Guide
Sportsbetting is a game of skill
The challenge is to gather as much information as you can about a game, weigh the probabilities of each team winning by an analysis of your data, and then compare your opinion to the oddsmaker's. Make the right call and you're the winner. Pretty simple! While luck may be a part of the outcome of an individual game, and luck will on occasion go against you, it will balance out in the long run; the skilled and well researched will win.
Consistently winning at sports betting is not about luck! It is about being prepared, taking the time to investigate the team, the players, the venue etc. It's about the ability to discern all the facts, notice trends, and evaluate probability. Then your goal is to stay consistent in order to have long-term success in your betting.
Remember, it's you against the oddsmaker, not the bookmaker. The bookmaker is the liaison between the bettors and the oddsmaker. Bookmakers operate on a small profit margin and, ideally, the bookmaker likes to see half the money wagered on one team and half on the other, assuring 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 challenge for you is to outwit the oddsmaker and his views on each team's chances to win. 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. You only need to win a little more than half of the bets you make.
Do your homework, bet selectively, and 55 percent winning bets is definitely achievable. A very realistic target is 56-58 percent. With those percentages you will have a very profitable, as well as a gratifying hobby. That's right, win less than 60% of the time and more than 55% of the time and your hobby will be very profitable.
A straight bet (a.k.a. "side") is one of the most common forms of sports betting where you pick in advance which team will win the game.
For baseball, you bet on which team will win the game outright.
For basketball or football, there will generally be a point spread as part of the bet. If the number is positive (+), then you add the points to your team's score. If the number is negative (-), then subtract those points from your team's score. The side with the higher score after the points are applied is the winner.
Straight Bets Payoffs - For football and basketball the payoff is $100 for every $110 wagered unless otherwise noted. It is customary when making a bet that you put up the juice as part of your wager. Therefore, $110 will be wagered if you specify a $100 straight bet.
For sports involving no point spread (such as baseball or boxing), the money line (ML) determines the payoff. If the money line is a negative number, then you wager the amount of the money line for each $100 of your bet. For example, if the money line is -135, then you would wager $135 to win your $100 bet. If the money line is a positive number, then you will wager $100 to win the money line. For example, if the money line is +125, then you would wager $100 to win $125.
When entering an ML wager using the "base" amount, always enter the amount you wish to WIN when wagering on a favorite (negative number), and enter the amount you wish to RISK when wagering on an underdog (positive number).
You also may choose to "risk" or "win" a specific amount regardless of whether you are wagering on a favorite or an underdog.
- A Parlay is a group of straight bets of either spreads/moneylines or totals combined into one bet with an increased pay out (see chart below). For the parlay to be a winner, all of the individual selections of the parlay need to win. If there is a push, cancellation, or no action in one or more of your parlay picks, the wager steps down to the next lower number of teams. Two team parlays with one selection resulting in a push, cancellation, or no action, reverts to a straight wager. If all the picks of your parlay are pushes, cancellations, or no action, your parlay is graded as a TIE and the risked funds will be returned to your account.
- You can parlay different games in the same parlay and also mix different sports For almost all sports, parlays including spreads or moneylines to totals of the same game are valid. For football, you can parlay side to total of the same game when the ratio between the spread and the total is greater than 3 to 1. You are allowed to parlay moneylines to totals on selected options in baseball and hockey.
- Open-parlays are available for phone wagering. In this option you may choose to leave one or more selections in your parlay "open". You can call at a later time to fill in the spots on that parlay if it is still pending (no losing selections). More than 50% of the parlay must have selections made when creating an open-parlay.
Open Parlays
Open Parlays allow you to make your Parlay selections at different times or even different days.
Example 3 Team Parlay$100 to win $600
Bears-8
Patriots -14
The open spot can be left open for up to seven days.
A teaser is a group of straight bets and/or totals combined into one bet. The difference between a parlay and a teaser is that with a teaser, the line you bet against for each individual wager is moved to your favor by the number of points of the teaser. If the regular line is -10 and you have a 6-point teaser, then your line would be -4.
As with a parlay, all of the individual parts need to win for the teaser to be a winner. Teasers are not available for baseball or hockey.
Teaser Payoffs
Please contact office for further information in regards to payoffs
Push
Please contact office for further information in regards to rules
- These individual bets have titles that explain on what event or action or player the wager is placed.
- A Proposition bet can only be made as a straight wager and are not allowed to be used in any other wager form such as Parlays or Teasers or Ifs.
- Proposition bets are always money line bets: some are totals bets, some are side bets, some utterly unique. Rather than attempt to explain the vast array of proposition bets, we'll give you a few sample proposition bets that show just some of the possibilities.
Total Passing Yards by Jay Cutler (1st Half)
Total Points scored by the Bulls (Game 4)
Last team to score.
A Round Robin is a type of bet that takes your picks and arranges them in as many combination of parlays as one would have depending on the number of teams, which in this case would be anywhere between 3 to 8 teams. The combination of parlays can be made in 2, 3, 4, or 5 team parlays. For example if you were to pick a 5 team Round Robin with 3 team parlay combinations for $ 100 each way there would be a total of ten - 3 team parlay combinations with a total risk of $1,000 to win a total of $6,000 if all the sides or totals are -110.
Same rules apply on the Round Robin wager as the parlay bets. If a pick is to end in a tie all combinations with the pick that ended up in a tie will be reverted and the payout will be recalculated.
A future bet is a straight bet on an event or outcome that is relatively far off in the future
For example, you can bet that the Chicago Bears will win the Super Bowl long before the NFL season even starts, or that Dale Earnhardt will win the Winston Cup before the first race in the series has even been run.
Futures bets are money line bets and the odds are continually updated during the period leading up to the time when the bets are taken off the board. You receive the odds that are in effect at the time you place your bet. Because circumstances can change so much from the date the bet is offered to the date of the actual event it makes predicting outcomes very difficult. Futures bets often offer very attractive, high odds to the bettor.
If-Bets (Win Only)
- An If-Bet is a chain of wagers that carry over to the next bet only if the player wins the initial selection. The player has to wager a fixed amount on the first selection. A new selection can be placed with another fixed amount, up to the payout amount of the subsequent wager.
- The player must win the first wager in order for the remaining wagers to have action. If the first wager loses or pushes, there is no subsequent action. As each selection wins, there will be action on the following wager. There may be up to 15 selections in one If-Bet. Correlation restrictions for If- Bets are the same as they are for parlays.
- If "action" is selected on baseball moneyline wagers, the total risk amounts deducted at the time of placing an If-Bet may exceed the amount of the initial wager selection. This risk increase is due to a potential price change, in the event of a pitching change. To avoid available funds being frozen until the wager is closed, always choose listed pitchers in your If-Bet selections.
- Examples:
Example One:
Place a fixed wager on the St. Louis Rams (-7, -110) for $220 to win $200.
If the Rams win, a fixed wager, up to the payout amount of the previous wager may be placed on the next selection. The subsequent wager may risk up to the previous payout of $420.
A wager on the Detroit Lions (-3 -110) for $330 to win $300 is placed.
If the Lions also win, the player would collect winnings on both wagers with a total profit of $500.
Example Two:Place a fixed wager on the St. Louis Rams (-7, -110) for $220 to win $200.
If the Rams win, a fixed wager, up to the payout amount of the previous wager may be placed on the next selection. The subsequent wager may risk up to the previous payout of $420.
A wager on the Detroit Lions (-3 -110) for $330 to win $300 is placed.
If the Lions selection loses, the player would collect winnings on the Ram (+$200) and lose (-$330) on the Lions.
Example Three:Place a fixed wager on the St. Louis Rams (-7, -110) for $220 to win $200.
If the Rams lose, any further selections after the Rams selection will be "No Action". The player would lose only (-$220) on the first wager.
If-Bets (Win and Push)
Same as If-Bets (win only) but in this case, a subsequent wager has action if the prior bet wins OR PUSHES.
Example:
Place a fixed wager on the St. Louis Rams to win with spread of (-7).
If the Rams win or PUSH, a fixed wager, up to the original amount, is placed on the Detroit Lions to win with spread of (-3). In the event of a push in initial game, If Detroit wins, player would win $100.00. If Detroit would lose, player would lose $110.00.
Rolling If-Bets
A Rolling If-Bet (RIF) is a straight, parlay or teaser wager made contingent on the outcome of a previously placed wager that is still pending. The pending wager can be a wager on an event that is in progress or it can be a wager on an event that has yet to begin. The pending wager cannot be an existing IF-Bet, Reverse, any play with an open leg (Parlay or Teaser), a Free Play. You can only make a RIF from a Straight Bet.
- Reverse Bets are simply "if bets" that work in both directions.
- An Action Reverse Bet is double action: the remaining bets in the sequence will be placed if the preceding bet is a win, a "push," or is cancelled for any reason. An "if bet" (double action) follows the sequence "if Team 1 wins, ties or cancels then Team 2." Placing a reverse bet will include that sequence and its opposite: "if Team 1 wins, ties or cancels then Team 2" AND "if Team 2 wins, ties or cancels then Team 1."
- A Win Reverse Bet is single action: the remaining bets in the sequence will be placed if the preceding bet wins only. An "if bet" (single action) follows the sequence "if Team 1 wins only then Team 2." Placing a win reverse bet will include that sequence and its opposite: "if Team 1 wins only then Team 2" AND "if Team 2 wins only then Team 1."
- As you can see, Reverse Bets contain two "if bet" sequences, and you must lay down an equal amount for each one: an if bet for $110 is $220 as a reverse bet.
When you bet on totals, you are betting on whether the total points scored in the game will be higher or lower than the posted total.
Totals Payoffs - For football and basketball the payoff for a winner is $100 for every $110 wagered unless otherwise noted.
It is customary when making a bet that you put up the juice as part of your wager. Therefore, $110 will be wagered if you specify a $100 total bet.For baseball totals, the total points seldom move. Instead, applying a money line to the total creates line moves. Therefore, your payoff will depend on the money line at the time of the wager.
- While the point spread is concerned with who wins and by how much, the money line is solely interested in who wins.
- The best way to explain the money line is to show an example of it in action, so we'll make up a hypothetical baseball game between the White Sox and the Cubs.
- When looking at the odds for the game, the bettor would see something like:
White Sox +120
Cubs -130
In this instance, the Cubs are the favored team, as signified by the - (minus) written in front of the 130, while the White Sox are the underdogs, as designated by the + (plus) in front of the 120. - What these numbers mean is that those wishing to bet on the favorite, the Cubs, will have to risk $130 to win $100, while those wanting to wager on the underdog, the White Sox, will risk $100 to win $120.
- It's important to remember that even though money lines are expressed in units of $100, you do not have to bet that much money. The money line will work just as easily with a $5 or $10 wager as it does with a $100 bet.
Live betting gets you right into the action!
Rules for General Main Live Lines
Lines will be offered at linemaker discretion. We do not guarantee a line at any point in the game.
Live In-Play lines are offered mainly for nationally televised games on selected sports.
All Live-Betting wagers are to be placed exclusively online.
Live lines are for the complete game score and the same outcome (same full game rules unless specified).
- Past-post: If it has been proven that a bet was placed after the outcome of an event is known or after the selected participant or team has gained a material advantage (e.g. a score, etc) open and settled bets in question will be cancelled.
- Line Errors: In the event where an obvious error has been identified all bets with that error will be cancelled. In the event that the format of a match differs from our implied information, we reserve the right to void any wagers.
- Grading: If the outcome of a market cannot be verified officially, we reserve the right to delay the settlement until official confirmation is obtained. In the event of an incorrect settlement, we reserve the right to correct them at anytime.
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