What is Sports Betting? -And What Type of Terms They Have

Sports betting can easily be defined as one of the most widely-spread forms of gambling and now let’s to know what means sports betting. In general terms, sports betting placing a wager; commonly referred to as a bet, on the outcome of a particular sports event. It dates back hundreds of years ago, although it is difficult to trace back exactly where and when it all started. It’s safe to say people have been wagering on the results of sports events ever since the latter came to be recognized as such. Some suggest bets were placed for the first time in Ancient Greece; while others insist there is evidence of similar betting activities even before that.

In the last two decades, many established brick and mortar bookmakers went online, so there are plenty of specialized betting websites to choose from. Bets can be placed on all kinds of sports ranging from popular options like football and basketball to horse or greyhounds racings. However, some jurisdictions have outlawed such activities, deeming them illegal. But in most countries, sports betting considered a legitimate form of gambling, licensed and regulated by special commissions.

Basically, the idea here is to stake your money and eventually generate some additional profit by making a correct guess in regard to a sports match result. In the event of making a correct prediction, you win. If your prediction is incorrect, you lose the sum you’ve put on a stake. But this is only the shorter answer to the question “What is sports betting?”. There are plenty of other things one needs to take into consideration. Read on for more detailed information.

The bookmaker’s role on bets

The bookmaker, also known as “a betting agency” or “sportsbook” is a company or a person that provides the sports betting services at odds, agreed upon in advance. To put it simply, the bookmaker is where punters go to make their predictions and place their wagers on a particular sports event. Most bookmakers concentrate their attention on professional sports, such as horse racing and football for example.

The bookmakers are also the ones who offer the odds for sports events. Their profits predominantly generated not by the odds but by the markets, they’ve put on offer. Some of the most popular markets include Winner, First Goal Scorer, Half-Time Result, and Correct Score, among many others. In addition, punters can attempt to make several correct predictions and place bets on several selections. Such multiple selections known as Accumulators or Parleys and may result in greater profits for the punter, provided that all predictions correct.

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The bookmakers, too, aim at generating profits, that is only natural. As determining who the game’s winner will be is out their control, the bookmakers could lose a substantial amount of money in case many punters manage to make a correct prediction. To reduce their losses to a minimum; the bookmakers run their books in a specific method to ensure they will generate profits regardless of the games’ outcome. This is the reason why the bookies set the odds in such a way that enables them to collect commissions on all placed wagers. By creating a “balanced book” the bookmakers are enabled to pay out roughly the same amount; regardless of the events’ results.

Nowadays, placing a bet on your favorite team or sportsman is exceptionally easy and quick. As was previously mentioned, many respected land-based bookmakers went online and now bets can placed at their websites. Basically, all that’s required is to register with an account. With the advance of mobile technologies, bets can placed on the go, via smartphones and tablets. What further adds to the convenience is the fact that many online bookmakers offer detailed explanations of terms and even provide punters with helpful tips. In fact, online betting comes with a number of other advantages too. Most sports betting websites easy to use, not to mention punters’ personal and financial details are heavily encrypted. So there’s no need to worry in regard to security.

Registered punters are also able to benefit from a number of promotional offers and bonuses, designed to increase their chances of winning. Most reputable online bookmakers are rather generous in this respect. Those, who bet regularly are awarded free bets and enjoy a number of special promotions. And finally, in many cases, web-based betting providers offer very competitive odds, and all seasoned punters know what this means. The better the odds, the bigger your returns will be. What’s more, one can register at several web bookmakers and compare the odds they offer.

What are odds mean?

Allow us to proceed with a more detailed explanation of this popular betting term. To put it shortly, bets are multiplied with the amount of money you place as a bet in order to calculate what profits you will generate in case you’vе made a correct prediction. As you can probably see for yourself, bets are closely linked to your probability of winning. Odds also determine whether or not a wager has a good value. Many punters and bookmakers refer to odds as “being the “price” of the wager”.

Each wager can have one of three types of odds – Odds On, Odds Against, and Even Odds. The first type, Odds On, indicates that the amount of money you can possibly win will be less than the amount you have wagered. The second type, Odds Against, shows that your overall profits will be greater than your stake’s amount. You’ve probably guessed what the Even Odds stand for, namely, your winning bet’s returns will be equal to the size of the said bet. Keep in mind, the greater the odds are, the higher your chances of winning. But if the odds are high, this also means winning bets will earn you smaller profits. Therefore, lower odds mean it’s much harder to win but if you manage to do so, you will generate greater profits with your winning bet.

It also worth mentioning there three formats used to express the odds. The most commonly spread one the Decimal format, where a point or a dot used to separate the whole number part from the fractional part, like this 2.00, 1.50, etc. This odds format is exceptionally easy to use and has quickly become the standard. Then again, there is the Fractional format, commonly used in the UK. As the name suggests, a fractional line used. For instance, odds expressed in fractional format look like this 1/1, 4/6, 7/4 and so on. Meanwhile, in the United States bookmakers typically use the American format, also known as Moneyline. Moneyline odds can be either positive or negative, for example, +200 or -150.

Most common types of bets in sports

Now let us proceed by explaining the most common types of bets. As there are way too many of those, we’ll focus on the most commonly placed bets – straight and win bets, parlays, futures, and in-play bets. But these are only some of the options, punters can choose from. Placing straight bets is especially popular among fans of American football. It sort of resembles the Win Bet, but not entirely. You supposed to choose which team will win in your opinion; but a Point Spread created for the purpose of making the two teams equal favorites. You can either back up the favorite to win or go for the underdog.

The parleys, on the other hand, consist of two or more selections. A parley, consisting of two selections known as a “Double”, while one with three picks called “treble”. In many cases, punters pick up to 14 selections, sometimes even more. The odds adjusted in accordance with the number of picks, punters have grouped together. Parleys often considered risky and there a good reason why – in order to win, you supposed to predict correctly all selections the parley consists of.

Futures, also known as Outrights, wagers placed on who you think the winner of a specific tournament, competition or league might. Such bets placed before the respective event starts. And finally, the last type of bet the In-Play bet, which can prove very advantageous to punters. In-Play betting, also known as Live Betting, allows for wagers placed on events, which currently in progress. Bets accepted from the very beginning until the end of the game.

Sports betting legislation

Placing bets on sports, both offline and online considered legal in most countries throughout the globe. Naturally, if you’re looking for an online betting destination; you should first make sure you bet at a legitimate web-based sports bookmaker. Usually, legit bookmakers stand out with greater transparency and openly display their license numbers, as well as the names of the authorities and commissions which regulate them. Keep in mind different jurisdictions impose different regulatory practices, some are more strict than others and vice versa. This naturally reflected in the betting operators’ fairness to punters. Many online bookmakers welcome punters from countries where such activities deemed illegal. Their argument for doing so is that since they’re based and licensed in jurisdictions where online betting is legal, they are not breaking the law.

Yet another important thing to take into consideration – in most countries, even if online sports betting completely legal, taxes imposed on punters’ winnings. In countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden sports betting winnings not taxed. Other jurisdictions, like Germany, impose taxes on wagering profits, but naturally, the percentage varies from one country to another. So it might bе a good idea to ascertain whether or not taxes imposed on betting winnings in your country of residence before you proceed to place bets.

In сonclusion, bеtting on your favoritе sport cаn be of greаt entеrtaining vаlue; not to mеntion you might end up winning a life-chаnging amount of monеy. Howevеr, you should not forgеt that to accumulаte profits; you must be fаmiliar with the tеrminology and understаnd how odds thеmselves work. In аddition, it аdvisable to get usеd to switching bеtween the odds formаts as diffеrent online bookmakеrs employ diffеrent formаts. And remembеr, you should gаmble rеsponsibly by exеrcising control ovеr your spеndings and bеtting аctivity. Don’t underestimаte the risks of losing your monеy as such possibility alwаys еxists – еven seasonеd puntеrs plаce a losing bet еvery once in a while. Plаcing bets on your fаvorite team should be fun and must not intervеne with your dаily or professionаl life and aсtivities.

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