Beyond the Friend Pool

Types of Sports Betting Explained

by Alex Connolly

Introduction

Throughout my research career thus far, I have conducted various research projects that I have been very excited about. However, of all the talks I have given, the one that has been by far been the most popular is my description of the various options in sports wagering. So today, I am going to explain the various types of sports gambling.

Moneylines

First off, the most popular sports bet is referred to as a moneyline (ML). This just simply means whether or not a team will win. For example, in the Baltimore Ravens versus Pittsburgh Steelers game in the NFL, if someone bets on “Ravens Moneyline” that means they are betting on the Ravens to win the game. This is the most common and popular bet that people can make.

 Spreads

The second most common type of bet is referred to as the pointspread (spreads). The sportsbooks put an expected difference in the scores between the teams. For example, in the NBA, the Boston Celtics may be 6-point favorites over the Dallas Mavericks. This means if you bet the Celtics -6, you are betting the Celtics to win by more than 6. If the final score is Celtics 120-100, the Celtics -6 would win as the Celtics “covered” the 6-point spread. On the other side, if you bet the Mavericks +6 it means that the Mavs have to lose by less than 6 or win outright. Celtics 120-119 would mean Mavericks +6 would win, as well as Mavericks 120-110.

 Totals

Another popular form of betting is point totals, or over/unders. In this, the sportsbook provides a total number, (adding both team’s scores), such as 9.5 in the Kansas City Royals versus Oakland Athletics game in the MLB. If you bet the over, you would need the final score of the game to add up to 10 or more, whereas the under would be 9 or less. A final score of 4-3 (7) would hit the under, where an 8-3 (11) would be over. Totals, similar to spreads, are provided by the sportsbook as a single number, but in online sports gambling can be moved to another number, with a shift in odds (gambling odds are fairly complicated and I won’t go into detail here, but I could in a future blog as they impact a large part of sports gambling).

 Player Props

The fourth type of bets are known as player props. This is betting on any particular player stat. For example, Conor McDavid in the NHL to score a goal, or LeBron James in the NBA to have 10 rebounds, or Patrick Mahomes in the NFL to throw 2 touchdowns, or Shohei Ohtani in MLB to steal a base. There are a wide variety of player props that can be bet across all sports.

Future Bets

Future bets are a different way to bet, this is on a team to win a championship. The Lakers to win the NBA, the Chiefs to win the NFL, etc., are all future bets, events that will happen in the future.

Prop Bets

Similarly, prop bets are other various things that can be bet on. This can be anything from the Gatorade color being poured on the head coach to the exact final score of the game. This can involve almost everything not previously talked about.

Parlay Bets

And finally, parlays are a combination of all of the above. Parlays involve people putting multiple bets together to win more money. In a parlay, if you put 5 football teams to win, and four of those teams win you will lose your bet. One loss means the whole bet loses, but the more teams you include the better payout you can get. As such, this is an incredibly exciting – but incredibly risky – type of bet. In future blogs, we may go more in depth about parlay betting.

Responsible Gambling

In general, our research has found that the more popular, basic bets (i.e., moneylines, spreads) are associated with more responsible gambling, while the more niche bets (i.e., player props, prop bets) are associated with a lack of responsible play. Above all though. Parlays appear to be the type of sports gambling that can lead to the most trouble, due to its impulsive and exciting nature. In the next blog we will delve more into this concept of responsible play, and what may be associated with it.

If you are concerned that you might be at risk or are falling into problem sports gambling, this page can help and you can always reach out to us here.

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