Sports betting can be a fascinating and financially rewarding endeavour, but it’s not as simple as it looks – if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s fairly easy to lose a lot of money with very little to show for it. This is especially true for those who are just starting out in the world of sports betting and generally don’t know the intricacies of their new hobby.
Although it’s probably impossible to completely eliminate the risk of losing in sports betting, you can somewhat reduce the likelihood of it happening by understanding the underlying concepts and principles governing the betting process – including the different types of bets available.
To help new bettors minimise their losses and make the most of their sports betting experience, we’ve compiled an extensive list of the different types of bets you can make. After reading through this guide, you should have a much better understanding of the various ways you can bet on sports, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each type of bet.
Read on and learn the basics of sports betting!
Are the Bets Universal?
The types of bets we mention below are quite common, meaning that you shouldn’t have trouble finding a bookmaker that offers them. However, they are by no means universal – some sports or bookmakers may not offer certain wager types, while others may have their own unique versions of common bets.
Because of that, make sure to do extensive research once you pick an online bookmaker. Read the reviews and look at the bookmaker’s website to see what they have to offer. Try to find a bookmaker that specialises in the sport you are interested in – they are likely to offer more betting markets and higher odds.
Above all, make sure the bookmaker you choose is trustworthy and reliable, like Rhino or 10Bet. After all, your betting experience is meant to be fun and entertaining – not stressful and anxiety-inducing!With that said, let us take a closer look at the different types of bets you can make on sports!
Moneyline/Win Bets
A moneyline bet is the most basic and straightforward bet you can make on a particular sporting event. When you make a moneyline bet, you’re simply placing a wager on which team or player will win the match. In other words, it’s a bet on the outcome of the game itself.
For example, let’s say that you want to bet on an upcoming American football match between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets. If you were to place a moneyline bet on this game, you would be choosing which team you think will come out on top in the end. If you believe that the 49ers will win, you would bet on them by placing your moneyline bet accordingly.
Conversely, if you believe that the Jets will win, you would bet on them instead. If the team you put your bet on wins, congrats – you’ve just won yourself some money!
Moneyline bets are the simplest and most common type of bet made on sports matches. They’re usually used in games where the outcome is reasonably easy to predict, such as matches in which one team is significantly better than the other (e.g. in NFL games).
If you live outside of the United States of America, you might know the moneyline bets as the win bets instead.
With moneyline bets, it doesn’t matter how the party you wagered on scores a victory, only that they win. In other words, if you bet on Novak Djoković winning the match, you’ll get the same no matter if he completely obliterates his opponent or wins by a very narrow margin.
Top-rated UK bookies for your bets
- Last Update: October 3, 2024
How Much Money Can You Win With a Moneyline Bet?
The amount of money you can win with a moneyline is not fixed and depends on a number of factors, including the odds of the match and the amount of money you put on the bet.
In general, betting on favourites (depicted with a ‘-‘ sign) nets you much less money compared to placing a wager on the underdogs (recognisable by the ‘+’ sign) – this is because the odds of the favourite winning are usually much higher than the underdog.
To illustrate the point, if your local football team were to play against Manchester United, you could probably make a small fortune if you bet on your team winning – since the chances of that happening are very slim. On the other hand, the probability of Manchester United winning the match is much higher, which means that your payouts will be correspondingly smaller.
The amount of money you’ll win in a moneyline bet is also determined by the bookmaker you’ve chosen, so make sure to compare the odds before making a bet, and don’t be afraid to shop around for the best possible deal. After all, your aim is to win as much as possible, not to make the bookies rich!
Total or Over/Under Bets
Total bets are quite similar to moneyline bets in that they’re both based on the outcome of a match or particular sporting event. The main difference between the two is that with total bets, you’re not betting on the winning team – instead, you wager on how many points or runs will be scored in a particular game.
This may sound exceedingly complicated and near impossible to predict, but it’s actually not that difficult at all. The reason for that is simple – you aren’t asked to accurately predict the number of points received by a particular team or individual, but whether the total score will be above or below the outcome hypothesised by the bookmakers. Not at all complicated, right?
To make it even clearer, let’s take a look at an example of how a total bet could be placed. Let’s say that you want to bet on the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets we mentioned before.
For the purpose of this argument, let’s assume that the bookmaker anticipates the match will produce a total score of 45 points (i.e. the sum of points scored by both teams). Your task as a bettor is to decide whether the final score will be higher or lower than 45 and wager accordingly.
If you strongly believe that the total score will be 39, you would place a bet on the under. On the other hand, if you believe that the total score will be closer to 50, you would bet on the over. The winner of the match doesn’t matter, only the general prediction about the total score.
However, it’s worth mentioning that the total score doesn’t have to refer to the overall number of points in a match – it could also be the number of yellow cards that will be shown or goals scored by a particular team. It all depends on the match you’re betting on.
Due to their mechanics, total bets are also known as over/under bets outside of the United States of America.
How Much Can You Win With a Total Bet?
Similar to moneyline bets, how much you can win with total bets also depends on a number of factors, including the amount of money you put on the bet and the particular bookmaker you use.
The latter is especially important because different bookmakers will offer different odds on total bets – this is why it’s essential to do your due diligence before placing a wager, and don’t be afraid to go around a bit to find the best possible deal.
Point Spread/Handicap Bets
Point spread bets, also known as spread bets, are another form of betting that’s based on the outcome of a particular sporting event. Outside of the United States of America, this form of wager is often called a handicap bet.
With point-spread bets, bookmakers have to first determine who’s favoured to win the match. Much like with moneyline bets, they do this by looking at the abilities of the two teams or individuals competing against each other and making a reasonable prediction about who will most likely come out on top.
Once they have determined who’s the favourite and who’s the underdog, bookies will then try to predict the number of points that the favourite will win by. For example, they might decide that LA Lakers will most likely win the match against their opponents by 5 points.
Your task as a bettor is to determine whether the pick bookmakers made is overstated or understated and wager accordingly. This is where things start to get a bit more complicated, as it’s not always easy to predict if a team will win by the margin predicted by the bookmaker.
Let’s use the example above and say that the LA Lakers are favoured to win by 5 points in a certain match – if you believe that they will actually win by a larger margin, you would bet on them.
However, if you think that the bookies are being too optimistic about the team’s chances and think they’ll either lose or win by a meagre 1 point, you would bet on the opposing team instead. If your prediction turns out to be correct, you’ll win the bet.
Keep in mind that bookmakers don’t always pick the right favourite, so it’s important to be careful when placing a point-spread bet and do your research thoroughly.
Proposition Bets/Specials
Proposition bets, also known as specials, are bets placed on events that are not directly linked to the overall outcome of the game. In other words, if you place a prop bet, you’re betting on something that’s not necessarily going to affect who wins or loses the match – in other words, a variable.
Prop bets are among the most diverse types of wagers you can make on sports matches, as they can be placed on pretty much any event that may happen during the game – as long as it’s not directly related to the outcome of the match itself. With prop bets, the sky’s the limit.
To illustrate the point, let’s assume there’s an upcoming game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Some examples of possible prop bets on this match include:
While all of these factors will have an indirect impact on the results of the game, they won’t necessarily determine who wins or loses. As such, they can be used as the basis for prop bets.
Types of Prop Bets
Although specials are an incredibly diverse category of bets, we can generally divide them into two main categories: fun prop bets and skill prop bets.
Fun Prop Bets
Fun prop bets are wagers on different events related to the match but are primarily made for entertainment purposes. In other words, the people who make fun prop bets are usually not expecting to win any money from their wagers – they’re betting just for the laughs.
This sort of wager is usually based on some kind of pop-culture reference or a joke. Examples include things like the winner of the Super Bowl’s halftime show, who will sing the national anthem or the outcome of the coin toss at the start of the game.
Fun prop bets are generally limited in terms of how much money you can place on them to avoid exploits. After all, some of the events that bettors can wager on may not be random at all but rather pre-planned and orchestrated.
To illustrate the point, if Rihanna is set to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime show, the correct predictions of the first track she sings may not be based on luck but rather on insider information from one of the organisers of the show. Winning millions of dollars based on this sort of data would be simply unfair to those who didn’t have access to it.
Skill Prop Bets
Unlike fun prop bets, skill prop bets are wagers that are made with the intention of winning money. In other words, they’re placed by serious bettors who are looking to make a profit from their bets.
Skill prop bets are usually based on some sort of statistical analysis and require serious knowledge of a particular sport. For example, if you’re an experienced baseball fan and know a lot about the game, you might be able to place a skill prop bet on how many hits or runs a specific player will make in a particular match.
No matter which type of prop bet you prefer, it’s important to remember that bookies won’t label the wagers as fun or skill prop bets. It’s entirely up to you to devise which type of bet you’re placing, so make sure you understand what you’re doing before putting your money down.
Futures/Outright Bets
Futures, or outright bets as they’re called in some countries, are wagers placed on the outcome of an event that’s scheduled to occur at some point in the future. Outright bets are very popular in sports with long seasons, such as basketball or football.
For example, if you wanted to place a bet on who would win the upcoming NBA Finals, you would be making an outright bet. Similarly, you can place a futures bet on which team will win the Super Bowl next year.
Outright bets are considered some of the toughest wagers to make because there are so many variables involved in the outcome of the game. As you are betting on an event or series of events so far in the future, there is little you can do to guarantee that the team you bet on will actually win.
Research is mostly useless because the players could potentially get injured before the game, teams can be bought and sold, coaches can get fired, etc. – in other words, anything can happen between the time you place your bet and the actual match itself.
All these factors mean that outright bets are among the best wagers to make if you want to earn a lot of money – the payouts are usually pretty large and can be quite tempting. Depending on how much you want to wager, you can potentially win millions of dollars if you manage to correctly predict the specified outcome of an event.
However, as mentioned above, the risk of losing is also much higher with outright bets than with most other types of bets.
As such, it’s even more important to be careful and never wager more money than you can afford to lose. Try to avoid playing futures bets with large sums of money, especially if you’re new to the sport or don’t have a lot of knowledge about the teams/players involved.
Parlays/Accumulators
Parlays, also known as accumulators, are types of wagers in which the bettor places several bets as one, essentially making one huge wager. In other words, with a parlay, you’re betting on the outcome of multiple games at once.
To give you an example, let’s say that you want to bet on three different matches: the 49ers vs Jets game we discussed earlier, a tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, and a European football match between Arsenal and Chelsea.
If you wanted to bet on all three of these matches, you would have to make three separate wagers – or, if you’re feeling lucky, you can group them all together into one large parlay.
The main advantage of parlays is that they offer larger payouts than most other types of bets. The downside, of course, is that the odds of actually winning are very slim – if even one of your wagers is incorrect, your whole parlay is considered a loss.
As you might have guessed, the likelihood of winning the parlay and the amount of money you can get change with the number of individual events you want to bet on. Trying to predict the outcome of every match in a 16-team tournament, for example, is likely to result in very few successful parlays – even if payouts are higher.
As you can see, parlays require a lot of luck and careful planning if they’re to be successful. If you’re feeling bold enough, however, feel free to give them a try!
Which Bets Are Suitable for Beginners?
If you’re just starting out in the world of sports betting, we recommend sticking to just a few types of bets – namely, point spread bets, moneyline bets, and over/under bets. They offer high odds and provide a good foundation for your future betting strategy.
Most importantly, they are relatively easy to understand and don’t require complex calculations or in-depth statistical analysis to be successful.
Of course, the world of sports betting isn’t limited to relatively straightforward wagers only. Although we don’t recommend it for newcomers, you can try your luck in more complex bets such as permutations, teasers, pleasers, or if and reverse bets – just remember that they can be quite risky and require a lot of experience and betting knowledge to be successful.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve read this guide, you should have a much better understanding of the different types of bets available in sports betting. Each type of wager has its own advantages and disadvantages, and it’s up to you to decide which one is right for your purposes.
Before you go off and start wagering on sports matches, remember that betting should be fun – don’t put your entire savings on the line in the hopes of winning big. Stick to small bets and gradually increase the amount of money you’re willing to risk as you gain more experience.
If you start experiencing consecutive losses with one type of bet, either try another or take a break from wagering to rethink your strategy – perhaps your losses are indicative of a larger problem with your betting approach.
Above all, remember to choose your bookies wisely, and don’t be afraid to switch if you find one with better odds and more suitable types of bets. May Luck be with you!
