Online Sports Betting

Linesmakers, as you probably know, set the point spread - the number by which one team is favored to win over another - for each game. And linesmakers are divided into two categories: oddsmakers and bookmakers.

Oddsmakers don't take bets on the lines they publish. Instead, they make money selling their lines to sportsbooks, wire services and other media outlets.

The bookmaker is the person who takes your bet. Bookmakers shift lines during the week because they hope to balance the action. Their thinking is that somewhere out there is a person analyzing the same game as you but coming up with an opposing view about the potential outcome.

Lines also shift because of player movement, injuries, the weather and other factors. It's important to note that the point spread is not a predicted margin of victory. Rather, it's the number that the linesmaker hopes will generate an even split in the wagered money.

Another important point to remember is that if the point spread on a game is three and the margin of victory is three points, the game is a "push", meaning no action has taken place and your wagered money is returned to you.  Now that you know how lines are generated and why they move, let's show you what you need to do to beat them.  The key advantage you have over a bookmaker is you do not have to wager on every game, you can pick and choose your opportunities.

The bookmaker puts up a number on hundreds of events each week. In a typical NFL week, 14 to 16 games are played and multiple betting opportunities are available on each game.

You may not have a good feel for all the games, but you most likely see several where you are confident that one team will cover. This is what handicappers refer to as an "overlay" or "getting value". If you find enough of these situations, you can make a profit betting on sports. Sports wagering is a challenge and requires some wits.

Internet Sportsbooks VS Nevada Sportsbooks
Internet-based books have no line-ups. Vegas books can process maybe 20-30 clients at a time, while Internet books can process thousands simultaneously. Internet books have much lower costs per wager and they can pass this type of savings on in the form of deposit bonuses or reduced juice to bettors.

Internet books allow you to shop for lines instantly. In comparison, traveling from the Mirage to Bally's to the Bellagio to Mandalay Bay to check lines would take at least an hour. When you consider an extra half-point gives you roughly a 2% better chance of covering a football or basketball spread, you can imagine the compound effect of getting an extra half-point or full point on every bet over the course of a full season.

Vegas rarely moves lines until there is action at the posted number (unless there is an injury or trade, etc.). Conversely, at Internet books, where there can be thousands of wagers placed inside a minute, they don't have the luxury of waiting for action before moving every line. If the line is moving everywhere else, staying on a number presents bettors the opportunity to play for a side and, for that reason, can attract floods of money on one side - not a good thing for risk-management purposes.

Vegas books experience geographical influence, as their clients are predominately from California, Nevada, Arizona, and other nearby states. Many of these clients bet their favorite teams and that drives the price up on West Coast teams a little. Internet books can suffer the same thing if their marketing is heavy in one city or state, but with line shopping being so easy, those biases don't last long as value shoppers see the line and move in to take advantage. In other words, you generally get a fairer line on the Internet.

There are a lot of advantages to sports betting online, but Vegas books will always have a place in the market, as well. It's just too much fun sitting in a huge room looking at hundreds of lines and dozens of screens while being served ice cold free beers and eating 99-cent hot dogs. All in all, though, Vegas books have some shortcomings that are real, not virtual.

Remember, it's you against the oddsmaker, not the bookmaker. The bookmaker is simply a middle-man who operates on a small profit margin and ideally likes to see half the money wagered on one team and half on the other, assuring him of a profit. If too much of the money goes on one team, the bookmaker will move the line or pointspread to encourage bets on the other team in an effort to balance his book.

The person you are attempting to beat is the oddsmaker and his views on each team's chances. Just by flipping a coin you will be right 50 percent of the time. At odds of 10/11 only 52.4 percent of your bets have to win for you to overcome the bookmaker's profit and break even, so you only need a very small edge to become a winner.

Do your homework, bet selectively and 55 percent winning bets is definitely achievable and 60-65 percent is a realistic target. At those levels you will have an extremely profitable as well as enjoyable hobby.

BASIC TYPES OF SPORTS BOOK WAGERING

Straight bet
The most common type of sports wager is on the result of a single game, known as a straight wager. One team is typically favored over another by a point spread; the favorite gives the underdog points as a head start, for betting purposes only.

The favorite is always indicated by a minus sign (-3) and the underdog by a plus sign (+3). The amount of points a customer must give or take is estimated to be the amount which will generate equal wagering on both the underdog and the favorite.

For betting purposes, the result of the game is determined by taking the actual score and subtracting points from the favorite's score or adding points to the underdog's score. So, a favorite can win the game but lose for betting purposes and an underdog can lose the game but win for betting purposes.

In most straight bets which are set by a point spread, the customer lays $11 for every $10 the customer wishes to win. For example, the Green Bay Packers may be favored by 7 points over the Chicago Bears. A customer who wishes to win $10 on Green Bay must give Chicago 7.

If Green Bay wins by more than 7 points then the customer wins $10. If Green Bay wins by less than 7 points or loses outright, then the customer loses $11. On the other side, in order for the Chicago bettor to win, Chicago must win the game outright or lose by less than 7 points.

Total bet (Over/Under)
A customer can also bet whether the combined number of points or goals scored by the two teams in the game will be over or under the total set by the odds maker. For example, if the total is 42 and you believe that the combined points scored by the two teams will exceed that number, you would bet over. You would bet under if you believe the total points score will be less than 42.

Moneyline bet
A bet on a matchup between two teams may be set by a moneyline instead of a point spread. If a matchup is determined by a moneyline, like Major League Baseball, then it will cost the customer more to wager on the favorite.

For example, the Atlanta Braves are a -150 favorite over the Chicago Cubs. In this example, the customer must lay $150 in order to win $100. If Atlanta loses, the customer loses $150. However, the customer could bet on Chicago, in which case the customer would lay $100 in order to win $140 (10 cent line). If Chicago loses, the customer only loses $100, and if Chicago wins, the customer would win $140. These are just some of the most popular types of bets. You can learn about other bet types in any of our recommended online sportsbooks.