SPORTS BETTING 101

Learning

How to Bet

New to sports betting? Here are some fun examples to assist you with placing a bet on different games and sports. Sports Bet Ohio is only allowed by law to offer money line, spread, over/under (totals) and up to 4 leg (teams) parlay wagers.

Odds​

Odds represent the probability of an event to happen and determine how much money you will win if your bet wins. Sports Bet Ohio uses the American Odds system for sports betting which has a baseline value of $100.  For the favored team, a minus sign (-) precedes the amount which indicates how much is needed to wager in order to win $100. The underdog team is represented by the plus (+) sign indicating the amount to win for a $100 bet.

Example: Football

Odds

You will need to wage $175 on the Dallas Cowboys to win $100. If the Dallas Cowboys win, you then win $100.

Money Line

A Money Line bet is one of the easiest bets in sports betting. Money Line is typically offered as a head-to-head bet (choose team A or team B) with no handicap. You are simply betting on one team to win.

Example: Hockey

money line

You place a $100 bet on the Vegas Golden Knights to win. The final score is Vegas Golden Knights 3 and New Jersey Devils 2, you win the $100 wager plus $120 for a winning total of $220.

Spread

Point Spread or Spread line is a term used when a handicap (spread) is assigned to either team and then added or subtracted to each final score to determine the winner.  The bettor must choose the winning team after the handicap is applied.  The point spread represents the margin of points in which the favored team must win by to “cover the spread”.

Example: Baseball

spread

Add 1.5 runs to the final run total of the Red Sox or subtracts 1.5 runs from the Yankees run total. If the bet was placed on the Yankees at -1.5 and the score of the game is Red Sox 4 and Yankees 5, you must apply the spread to the final score to determine if they won.  Result: 1.5 runs are deducted from the Yankees final run count of 5 (5 – 1.5 = 3.5). You did not win.

Total or Over/Under

Total or Over/Under bets are placed on the line set by the bookmaker that is the total combined score at certain points during the game, including any extra time added if the score was tied at the end of regulation time. You choose the score to be lower or higher than the line to win the bet.

Example: Football

Total or Over-Under

You place a bet on the Over meaning that they believe the total number of scores by the two teams combined will be 40.5 or more. The score of the game is Seattle Seahawks 26 and Green Bay Packers 18. Result: You win the bet as the final combined score is 44.

Prop Bet

Proposition bets are wagers on very specific outcome during an event that does not relate to the final score.  There are game props, tournament props, team props and player props.

Example: Basketball

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Milwaukee Bucks

Prop Bet

Prior to the game starting, you place a bet on Over 25.5 points for Lebron James. At the conclusion of the game, if James has scored 26 points or more, you will win the bet. If he scored 25 points or less, you would lose the bet.

Parlay

Parlay bets are a type of sports bet in which you combine multiple individual bets (up to 4 legs of teams) into one bet or “card.” Combining the bets gives you longer odds to win and a larger reward for winning. However, if any of those teams in your bet loses, the entire bet is lost. Parlay bets may include different bet types, as well as bets from different sports. In order to win the entire parlay wager, each of the individual wagers in the parlay must win. If one individual wager is lost, then the entire parlay wager is lost. If a sport event is postponed or cancelled the payout will be adjusted, the parlay wager is not lost due to cancelled events. For example, if a player has selected five sport events on a wager and one of them is postponed or cancelled, the parlay becomes a four-selection parlay wager. If all events are cancelled, the whole parlay wager is refunded.

Example: Football

Parlay

If you would like to receive boosted odds and have a chance at a bigger payout, you can combine the three bets above into a single, parlay bet; A $100 parlay bet, including the three bets above, will have a total payout of $746.45. In order to win this parlay bet, all three bet outcomes must win: The Patriots must win by 6 or more, 41 or more total points must be scored in the New York Giants vs Washington Redskins game, and the Cowboys must win. If the Patriots and/or Cowboys bets win, but only 39 points are scored in the New York Giants vs Washington Redskins, you will lose the parlay bet.

In-Game Betting

In-game betting involves placing a bet during a game or event. In-game betting allows you to place bets in real time with adjusted odds.

Example: Basketball

In-Game Betting

During the 3rd quarter of the New York Knicks vs Chicago Bulls game, you place an in-game bet on the Knicks to win by 10 points or more. Due to the current score and the time remaining in the game, the spread and the odds have been adjusted to reflect the current status of the game. If the Knicks win by more than 10 points, you will win the bet. If they win by 3 points, you will lose the bet, even if the Knicks spread was -2 prior to the game starting. In-game bets only reflect the live spread and odds of the game when the bet is placed.

Once you are familiar with some of the basic bet types, you might start to try more elaborate bet types such as Round Robins.

Round Robin

Round Robins or systems are a parlay type of wager in which at least two selections are required. In Round Robin or system wagers the players can win even if all their selections are not correct.

Example:

Suppose you make four predictions and choose ‘doubles’ within the Round Robin. This means that all possible combinations of two bets are made. In this example, the Round Robin makes six different bets for you. The wager that you choose is per bet. In this example, a $1 wager means that you have to pay $6.

Round Robin
Skip to content