How Sports Betting Works

Sports Betting Basics

Different sports have different systems for oddsmaking and betting. There are even different systems for the same sport, depending on what kind of game the bettor wants to play. But to understand any of these systems, you first have to understand the jargon.

Action - Action is simply betting activity. Phrases such as "I want in on the action" or "Show me where the action is" come from this term. Since betting on sports is illegal in many places, you can't always look up your local bookie in the phone book.

Handicap - In sports betting, "to handicap" is to give one team a points advantage in order to level the betting field.

How to Win at Sports Betting

How’s your season going? Making the big bucks? Or do you need some sound sports betting advice so you can finally start seeing profits and stop making the bookies rich. If it’s the latter, read on…

Sports Betting Basics

Sports Betting Basics

If you've ever wanted to place a bet on a sporting event, but were overwhelmed by all the talk of odds, point spreads, bookies, and sportsbooks, relax. We'll have you ready to join the action in no time. While at first glance the world of sports betting can seem to be a complex one, it's not nearly as daunting as it may first appear.

Sports gambling has been around since the beginning of the United States, and the colonists were known to have wagered on fighting, horse racing, and even cockfighting. Gambling was a long-time tradition in England and it was only natural the colonists would bring their love of gambling across the ocean with them.

In the 1800s, pedastrianism was the sport of choice among gamblers. But the sport eventually fell victim to race-fixing and other corruption and the public lost confidence in it. At that time baseball was beginning to grow, but as the popularity of baseball increased in the later part of the century, so did baseball betting, and the popularity of wagering on the sport was brought to the forefront during the 1919 World Series, which will live on in infamy as the Black Sox Scandal.

College sports, such as football and basketball, began to catch the public eye in the early stages of the 20th century, and over time, those two sports soon rivaled baseball as popular betting activities. For a number of years, football and basketball bets were placed using odds, a practice that still takes place today and is known as betting with the money line. For a detailed explanation of the money line and how it works, seeUnderstanding Money Lines.

The Advent of the Point Spread

The only problem with the money line is that a number of the college football and basketball games were mismatches and all of the gamblers would be betting on the same team, which is not what the bookmakers want. In the 1940s, the bookmakers changed the face of sports gambling forever when they came out with the point spread. For a detailed explanation of the point spread and how it works, see Understanding Point Spreads.