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Tips from our SportsBook expert
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Online Sportsbetting: A Primer
Opening an account, Money Line and Proposition betting--and, oh yeah, getting your payoff
by Kent Andrade
Before the Internet, you had to find a bookie. Ask your grandfather--he'll tell stories about the tipsters and runners who used to make the rounds every Friday before the big weekend game. The man in a trenchcoat would pick up grandpa's bet at the dry cleaners or butcher shop before the big weekend game and come around some time the next week (hopefully) to pay off the winners.
The Web has cleaned all that up, spreading games to towns where there are no dry cleaners-or Baptist killjoys. But with the new accessibility, come a whole new set of problems, and beginners will be forgiven for feeling befuddled by the whole process. We feel your bettor's pain.
Understanding the Bets
First-time bettors can find lines and point spreads easily on the site they choose. Additionally, most major newspapers carry sports lines, usually the Caesars or MGM line.
But before you start laying down, there are different kinds of bets you'll need to know about:
The Money Line. This is a straight cash bet on the winner of a particular contest. The amount you lay for each game may vary, but the Money Line you buy in at is the money you keep even if that line changes later. For example, say you wager on a boxing match, and the line looks like this:
Ali -160 versus Holyfield +260
If the player takes Ali to win the fight, he would lay $160 to win $100. If Ali wins, the player takes away $260 total: the $160 he laid plus the $100 he won.
If the player bet on Holyfield, he would lay $100 to win $260. If Holyfield wins, the player's payoff would be $360--the $100 he originally laid down plus the $260 he won.
Of course, you don't have to bet $100; smaller bets (as low as $5, depending on the casino and the event) are paid of as a percentage of the money line. For instance, a bet of 50 percent of the money line wins a 50 percent pay-off on the odds. So, if you lay $80 on Ali and win, you win $50, plus your original $80. If you lay $50 on Holyfield and win, you win $130, plus your original $80.
Totals: Popularly known as "over/under" bets, a Totals bet is a pick of the total points scored in a game. A player who bets on the "over/under" lays $1.10 to win $1 most of the time. An over/under or total line will look like this:
LA Lakers: o165 (-110)
Milwaukee Bucks: u165 (-110)
The Total for the game would be 165. Let's say the player lays $110 on the over in this Lakers/Bucks NBA game. If both teams' combined score is more than 165 then the player wins $100. The sportsbook would drop $210 into his account--the $110 he originally bet plus the $100 he won.
If the combined score equals 165, the game is considered "no action," and the money is returned. If the combined score is less than 165 then the wager is lost.
The Point Spread Bet: Also called the straight bet, it wins or loses based on margin of victory-and picking the final score matters as much as picking the victor. Traditionally, while you can find point-spread bets for boxing (rounds won versus rounds lost), bets on team sports are always point-spread bets. Here's an example of a betting lines for some NBA action:
NJ Jets (-3) Translation: The bettor gets paid if the Jets win by more than 3 points. If the Jets win by exactly 3 points, the result is a push--a tie between bettor and book. The initial deposit is returned to the player's account.
Buffalo Bills (+3) The bettor gets paid if the Bills win or if they lose by 2 points or less.
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