Types of Sports Bets

Types of Sports Bets

Betting on sports is one of the most popular forms of gambling, and it’s not just for sports fanatics. And of course, there’s the variety of sports you can wager on, from team sports like football and baseball to player-on-player matches like boxing and tennis.

If you’re new to sports betting, you might be taken aback by all of the different options you have when it comes to how you can bet on sports. You’re not limited to betting on simply which team or player will win a match; you have options like futures, parlays, and more.

Don’t get discouraged if this all sounds like a lot — it is, and many experienced bettors are still unfamiliar with some of these betting options. But all of these different wager types add more flexibility and chances to win some cash.

So let this be your tutorial on how each particular type of bet works.

Win Bets/Straight Bets/Moneyline Wagers

You’ll find that some of these bet types have different names depending on where you are in the world. In the United States, this type of bet is most commonly known as the moneyline wager, but they’re all different names for the same concept.

This is also going to be your most straightforward type of bet and the one that most people probably think of first when they hear about sports betting: You simply choose who you believe will win the game that you’re betting on. If it’s a one-on-one match like boxing, you’d bet on one of the competitors to win. If it’s a team-versus-team game like basketball, you’d bet on one of the teams to win.

Let’s say that the New York Jets are playing against NY Giants. You predict that the Giants will win, so you bet on them. With a moneyline/win bet, it doesn’t matter how many points the winner has at the end of the game, whether the Giants were victorious by 1 point or 15 points. If they win, you win. If they lose, so do you.

When it comes to payouts on moneyline wagers, it’s not an even split. The bigger the favorite a team or player is, the greater the odds are that they’ll win. Of course, this translates to lower payouts. Meanwhile, the underdog has lower chances of winning but will pay out at a higher rate if you bet on them and they do win.

Point Spreads

This is another simple and popular type of sports bet, and it’s great to use for team sports like basketball and football. This time, instead of directly betting on which team or player will ultimately win the game, you’re betting on which side will “cover the spread.”

This “spread” is a figure that the sportsbook sets that will serve as a margin of victory. In order for you to win your bet, the team you wager on has to “cover” or beat that margin.

Like in any game, there’s always a favorite and an underdog, and the favorite is expected to beat the underdog — but by how much? The point spread is the forecast for this amount, and each team is assigned a point total that can be either added to or subtracted from the final score.

The sportsbook will list the favorite with a minus (-) point spread and give the underdog a plus (+) point spread. The favorite has to win the game by more than this given spread; conversely, the underdog has to win the game outright or lose by an amount that’s smaller than their given spread.

If the Toronto Raptors were favored against the Golden State Warriors, the point spread might look like this:

Toronto Raptors: -7

Golden State Warriors: +7

This +/-7 is the spread. This means that the bookmaker is predicting that the Raptors will beat the Warriors by at least 7 points.

If you wanted to bet on the Raptors, they would have to win by at least 8 points for you to win your wager. The bookmaker would subtract 7 points from the team’s ending score and make sure that it still beats the Warriors’ final score.

However, if you wanted to bet on the Warriors, they would need to win the game or at least lose by no fewer than 6 points for you to win your wager. Here, the bookmaker would add 7 points to their total, and if that ends up beating the Raptors’ final score, you win the bet.

Handicap Bets/Line Bets/Point Bets

This type of bet is very similar to point spreads, and it’s another way for sportsbooks to make things more equitable between unevenly matched teams or players. The handicap gives a virtual advantage to the underdog by giving them a “head start” that the favorite has to overcome.

Usually, this head start comes in the form of points that the underdog “starts with” to give them an edge. Either the favorite has to overcome it, or the underdog can use that to their advantage and win you the wager.

Here’s a simple example: Liverpool is favored against Southampton, and the bookmaker gives this handicap:

Liverpool: -3

Southampton: +3

This means that Southampton is starting with 3 extra points in this handicap scenario from the sportsbook. If you bet on Liverpool as the favorite, you will have to subtract 3 points from their final score. If they still have more points than Southampton, you win the bet.

Or perhaps you’d bet on Southampton as the underdog. You’ll have to add 3 points to their final score, and if that total is higher than what Liverpool scored, you win the bet.

Now, Liverpool manages to score three goals in that match, so the official score is:

Liverpool   3 Southampton   0

But with the handicap for Southampton, the sportsbook’s final score would look something like this:

Liverpool   3 Southampton   3

This handicap for Southampton actually creates a tie, so if you’d bet on that team for this match, you’d win that bet.

No Draw Handicaps and Asian Handicaps

In addition to the standard handicap bets above, you also have no draw handicap bets and Asian handicap bets. They are essentially the same concept, yet Asian handicap is used only on soccer.

In that Liverpool/Southampton scenario above, the teams tied according to the sportsbook’s stated handicap. However, not everyone loves the idea of a tie (also known as a push) — they’d rather have a straightforward win-or-lose setup.

No-draw handicaps accomplish this by using partial numbers so that there won’t be a push. This can include 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 increments.

Handicap 0.25

Liverpool: -.025

Southampton: +0.25

Liverpool here is being favored over Southampton by one-quarter of a goal. This quarter bet minimizes your risk because you have two options not to lose your bet. If you bet on Liverpool and they win, so do you. If the game ends in a tie, it’s like a “half loss” and you get half of your original bet back.

Handicap 0.5

Liverpool: -0.5

Southampton: +0.5

Now, Liverpool is favored as being a half goal better than Southampton. If you bet on Liverpool, they’d have to win outright for you to win your bet. The underdog bet for Southampton is considered a win if they win the match or result in a tie.

Handicap 0.75

Liverpool: -0.75

Southampton: +0.75

If you’re betting on Liverpool as the favorite, and they win by two or more goals, you win your wager. If they win by just a single goal, you get half of your wager back. If they tie or lose, you lose the bet.

If Southampton were to eke out a tie or win outright, then any bets on them as the underdog will win. If they lose by one goal, you get half of your wager back. If they lose by two or more, you lose the bet.

This is all a lot to take in, of course. But the advantage to using the no draw/Asian handicap is that it’s a solid way to minimize your risk. Instead of a typical bet that gives you a one-in-three chance to win (either  a win, a loss, or a draw), you get a one-in-two chance of getting at least some of your money back.

Totals/Over-Under Bets

Here, you are truly betting on a score total, hence one of the names for this type of bet — and of course whether that total is over or under a predetermined number. With this type of wager, it doesn’t actually matter who wins the game, so there’s less emotional investment in a particular team or player.

As an example, say that the Green Bay Packers are up against the Minnesota Vikings, and the bookmaker has set the over-under total at 42.5 points. As part of your wager, you have to choose whether you think the game’s final score will total over 43 points or under 42 points. Just like with no-draw handicaps, that half-point is there to prevent a push (otherwise, you’d receive a refund on your bet but no profits).

So if the Packers vs. Vikings game has a final score of 21-14, then the total is 35. If you’d bet on the score being under, you’ve won. If you’d bet on the over, then you’ve lost that wager.

It is entirely possible to set up an over-under bet on player-versus-player games like boxing, even if the scoring isn’t quite the same as a team-versus-team match. In a face-off between Terence Crawford and Kell Brook, the bookmaker might set an over-under line that the fight will last 10.5 rounds. If you bet on the over, you’ll only win if a knockout doesn’t happen until at least the eleventh round. But if you bet on the under, then you’ll only win if the knockout happens before or by the tenth round.

Parlays/Accumulators

Your typical bets are going to be on a single event or outcome, while parlays are combined bets in which you can wager on multiple events at once. Parlays (also called accumulators) are not for beginners because they require some real skill and a lot of luck to get them right.

Now, you don’t have to make strictly win bets/moneyline bets on parlays. You can use point spreads and over-unders, and some bookmakers may even allow prop bets and futures, too. Another attractive feature is that you can combine multiple sports into your parlay, like basketball, football, and hockey.

Your minimum number of selections in a parlay is two; the maximum can vary depending on the bookmaker, but 15 is a common threshold.

These types of wagers are really challenging to win because each team you choose has to win its respective event — your bet has to be made with 100% accuracy. And, of course, the more teams you add to your parlay, the more difficult it will be to win (though such a win would mean a significantly larger payout).

Different bookmakers use different payout structures, and it’s important to understand these approaches. Some will calculate the different odds for each time and combine those odds to calculate your potential payout. Here’s an example of that process:

San Francisco 49ers 1.53

Atlanta Falcons 1.45

New Orleans Saints 1.67

Kansas City Chiefs 2.45

The bookmaker will multiply the odds for the overall parlay together, coming to 9.077 odds. If you make a $50 wager and you win, your total payout would be $453.85 (which is your original $50 stake and $403.85 in profits).

Another method bookmakers can use is where they set the odds as fixed based on the number of selections you make. This is most often used to point spreads and over-unders where the odds are the same for each selection. Here’s a sample chart based on fixed parlay odds:

Number of Selections	Payout Odds (Fractional)	Payout Odds (Decimal)	Payout Odds (Moneyline)
2	13/5	3.60	+260
3	6/1	7.00	+600
4	10/1	11.00	+1,000
5	20/1	21.00	+2,000
6	40/1	41.00	+4,000
7	75/1	76.00	+7,500
8	150/1	151.00	+15,000
9	300/1	301.00	+30,000
10	700/1	701.00	+70,000

And then, there are different types of parlays you can try, each with its own rules.

Round Robin/Permutation Bets

With a round robin, you can place multiple, smaller parlays at once. Instead of one large, single parlay that ties together the outcomes of all events, you can include all possible combinations of your events.

You need to include at least three parlays with at least three different lines in your round robin. You then use these teams to create as many two-team combinations as possible. The amount you bet is the amount that gets wagered on each two-team parlay. So, if you bet $50 on six two-team parlays, you’re betting a total of $300.

If one of your teams in the round robin loses, then all parlays associated with that team lose, as well. If one of your teams pushes (reaches a draw), all parlays associated with that team become straight win/moneyline bets.

Maybe you’re feeling lucky on these three games:

New England Patriots -6.5 vs. Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens -5 vs. New York Jets

Las Vegas Raiders +3 vs. Kansas City Chiefs

You bet on those three teams at those presented spreads. With these three parlays, your potential payout for each is 2.6x your bet. If you bet $100 on each combination between these three teams, you’ll be looking at this:

Parlay	Risk	To Win
Patriots -6.5Ravens -5	$100	$260
Ravens -5Raiders +3	$100	$260
Raiders +3Patriots -6.5	$100	$260

If all three teams cover their spreads and you hit all three parlays, you’d win $780 ($260 x 3).

If only the Patriots and the Ravens cover, you’ll win one parlay, taking home $60 (win $260, lose $200).

If only one team covers, you lose all three parlays and lose $300.

Round robins are a solid way to minimize your losses without dropping your potential payout too significantly.

Teasers

Teasers are similar to your classic parlays in that you bet on the outcomes of multiple events and win only if all of them turn out according to your predictions. However, you can shift the odds in your favor by modifying the point spread (and lowering your potential payout, of course).

You can tease the point spreads or over-unders with the range provided by the sportsbook — for football, that’s often 6, 6.5, and 7 points; for basketball, it’s often 4, 4.5, and 5 points. Each leg of the teaser must use the same number of points, but they can all go in different directions.

If the bookmaker is using a six-point tease, then the Pittsburgh Steelers -8 can be teased down to -2. Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jaguars can be teased up from +3 to +9.

Like a traditional parlay, the more teams you add to your wager the higher your potential payout will be.

Obviously the drawback to teasers is that they’re still hard to hit and your payout is reduced pretty drastically by using the adjusted betting lines. Normally, a standard three-team parlay would pay out 6 to 1, but if you tease the spread in your favor, that drops to 2 to 1.

Pleasers

Teasers give you the chance to modify the spreads or over-unders in your favor, while pleasers let you move them out of your favor. This makes pleasers more difficult to win. So why would someone even try a pleaser? Because making the odds harder means a larger payout if all your selections win their respective games.

For football, a common pleaser is between 6 and 10 points, while for basketball you’ll most likely see 4, 4.5, and 5-point pleasers.

If the bookmaker is using a 5-point tease, then the Boston Celtics’ -6 can be pleased up to -11. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves can be pleased up from +2 to +7.

And just like in standard parlays and teasers, the more teams you add to your selections, the bigger your potential payout.

Overall, pleasers are an especially challenging type of sports bet to win, so proceed with caution.

Progressive Parlays

These are a lower-risk alternative to standard parlays because progressive parlays aren’t automatic losers if you have one incorrect selection. In fact, up to three selections can be losers (this depends on the total number of selections) and you can still get a payout.

Of course, this does mean that the payout for a progressive parlay is lower than that of a standard parlay. Here’s a sample chart of fixed fractional odds for a progressive parlay:

Number of Selections	Payout Odds (All Correct)	Payout Odds (1 Loss)	Payout Odds (2 Losses)	Payout Odds (3 Losses)
4	5/1	1/1	zero	zero
5	11/1	2/1	zero	zero
6	20/1	9/2	zero	zero
7	40/1	4/1	1/2	zero
8	75/1	10/1	2/1	zero
9	150/1	20/1	5/2	zero
10	250/1	25/1	3/1	1/1

Futures/Outrights

Instead of betting on a single game that’s coming up soon, you want to look far into the future and put some money down on who you think will win an entire tournament. That’s a futures (or outrights) bet.

You can set your wager on major championships like the NBA Finals or the Super Bowl. Now you get to enjoy some thrills (and maybe angst) for more than one game because, as long as your team is still in the competition, you still have a shot at winning.

Maybe you think that this is going to be the big year for the Kansas City Chiefs, and you make a futures bet that they’re going to be the team to win the Super Bowl. Now, every regular season game is important because they need to make it to the playoffs, then get to the Super Bowl, and then win it all. In a full season, you’re getting 20+ games of drama out of just one bet.

This type of bet can be extra challenging. Because you’re placing your bet before the season starts, you don’t know how the current team will perform, and you certainly can’t know in advance if a player will suddenly have a season-ending injury in the middle of a match. This high level of risk means that payouts on futures bets can get ridiculously high.

But of course, if your team has a rough start to the season, you’re immediately out of the running and have lost your wager.

Propositions/Prop Bets/Specials

Prop bets are kind of like futures bets, but they’re much more low-stakes. These types of bets are made more for fun than anything else. You hope to win but probably don’t actually expect to.

With prop bets, luck is really the determining factor. You’re not really using your deep academic analysis of a team or player to make an informed decision — there are just too many factors at play to make a truly educated prop bet.

Some prop bet ideas:

• Who will win the coin toss
• Which team will score first
• How many times Ja Morant will dunk in the first period
• Whether either team will get a pick six in the first quarter
• How many times an announcer uses the word “dynasty”
• Which football player will be the first to make an interception
• How many divots Rory McIlroy will take
• Which player on the Buffalo Bills will score the first touchdown
• Over-under on the national anthem taking up two minutes of air time
• What color of Gatorade the players will dump on the winning coach

Now, it is possible to make some more skill-focused prop bets, but they’re still going to be hard to really make intelligent, informed wagers on because there are still other factors at play. Some of those might include:

• Will DeAndre Hopkins receive more or fewer than three touchdowns?
• Will the game go into overtime?
• How many total hits will Mike Trout make?

Here, you can use your knowledge of particular teams or players to make some more specific, performance-informed bets.

If Bets and Reverse Bets

Both of these bets are like advanced parlays but with a reduced risk. They actually can offer a return even if you don’t get every selection correct.

If Bets

To place an if bet, you wager on a combination of two or more outcomes to happen in a specific order. You can use win/moneyline bets or point spreads for if bets.

You place your stake on the first selection, and if that selection loses, your entire wager is canceled. But if your first selection wins, you get paid out and have your initial stake shifted to the second selection. This process continues until either all of your selections win or one of your selections finally loses.

In essence, an if bet is placing money down on an “if-then” scenario. If you’re correct in your first round, then you get to keep your bet going. If you’re wrong, then you lose the wager.

Let’s say that you’re making an if bet based on two upcoming games’ point spreads:

Game 1	Game 2
Pittsburgh Steelers -7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers -7
Las Vegas Raiders +7	Jacksonville Jaguars +7

You’ve decided to wager on the two favorites (Steelers and Buccaneers) to cover the spread. You’ve bet $110 at the standard -110 odds. You’ve chosen the Steelers as your first selection and the Buccaneers as your second. Four possible results could play out:

1. The Steelers cover the spread, and the Buccaneers also cover their spread.
2. The Steelers cover the spread, but the Buccaneers don’t.
3. Neither team covers the spread.
4. The Steelers don’t cover the spread, but the Buccaneers do.

1. Both Teams CoverThe Steelers covering their spread gives you $100 in winnings.Your initial $110 stake then goes to the Buccaneers.The Buccaneers also covering their spread gives you another $100.You’ve made a $200 profit.	2. Steelers Cover, Buccaneers Don’tThe Steelers covering their spread gives you $100 in winnings.Your initial $110 stake then goes to the Buccaneers.The Buccaneers don’t cover their spread, so you lose that $110.You’ve had a net loss of $10.
3. Neither Team CoversThe Steelers don’t cover their spread.The bet is canceled.You’ve lost your $110 stake.	4. Steels Don’t Cover, Buccaneers DoThe Steelers don’t cover their spread.The bet is canceled, irrespective of how the Buccaneers perform.You’ve lost your $110 stake.

In the end, the difference between a parlay and an if bet is that for a parlay to win, you need to win all of your selections; with an if bet, you can regain some of your money if just one or only some of your selections win.

But the most important part of an if bet is the order of your selections. Because this can so quickly affect the outcome of an if bet, you can avoid this problem with a reverse bet instead.

Reverse Bets

Reverse bets are simply if bets that work in all directions instead of going in one specific order. When it comes to putting money down, a reverse bet with two selections is two if bets. So, if you have only $110 to wager, you’d split that money into two $55 wagers and move forward.

Let’s go with the same setup as above:

Game 1	Game 2
Pittsburgh Steelers -7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers -7
Las Vegas Raiders +7	Jacksonville Jaguars +7

You’ve decided to wager on the two favorites (Steelers and Buccaneers) to cover the spread. You’ve chosen the Steelers as your first selection and the Buccaneers as your second. Four possible results could play out, but in two different directions:

Direction 1

1. The Steelers cover the spread, and the Buccaneers also cover their spread.
2. The Steelers cover the spread, but the Buccaneers don’t.
3. Neither team covers the spread.
4. The Steelers don’t cover the spread, but the Buccaneers do.

Direction 2

1. The Buccaneers cover the spread, and the Steelers also cover their spread.
2. The Buccaneers cover the spread, but the Steelers don’t.
3. Neither team covers the spread.
4. The Buccaneers don’t cover the spread, but the Steelers do.

1. Both Teams CoverThe Steelers covering their spread gives you $50 in winnings.Your initial $55 stake then goes to the Buccaneers.The Buccaneers also covering their spread gives you another $50.You’ve made $100 profit from this one bet.Your total winnings will be $200.	1. Both Teams CoverThe Buccaneers covering their spread gives you $50 in winnings.Your initial $55 stake then goes to the Steelers.The Steelers also covering their spread gives you another $50.You’ve made $100 profit from this one bet.Your total winnings will be $200.
2. Steelers Cover, Buccaneers Don’tThe Steelers covering their spread gives you $50 in winnings.Your initial $55 stake then goes to the Buccaneers.The Buccaneers don’t cover their spread, so you lose that $55.You’ve had a net loss of $5.	2. Buccaneers Cover, Steelers Don’tThe Buccaneers covering their spread gives you $50 in winnings.Your initial $55 stake then goes to the Steelers.The Steelers don’t cover their spread, so you lose that $55.You’ve had a net loss of $5.
3. Neither Team CoversThe Steelers don’t cover their spread.The bet is canceled.You’ve lost your $55 stake on this bet.You’ve lost a total of $110.	3. Neither Team CoversThe Buccaneers don’t cover their spread.The bet is canceled.You’ve lost your $55 stake on this bet.You’ve lost a total of $110.
4. Steels Don’t Cover, Buccaneers DoThe Steelers don’t cover their spread.The bet is canceled, irrespective of how the Buccaneers perform.You’ve lost your $55 stake.	4. Buccaneers Don’t Cover, Steelers DoThe Buccaneers don’t cover their spread.The bet is canceled, irrespective of how the Steelers perform.You’ve lost your $55 stake.

Reverse bets don’t change your payouts overall; instead, they simply protect you from losing your entire stake if your first bet loses.

Head-to-Head Bets

For sports like NASCAR, golf, or other races, bettors can wager on the head-to-head results between two competitors from a large pool of possibilities. Whoever finishes the race or tournament first in the higher position wins.

This is not the same as a win bet/moneyline bet because those bets are between only two competitors going up against each other.

This type of bet works well when you’re dealing with a very large field of competitors. It’s challenging to try to pick an outright winner, so head-to-head gives you a more direct and upfront approach.

Sport-Specific Bets

Some sports have their very own types of bets, and here are just a few:

• Grand Salami (baseball and hockey): You pick the over-under for the total lines in all games played on a given day.
• Run line (baseball): This is a point spread that is always 1.5 runs.
• Puck line (hockey): Hockey’s equivalent of the run line, with a point spread always set at 1.5 points.
• Correct score (soccer): You have to predict the exact score the game will end with. It’s challenging to predict but can give you some great payouts.

Points To Remember in the Future

Now that you’re armed with this information, it’s important that you temper your newfound knowledge with some wisdom.

First and foremost, understand that complexity does not equal profitability. Honestly, the more complex a bet is, the less likely you are to win because it has so many moving parts. You don’t change the odds to be in your favor if you make a highly complicated sports bet. So, instead of focusing on convoluted betting styles, focus on making great picks across simpler bet types. You can try some more complex approaches if that fits your betting style, of course, but don’t force yourself to try new bet types just because they sound cool.

You also need to be sure that you fully understand the type of bet that you’re making before you fork over your money. The worst thing you can do is make a bet when you aren’t totally sure how it works. You also need to check the terms on any betting sites you use for any special rules regarding more involved bets like parlays or prop bets.

Last, don’t go into a wager thinking that you should force everything into a bet type that you have your heart set on. Rather, you should try to analyze everything you can about an upcoming game and make your predictions like score, each team’s chances of winning, and how well different players will perform. From there, you can then look at what types of bets you should make. Your original idea might end up not being the best option for the predictions you’ve actually made.

The biggest takeaway from all of this is that you should choose the type of sports bet that works best for you. But whatever you do, make sure you understand everything and place your bets with the focus on fun instead of crazy profits every time.