Basic Sports Bets

There are many different types of sports betting options that can be exploited, but many of them are only offered on particular types of sporting events. The most basic bet types are those offered on most types of sports, such as straight bets, ATS bets, parlays and teasers.

This article will focus on basic sports betting opportunities, meant to guide new online sports bettors through the initial steps of placing a wager.

Basic Sports Bets – Straight Betting
Straight bets are the most basic of all sports betting option, where the punter is placing a simple wager on who will win a match-up between two contestants. When placing a straight bet, there is no point spread involved. One constant wins, one loses. If you bet on the winner, you win; if not, you lose – plain and simple.

Since the betting odds are generally in favor of one contestant over another, the payouts for betting on either side will vary. A heavily favored team is not going to have a very large payout, and will require a large bet to receive a small winning. In fact, you may have to bet $100 just to win $20, depending on how favored the contestant is. Betting on the underdog is the opposite, paying out more for a smaller bet.

Basic Sports Bets – ATS (Against the Spread) Betting
Betting against the spread evens up the chances of either contestant winning the match by adding points to the underdog, and taking away from the favored. For example, if one sports team is expected to win by 9 points, the underdog would get a +9, and the favored team a -9. If the favored team wins by 9, as expected, it would be considered a tie according to the sportsbook that set the spread. If the underdog loses by only 6 points, it would be considered a win by 3, since the underdog received 9 points.

Because you are betting against the spread, the payout is even on both sides. Bet 100, win $100, either way (minus any commission).

Basic Sports Bets – Over/Under Totals
Betting on the over or under side of total combined points is pretty common in sports betting. The odds maker comes up with an expected total number of points, and the punter bets on whether he/she thinks the actual points scored by both teams will add up to more (over) or less (under) than the expected total. If a contest is expected to see 35 points total between the two contestants, an over bet would be a wager that more than 35 total points are scored; an under bet a wager that less than 35 points will be scored. If the total is exactly 35, it is a tie and the bet is returned.

Basic Sports Bets – Parlay Betting
A parlay bet is when a bettor chooses several contestants to win a series of match-ups. For example, if the sports bettor picks 5 football teams to win their NFL games next Sunday, he/she would receive a very large payout for all 5 teams winning. If any of those teams lose, the entire bet is lost; all must be successful to win a parlay bet.

If any of the match-ups result in a tie, that particular pick is removed from the bet slip, resulting in a 4-way parlay rather than 5. The more picks you choose in a single parlay, the higher the payout, so if a 5-way drops to a 4-way, the payout will decrease as well.

Basic Sports Bets – Teaser Betting
Teasers are much the same as parlay bets, but the punter is given an advantage, along with reduced payouts. For example, you might be given the option to take a higher point spread or extra points on a totals bet.

Let’s say you bet on an underdog team with a point spread of +9, and the “over” side of an under/over total of 45 points. The teaser could offer something like 5, 6 or 7 points in your favor. The more points you take, the lower the payout becomes. If you choose 6 points, your team would get a total of +15 extra points (ATS +9 and the teaser 6), meaning they must either win the match or lose by less than 15 points. The over total bet would also receive 6 points, so if the total score is above 39 (instead of 45), that bet wins. Like a parlay, all picks on the teaser (the ATS and Totals bet, in this case) must have a positive outcome in order to win the bet.