How Sports Betting Works
Clear, Quick, Easy Guide to Explain Sports Betting

In Sports Betting What Is the Line?
In Sports Betting What Are Spread Bets or Line Bets?
In Sports Betting What Are Totals or Over/Under Bets?
In Sports Betting What Is a Money Line Bet?
In Sports Betting What Is the Vig or the Juice?
Who Sets the Betting Odds for Sporting Events?
In Sports Betting, What are Key Games, Added Games and Circled Games?
In Sports Betting, What Is the Kelly Criterion?
In Sports Betting, What Is the RFB?
In Sports Betting, What Is the Send-out?
In Sports Betting, What Is the Smart Money?
In Sports Betting, Who Are the Squares?
In Sports Betting, Who Are the Whales and the Wise Guy?
In Sports Betting, How Does the Bookie Business Work?
Betting on Sports Is Big Business

When you bet on sports, you stake your money on the outcome of the game. Having some money in play makes any game more interesting. It gives the fan a personal stake in the outcome of the contest.

You can bet on football, baseball, hockey and basketball, as well as NASCAR auto racing and PGA Tour golf. You can join an office pool, call a bookmaker, visit a Las Vegas casino or maintain an offshore Internet account. But be sure to confirm the legality of these venues in your country or state.

In Sports Betting What Is the Line?

In sports betting, the line is also known as the point spread. The line expresses the power differential between two teams. A professional football team that is 2 points better than its opponent is considered a small favorite to win. A team that is 17 points better is considered an overwhelming favorite. To encourage equal betting action on both the stronger and the weaker team, gamblers bet on the team and the point spread of the final score. For example, if the Bears are a 7-point favorite over the Bengals, Chicago must win by 7 points in order for their bettors to collect. If you pick the Bengals to win, 7 points are added to Cincinnati’s final score. Thus, when the final game score is Chicago 24-21, Chicago has failed to cover the line and the bet on Chicago is a loser. The points scored by Chicago minus the spread is 24-7, which is 17. The people who bet on Cincinnati win their wager, thanks to the extra 7-point advantage of the spread.

If the favorite is being bet more heavily than the underdog, the bookies will raise the line, so that the favorite must win by more points. This will encourage betting on the underdog. If you notice that the Jets have moved from a 3-point favorite to a 4-point favorite, it’s because more money has come in for the Jets than their opponent.

In Sports Betting What Are Spread Bets or Line Bets?

Betting the spread is the most popular way to bet on a sports game. These are the standard bets to make. The bet is regularly made at 11-10 odds, that is to say, you pony up $11 for the chance to win $10. Bets on the spread are often know as straight bets because they pay even money. The $1 extra from the loser is kept by the house or bookmaker.

The board might show the game as Tampa Bay…+19 ½ and Miami… -19 ½. This means that if you bet on Miami, Miami needs to score at least 20 more points than Tampa to cover the spread and pay off on the bet. If you bet on Tampa, they must score within 19 points of Miami for you to win. The team mentioned last is almost always the home team.

In Sports Betting What Are Totals or Over/Under Bets?

In sports betting, totals are also known as “over/unders.” People wager on the total number of points scored by both teams in a game. They gamble on whether the total points scored will be over or under the bookmaker’s posted number. For example, in the 2005 Super Bowl, at the bookmakers the official total for New England and Philadelphia was 47. The teams scored 45 points between them (24 + 21 = 45). Gamblers who bet on the “under” won. Those who bet the “over” lost. One more field goal and the results would have been reversed.

These over/under sports bets are also 11-10 bets. Betting the over is known as "betting on the ball." Betting under is known as "betting on the clock."

In Sports Betting What Is a Money Line Bet?

A money line bet is a sports bet on the straight up total of an event or the odds for a straight up bet. On a money line bet, there is a total given for each team, a minus side and a plus side. You may see numbers quoted like

Dallas	-170
Washington	+150

This means that, for every $170 you bet on Dallas, you get $100 if Dallas wins. For every $100 you bet on Washington, you get $150 if Washington wins. The money line is the way bookmakers make money off games when they don’t give points. You’ll usually see on the board or the Internet the game quoted as

Chicago	-5 1/2 -180 1:00 pm
Atlanta	+5 1/2 +150 42 1/2

This tells you that the money line is at –180 and +150, the point spread is at –5 ½ and +5 1/2, and the total points for the game is at 42 1/2. It also tells you that Atlanta is the home team, and the game starts at 1:00 pm.

In Sports Betting What Is the Vig or the Juice?

The “vig” or the “juice,” is the fee gamblers must pay the bookie every time they place a sports bet. Vig: is short for “vigorish.” When two people make a private bet between themselves, each person puts up an equal amount, say my $10 against your $10. Bookies typically require that their customers bet $11 to win $10. The money on the losing side goes to pay the winners and the bookmaker keeps the $1 vig. At 11-10 odds, the industry standard, bettors must select winners 52.4% percent of the time to break even.

Who Sets the Betting Odds for Sporting Events?

Sportsbooks hire oddsmakers to set the betting odds for sporting events. The oddsmakers determine the initial "fair" line, a line that will generate approximately equal action. The line is set by highly paid consultants in Las Vegas and the Caribbean, who weight the strengths of the teams and the public’s perception of those strengths. Ideally, the line is set so that half of the bets win and half of the bets lose. This number then changes moment by moment, depending on which team is drawing more action. The line improves on teams getting less action and worsen on teams getting more action. Again, this is done largely at the discretion of the bookmakers, who typically use computer systems to alert them of the current status and what should be done to the line. The sports books are bookmakers. As money flows in they adjust their line accordingly. Sometimes they lay off bets on other bookies or casinos to even out the money bet with them.

In Sports Betting, What are Key Games, Added Games and Circled Games?

In sports betting, a key game is a game with strong interest, usually televised nationally and bet heavily by all levels of gamblers, from the casual to the professional. Monday Night Football is a Key Game for sports betting.

Added games are games of interest only to a small group of hometown fans, with few betters, and no television coverage. Sharp gamblers will be drawn to these games if the line is weak.

Circled games have had the betting limit lowered to half of the customary limit, or less. A circle is actually drawn around these games on the board. Games are circled when a key player may not make the lineup, or other game facts are uncertain.

In Sports Betting, What Is the Kelly Criterion?

The Kelly Criterion for sports betting is a mathematical formula to calculate how large the gambler’s bet should be for optimal results. The criterion says that if an aggressive gambler has a 1% advantage, he should bet 1% of his bankroll. To play more conservatively, most professional gamblers apply half Kelly or quarter Kelly to their wagering decisions. This provides a margin of security against a total wipeout.

In Sports Betting, What Is the RFB?

In sports betting, RFB stands for free Room, Food and Beverages. It is the full range of complimentary services a casino might offer a guest who is a heavy better and a desirable customer. Comps for sports betting also can include free shows, limousines, room service and entrance to VIP events like boxing matches and private parties. The casino airplane may also be available for high-stakes gamblers. Naturally the size and frequency of your bets determines the value of the comps a casino will offer.

In Sports Betting, What Is the Send-out?

The Send-out is the starting point spread for sports betting. It is suggested by line-making services in Las Vegas and the Caribbean. Bookmakers use the send-out to determine their opening numbers. The send-out for the week’s football games usually occurs late Sunday afternoon, after the Sunday games are finished. It is literally sent out via computer and fax to subscribers. By the time the line is published in newspapers Monday morning, it has already been heavily bet by eager beavers in Las Vegas and offshore.

In Sports Betting, What Is the Smart Money?

The “smart money” in sports betting are the gamblers in a well-informed betting syndicate. They work with sophisticated information on game statistics, injuries, weather and psychological factors, massaged by powerful computers that do the number-crunching. Having determined a more accurate point spread than the bookmakers, syndicates wager enormous sums and can move the spread just by betting on a game. Gamblers try to find the smart money and ride its coattails. Bookies fear and despise the smart money.

In Sports Betting, Who Are the Squares?

The square is the average unsophisticated sports better whose decision-making is based on hunches, sentiment and media chatter or casual betting systems. The squre cannot overcome the bookmaker’s inherent mathematical advantage. It is no wonder that bookies welcome squares with open arms.

In Sports Betting, Who Are the Whales and the Wise Guy?

In sports betting, the whale is a huge bettor. A whale is generally the best customer at the casino or bookmaker, the high-rolling, money-means-nothing-to-me bon vivant who craves action and attention more than long-term profits. The criteria vary from casino to casino, but whales generally have $1 million lines of credit or more.

In sports betting, the wise guy is someone who bets with or for the smart money. Wise guys generally find the best point spreads and wager on the most profitable teams. Since these sophisticated gamblers seldom make bad bets and seldom play hunches, wise guys win in the long run. Bookies intensely dislike wise guys.

In Sports Betting, How Does the Bookie Business Work?

Traditionally, the bookie takes no risk in sports betting. Theoretically, it is the gamblers who take the risk and the bookie collects the 4.5% vig, the fee for being a matchmaker or clearinghouse. If the line is accurate, half of the sports betters will choose each side of the gamble. Half will go for the favorite and half for the underdog in the game, and the winners will be paid with the losers’ money. Usually, you will bet $11 for the opportunity to win $10. If you win, you take home $21. If you lose, someone else has won, and the bookie will pay out $10 of your bet to the winner and keep $1 for himself.

In reality, however, bookmakers in sports betting attempt to maximize their bottom line. While having an exactly equal amount of money wagered on each contestant would guarantee themselves a profit and eliminate their risk, that won't necessarily maximize their bottom line. They can make more money if they raise the line higher than usual for games with a strong favorites and unsophisticated bettors who will bet no matter the price.This is called "shading" the line. Some bookmakers actually offer different prices to different customers, using their customer history to predict which side the customer will take.

Betting on Sports Is Big Business

Sports betting brings a bigger audience to televised sports. TV announcers don’t usually mention the point spread while the game is underway, but they might make a euphemistic reference to it, as in “Duke is up by 22 points, but there’s still some business to be decided.” The pending business is that Duke hasn’t covered the point spread.

Betting on sports is big business. It’s a surreal universe, where a “dime” means a thousand dollar bet. A lot of the numbers are never reported to the public, but experts estimate that the bookmakers who take the bets gross billions of dollars a year. Probably only the illegal drug trade takes in more money.

In the long run, almost nobody can beat “the line.” The only way to make a million dollars gambling on sports is to wager $1,100,000.

I hope life brings you much success.
I wish you a very happy day.

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