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Looking to learn how to bet? Sports betting is a lot of fun and can be a rewarding venture – but it can also be super confusing when you start. There are countless phrases and terms, as well as lots of different ways to bet.
This sports betting guide for beginners breaks everything down simply for new bettors who want to bet on the NBA, the NFL, soccer, or any other sport.
We’ll walk you through everything, from basic definitions to sports betting strategies, so you’ll be ready to place your first sports bet by the end.
Excited? Let’s go!
Sports betting is when you wager on sports teams, events, or a combination of both with the aim of winning real money. Your bet will always be focused on a specific outcome – such as a team winning a particular match – and will be set at certain betting odds that dictate exactly how much you stand to gain if your bet wins.
Let’s dive deeper.
The principles of sports betting are the same whether you bet at a brick-and-mortar sportsbook or an online sportsbook: You pick out a bet, consider the odds, enter a stake – and sit back and wait to see what happens next.
Some sports bettors prefer to stick to simply predicting the winner of an individual game (known as moneyline betting), while others enjoy trying different types of bets to find value, such as betting on the point spread.
Most of the time, you’ll either be betting on a favorite or an underdog, and your bets can either yield very small gains or very big gains, depending on the odds and your stake.
If you’re betting on sports online, you’ll need to join an online betting site, make a first deposit, and then you can start checking out the various markets.
You’ve got various ways to win money when placing bets, and new bettors might be a little confused about which bets they should place. Let’s uncover your options.
This is the most basic way to bet on sports because all you do is wager on a sports team or player you think will emerge victorious in a specific match (such as the Lakers beating the Clippers in an NBA game).
Nothing else needs to happen, with the favorite always represented by minus (-) odds and the underdog represented by (+) odds.
Point spread betting is attractive to bettors who have already passed the beginner’s stage and want to use their expert sports knowledge to predict how many points a team might win in a specific match.
For example, if you think the Bills might decimate the Broncos in the NFL, you could bet on the Bills to win (-8.5). This means they’d need to win by 9 clear points for you to win your bet.
Betting on the point spread represents more risk than the simple moneyline bet because your team needs to win by X points. But it also offers better odds, which makes it so attractive.
With totals betting, you’re no longer betting on who you think will win a match or by how many points they’ll win. Instead, you’re betting on how many total points, goals, or sets a match will contain, depending on the sport.
For instance, you could bet on over 3.5 total combined goals in a soccer match or under 3.5 total goals – it entirely depends on whether you think a game will be action-packed or cagey.
This bet can cover the entire duration of a game, or you can use it on specific halves and quarters (NBA). Sometimes, you can bet on over 45.5 or fewer combined points in an NBA quarter.
Prop bets are available at all the top online sportsbooks and they refer to specific events in a sports game.
Using the MLB as an example, you can draw on player performances and data to bet on certain players to record a home run, over/under total strikeouts in a game, total bases, total RBIs and more.
As well as player props, you can also place team props, such as a team to record over/under X number of corners in a game of soccer.
A parlay bet is different to any of those many above in the sense that it combines various individual bets into one main bet so as to boost your potential profits.
For instance, you could group 5 moneyline bets together to form a parlay. The combined odds would be boosted so that you could place a smaller stake while expecting bigger potential returns. Parlays are often appealing to new bettors with smaller bankrolls who use them to build bigger rolls.
Parlays can be used strategically (you could simply pick multiple odds-on favorites) but the catch is that you only win your bet if all your picks land.
Last but not least, futures betting is when you place bets on specific events a few weeks or months in advance, such as the Super Bowl or the US Open (tennis).
Futures betting is useful if you want to take advantage of early market prices and think the bookies have made a mistake with their odds. It can also be worthwhile trying whenever you think an underdog has a great chance of winning a tournament against most expectations.
betting at home: close up view of woman using the computer to bet
Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, placing bets with a clear sports betting strategy behind you is always helpful.
Ask any weathered sports bettor how often they’ve lost when a short priced favorite got beaten by a hugely priced underdog and their exhausted answer will probably be “too often.”
Yeah, it happens – underdogs win games of sport. In fact, they win games of sport quite often.
So often, you can make a decent profit over the long term simply by backing the dog every time.
Of course, it comes with a caveat …
Crunching the data and checking the form will go a long way in sports betting. It won’t get you all the way because even the best data in the world can’t do anything about rotten luck. But understanding form, momentum, and home/away advantage can give you an edge.
This all ties back to betting on the underdog, which you should only do if you have a hunch backed up by the data.
For example, in tennis, few would have expected Nadal to have lost to massive underdogs over the last ten years. But those in the know can spot when even Nadal is out of form/carrying an injury and when his opponent – no matter how overpriced – is ready to dish out an upset.
If you place sports bets online, you can shop for the best odds by joining different betting sites.
This is because different oddsmakers set different odds, with many sportsbooks often offering enough difference in their odds to allow you to maximize your potential profit by finding the bookie that’s offering the best price on the day.
Following on from the above point, you, as a sports bettor, must be able to read odds. Odds are represented differently depending on where you or the sportsbook is located.
For example, American odds are also known as moneyline odds, and they use a plus(+) sign to represent odds-against and a minus sign (+) to represent odds-on. If you were to place a $100 stake on (-100) odds, you would make a $100 profit and receive a $200 total payout.
They’re in contrast to fractional odds, which look like this:
By understanding how odds work, you’ll know exactly how much you can expect to win and judge the market better, which can help you decide whether or not to risk placing a particular bet.
If, for instance, the odds are set at (+2000) it means that something is rather unlikely to happen.
Sports betting sites get you started with welcome bonuses that typically boost your initial deposit by X amount. This is a great way to start betting as it means you’ve already got a bigger bankroll.
You can then keep claiming subsequent bonuses, including cash back bonuses and reload bonuses, that allow you to keep placing sports bets without seriously damaging your bankroll too much.
Even the most seasoned of bettors have chased their losses from time to time but it’s often new bettors who are more susceptible, simply because they might not be used to losing money.
The fact is that all bettors will lose money from betting at some point. It happens – you can’t win every bet. But when you lose, it’s super important that you keep a cool head and wait for the next opportunity, rather than quickly jumping onto the next bet in a bid to recover your losses.
And if you do feel yourself losing control, close your betting app and take a break of at least 24 hours.
Yes, you can make money from sports betting. That said, while many people who place sports bets win now and then, it’s very rare to win constantly over the long-term.
Instead, it’s a much better idea to see sports betting as a bit of fun that allows you to get closer to the action while watching your favorite teams.
Placing a sports bet online is as easy as signing up to a sports betting site and creating an account. Then, all you need to do is take a look at the different sports, leagues and markets that are available, before picking out a bet and entering a stake.
Reputable sports betting sites accept various trustworthy payment methods, including major credit and debit cards like VISA and American Express, eWallets, and MoneyGram.
Some sportsbooks also accept cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Litecoin.
Knowing how to sports bet will put you in a much better position to have fun when you bet on sports. While it won’t necessarily guarantee that you will win, some rudimentary knowledge of sports betting will at least give new bettors every chance to increase their profits.
We’ve covered all the most common types of sports bets and the basic premise of sports betting and shown you how to implement a sports betting strategy that works for you.
Whatever you do next, we wish you luck and remind you that sports gambling should be fun first and foremost. Remember to always bet responsibly.
The information on this site is for entertainment purposes only. Playing online casino games should always be about fun. Remember that our guides and all gambling sites are only for people who are 21+. Also, check your local laws to find out if online gambling is legal in your area.
If you have a gambling addiction problem or anyone you know does, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700. In addition, the following free gambling addiction resources can be of help:
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