Money Lines
It is best to explain money lines with an example. Let's say Yankees are playing Red Sox and the lines are as follow:
- New York Yankees +140
- Boston Red Sox -130
In this example the Boston Red Sox are favorite to win the game (signified by the minus(-) sign in front of their name) and the Yankees are
the underdog as shown by the plus(+) sign.
The numbers meanings are as follow: If a bettor has to wager (bet) $130 on the Boston Red Sox in order to win $100 (if Red Sox win the game).
However, those who want to bet on New York Yankees have to risk $100 to win $140.
Even though the money lines are expressed in units of hundred dollars, a bettor does not have to bet that amount. They can as easily make $5,
$25, $500, etc bets. The odds would stay the same in terms of percentages.
Totals
Overs/Unders or more commonly refered to as "totals" are a type of betting offered to gamblers to bet whether the
total points scored in the game (sum of points scored from both side of the match) is above or under the over/under line.
For example imagine Chicago Bears are playing Philadelphia Eagles and the under/over line is 43 and the actual results at the end of the
game are 28-14 (doesn't matter who wins). If a gambler bets $100 on "over", he loses as the total of the game was 42 (28 + 14 = 42).
Likewise, if someone bets $100 on the "under", they win $100.
Keep in mind that the juice exists for this type of bet as well.
Point Spreads
Point spreads are very imoprtant when betting on Football and Basketball. The point spread is a handicap placed on
one team, for betting purposes only, and it is designed to give both teams in any game an equal chance at winning in the eyes of sports
bettors.
When two teams meet, usually one team is better than the other and therefore a favorite to win the game. If all a bettor had to do was
to pick the winning team, the bookies would be out of business in one night. This is when point spreads are introduced.
It is best to explain spreads using another example. Lets say Miami Dolphins are playing Indianapolis Colts and following are the spread lines:
- Miami Dolphins +7
- Indianapolis Colts -7
Hopefully by now you should be able to tell that the Colts are favorite to win this game (signified by the minus (-) sign). The spread above
means that Colts are favorite to win the game by 7 poitns (for exampl 17-10 , or 32-25, and such) and similarly the Dolphins are the underdog.
Spread bets are even money meaning that you wager $100 to win $100 (the juice still exists).
For above example, lets say John (a gambler) bets $300 on Colts on the spread and Michael (another gambler) bets $500 on Dolphins on the spread. Now
lets say that Colts won the game at the end and the score was Colts (28) - (22) Dolphins. Here Colts have won the game by difference of 6 points.
This is not good for John as he needed Colts to win by 7 points. Therefore John loses $330 ($300 wager + $30 juice). On the other hand Michael,
wins $500 as all he needed was for Dolphins not to lose by 7 points or more. So even though Dolphins lost the game, they still covered the spread
for Michael.
Parlays & Teasers
Parlays are the most popular form of exotic sports bets as the gambler can win a large amount by risking a small amount.
A parlay is a collection of two or more teams that the gambler placees a wager on and all of them must win in order 3
for him/her to win the bet. If the bettor puts his money on a 4 game parlay all four games have to beat the odds that he put his money on. There
is no difference if only one of them comes short or if all of them come short.
A bettor can bet parlays on the money line, the spread, or the totals. However money line parlays is different than the other two. In betting
on spreads and totals the payout is fixed, but with the money line it depends on the lines on each game that is being wagered as part of the
parlay.
The odds on a typical parlay involving point spreads, including totals, are generally as follow:
- 2 Teams ---> 13 to 5
- 3 Teams ---> 6 to 1
- 4 Teams ---> 10 to 1
- 5 Teams ---> 25 to 1
- 6 Teams ---> 40 to 1
- 7 Teams ---> 75 to 1
- 8 Teams ---> 150 to 1
- 9 Teams ---> 300 to 1
- 10 Teams ---> 600 to 1
What that means is for example if you bet on a 4 game parlay, you win $10 on every $1 that you wager.
