bet on whether Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes or even New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady may have more passing yards or touchdowns in a particular game or set of games. You can bet on if a specific team will be leading after the first quarter or at halftime, if there will be a security or if any area goals will be overlooked.
There are also stocks stakes, which are wagers on matters that will not happen for a while. It is possible to bet on the winner of a particular sport’s championship before the season starts or at any stage during the season and forecast if a team will win more or less than the predetermined number of games. Similarly, you can even bet on who will be voted most valuable player in the NFL or Major League Baseball.
BOTTOM LINE
Sound easy? It is not. Sports books seldom eliminate money.
Almost nobody anticipated the Miami Dolphins to beat the Patriots on Dec. 9, a game in which New England was favored by 7??1/2 points. However an improvisational pass and conducting sequence that saw Miami players throw the ball to another en route to the goal line led to a match winning touchdown as time expired. It happens, folks, a whole lot more than one might believe.
Big favorites strangely lose. Underdogs with seemingly no shot rise up suddenly (the Buffalo Bills were 17-point underdogs against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 23, yet won the match 27-6.) Games that appear set for high-scoring shootouts end as low-scoring affairs. A star quarterback or running back gets hurt early in a match rather than returns.
What starts out as fun might become a problem for some people. Support is available for all those who have a gambling problem, or that fear they might be in danger of developing one, by phoning 1-800-GAMBLER.