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With college football betting a smart bettor who practices proper money management can make some nice profits. Once a bettor begins to understand college football odds (also known as spreads or lines), he can gain a better understanding of how the sportsbooks set their numbers. The books set a lot of these football odds with the public in mind. They know big money will be coming in on public teams like Notre Dame, USC, Ohio State, etc. Betting against these teams in certain situations can offer some great value and Doc's team of professional handicappers located on the left side bar under "The Advisory Board" can help you pick these winners. Always shop around when looking for college football odds. Many sportsbooks release different numbers and football odds always tend to differ at each sportsbook. If you are truly interested in finding the best odds and lines, it is always best to have funded accounts at least three sportsbooks and if you need winning picks we can help. Remember, on a college Saturday the sportsbooks have to set lines and spreads on over 45 games. We simply find a few of their mistakes.
How to read NFL Football betting lines:NFL odds or NFL Lines which has the same meaning are posted each week during the NFL football betting season and here’s a brief explanation on how to understand the NFL odds released by the Las Vegas Bookmakers. As you can see from the game line example below, the Washington Redskins are a -3.5 point favorite. Therefore, this means the Redskins must win the football game by more than 3.5 points. In order for the Dallas Cowboys to win the side bet, they must win the game straight up or not lose the game by 3.5 points. When you see the high numbers, it’s normally the O/U total and in this case, 49.5 means at the end of the game, when you total both scores, you then compare it to the total. If the final score is Washington 24 Dallas 22, the total combined score is 46 and the UNDER is the winning bet. Since Washington won by only 2.0 points, Dallas +3.5 is the winner of the side bet.
Example of NFL Odds--------------------
Dallas 49.5 Washington -3.5 How to read College Football betting lines:College Football odds or CFB Lines are set by the Sportsbooks either in Las Vegas or from the Offshore Sportsbooks. If you’re new to sports betting, here’s a brief explanation on how to read the College Football odds page. Using the CFB Odds example below, here’s how to read the line. Florida is a -9.5 favorite; therefore, this means the Florida Gators must win the football game by more than 9.5 points to win the bet. Texas on the other hand can win the game straight up or not lose by 9.5 points. With the total set at 52.5, the final combined score will determined the over/under result. If the game finished Florida 40 and Texas 27, the total combined score is 67; therefore the game went OVER the 52.5 total. Plus, Florida won by 13 points, therefore, they win the side bet.
Example of CFB Odds--------------------
Florida -9.5 Texas 52.5 How to read CFL Football betting lines:CFL Football odds are released by the odds makers and bet on by the public. Here’s a brief explanation using the CFL odds below as our example. The Edmonton Eskimos are a -2.5 point favorite vs. Toronto. In order for you to win your football bet, Edmonton must win the game by more than 2.5 points. If you’re betting on Toronto, the Argonauts must win the game straight up or not lose by -2.5 points. With the OVER/UNDER set at 49.5, this means when the final score is accounted for, if both score calculated is over 49.5 and you bet the OVER, you win your bet. If the final combined score is below 49.5 and you chose the UNDER, you won your bet. Let’s say the final score is Toronto 27 Edmonton 24, the total combined score is 51, so the OVER would have been the winning Total and the Argos would have won the side bet as a +2.5 point underdog.
Example of CFL Odds:-------------------
Toronto 49.5 Edmonton -2.5 How to read NBA Basketball betting lines:The NBA Basketball odds are released during the season by the linesman at various Sportsbooks and the public have the option of betting the side or total. Some Sportsbooks will post prop bets which is another form of betting. Using the NBA Odds example below, here’s how to read the betting line. Miami is posted as a -8.5 point favorite, in order for you to win your bet; Miami must win the game by more than 8.5 points. If you bet on Utah +8.5, the Jazz must win the game straight up or not lose by 8.5 points. With the total set at 179.5, when you calculate the final combined score, it will tell you if the game went over or under the posted total. If the final score finishes Miami 80 – Utah 79, the total combined score is 159; therefore, the game went UNDER the 179.5 posted total. With Miami winning by only 1 point, Utah would have been the correct side bet.
Example of NBA Odds--------------------
Miami -8.5 Utah 179.5 How to read College Basketball betting lines:The following College basketball odds are released at BetCRIS Sportsbook, as they provide the CBB odds at the PST. Let’s use the CBB Odds below as an example on how to understand the college hoops betting lines. Duke is a -7.5 point favorite vs. North Carolina, in order to win your side bet on Duke, the Blue Devils must win the game by more than 7.5 points. In order to win your North Carolina bet, the Tarheels must win straight up or not lose by 7.5 points. With the OVER/UNDER set at 144.5, this means the total combined score must be over or under 144.5 to win your totals bet, whichever you may choose. If the final score finishes Duke 90 North Carolina 88, the total combined score is 178. Therefore, the total is OVER 144.5 and if you picked the OVER at 144.5, you won your bet. However, if you picked Duke at -7.5 as a side wager, you lost your bet, as they did not win by 7.5 points.
Example of College Basketball odds:-----------------------------------
Duke -7.5 North Carolina 144.5 How to read MLB Baseball betting lines:Major League Baseball odds are released each day during the summer at the PST and sports bettors has the wagering option of betting on National League and/or American league baseball games. Here’s an example on how to read the MLB Baseball odds, using the line example below. The New York Yankees are a -140 favorite vs. the Red Sox, this means you must wager $140 dollars to win $100 if you want to bet on the Yankees. If you want to bet on the Red Sox, you must wager +100 to win +120. The total is 10.5, which means the total combined score at the end of the game will determined if the game went over or under the total. If the score finished NYY 5 Boston 4, NYY bettors win +100 and receive their $140 back. And if bettors picked the UNDER 10.5, they have won their wager as the total combined score was 9.0.
Example of MLB Baseball odds----------------------------
New York Yankees - PK -140 – 10.5 Boston Red Sox - PK +120 - 10.5 How to read NHL Hockey betting lines:The NHL Hockey odds posted at the Phoenix Sports Ticket are courtesy of Bookmaker.com. The NHL Hockey betting season starts in October and ends at the end of the Stanley cup playoffs in June. Here’s an explanation on how to wager on hockey using the NHL odds example below. The Montreal Canadiens are listed as a PK -140 favorite vs. the Rangers, this means Montreal must win the game and to win $100, you will need to wager $140. For the Rangers bettors, you must wager $100 to win +120. The O/U is set at 5.5, this means the total combined score at the end of the game will decide if the game went over or under the total. If the game finished New York Rangers 5 and Montreal 2, the total combined score is 7 goals; therefore, the OVER would have been the correct hockey pick.
Example of NHL Hockey odds---------------------------Montreal Canadiens PK -140 – 5.5 New York Rangers PK +120 – 5.5
Aside from simple wagers--betting a friend that one's favorite baseball team will win its division, for instance, or buying a football "square" for the Super Bowl--sports betting is commonly done through a bookmaker. Legal sports bookmakers exist throughout the world (perhaps most notably in Las Vegas). In areas where sports betting is illegal, bettors usually make their sports wagers with illicit bookmakers (known colloquially as "bookies") and on the Internet, where thousands of online bookmakers accept wagers on sporting events around the world. (In the United States, the legality of Internet wagering is ambiguous, due to the fact that online bookmakers generally operate outside of the U.S. Some online bookmakers do not accept wagers from the U.S. due to these unresolved legal questions.) The bookmaker earns a commission or "vigorish" by regarding the money at risk as less than the size of the bet placed. A common line is a $110 bet on a fair coin which pays $210 to win and $0 to lose. On this line, it costs $220 to bet both sides of the same coin simultaneously, but the combined bet always pays $210. The $10 loss constitutes the vig. There are opposing positions on whether the winner or loser can be construed as paying the vig, but this debate is not especially meaningful. If you view $110 to win $210 on a fair coin as $100 at risk, then it will appear as if the loser pays the vig; if you view the same line as $110 at risk, then it will appear as if the winner pays the vig. It happens that standard practice among bookies is to adjust odds so the amount at risk remains constant from the winning side of the proposition, hence the common perception that the loser pays the vig. Vigs expressed as percentages suffer from the same perceptual bias. On the line as given in this example, for a fair coin, the bookie has an expectation of making $5 for each $110 bet placed, which is often divided out and expressed as 4.5% Odds on teams or opponents are quoted in terms of the favorite (the team that is expected to win, thus requiring a riskier wager) and the underdog.
Bookmakers generally offer two types of wagers on the winner of a sporting event: a straight-up or money line bet, or a point spread wager. Moneylines and straight-up prices are used to set odds on sports such as soccer, baseball and hockey (the scoring nature of which renders point spreads impractical) as well as individual vs. individual matches, like boxing. For these sports, bookmakers in Europe and Asia generally use straight-up odds, which are quoted based on a payout for a single bet unit; for example, a 2-1 favorite would be listed at a price of 1.50, whereas an underdog returning twice the amount wagered would be listed at a price of 3.00.
American bookmakers generally use moneylines, which are quoted in terms of the amount required to win $100 on a favorite, or the amount paid for a $100 bet on an underdog. The amount "won" in a bet is the net amount over and above the initial bet. If a person wins $200 on a bet of $100, the bookmaker actually pays the winner $300 (i.e. $200 plus the initial bet of $100).
For example, a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs might have a moneyline on St. Louis (the favorite) at -200 and Chicago (the underdog) at +180. A bettor looking to take St. Louis must risk $200 for every $100 he wishes to win over and above the initial $200 bet. A person wagering on Chicago will win $180 for every $100 he bets.
The +180 moneyline on Chicago includes a 20 cent "dime line". Bookmakers generally use a "dime line" with moneylines to calculate the vigorish they receive on losing wagers. Without the 20 cent dimeline in the example above, the Chicago moneyline would be +200.
For favorites of -120 to -150, the difference between the favorite and underdog is 10 cents; i.e., the underdog to a -120 favorite is priced at +110. The discrepancy between prices rises for favorites of -160 or higher.
Unlike point spread bets, a moneyline wager requires only that the team wagered upon win the match. In sports such as baseball, where certain teams can be heavy favorites against weaker opponents (sometimes as much as -350 or higher), the moneyline system requires that a hefty sum be risked on the favorite, while enticing underdog players with a higher payout.
In sports such as basketball or American football, betting on the point spread is more popular, although money line odds are usually offered as well. A point spread wager typically requires a bettor to risk $110 to win $100, the extra $10 being the bookmaker's vigorish if the wager loses. However, bettors backing the favorite collect only if their team wins by more than a specific victory margin, which is set at the time of the wager. This is called "covering the spread". Similarly, underdog bettors can collect even when their team loses, as long as they win against the point spread by losing by fewer points than were quoted by the bookmaker. For example, suppose that a college football game between Kansas State and Kansas had K-State as a 27 point favorite (quoted as K-State -27, or Kansas +27):
If Kansas State defeats Kansas by more than 27 points, they have covered the spread and bettors on K-State would receive $100 on a $110 bet. Kansas bettors lose the $110 they wagered. If Kansas defeats K-State, bettors on Kansas would receive $100 on a $110 bet. K-State bettors lose the $110 they wagered. If Kansas loses by less than 27 points, they have won against the spread. Bettors on both sides are then treated exactly as if Kansas had won the game. If K-State wins by exactly 27 points, the wager is called a "push", and neither side wins. Standard practice by U.S. bookmakers is to return the stakes of all bettors on the game in full. To prevent pushes and ensure that they receive their commission on losing wagers, bookmakers often set point spreads that include a half-point. Another common wager available for sporting events involves predicting the combined total score between the competing teams in a game. Such wagers are known as "totals" or "over/unders." For example, the K-State/Kansas football game described above might have a total of 55 points. A bettor could wager that both teams will combine for over 55 points, and play the "over." Or, she could predict that the score will fall under this amount, and play the "under." As with point spreads, bookmakers frequently set the totals at a number involving a half-point (i.e., 55.5), to reduce the occurrence of pushes.
In the United Kingdom, each-way golf betting is serviced by twenty or more bookmakers, some of which, including the larger UK and Irish bookmakers, bet in running. Before the tournament starts, bookies pay out on a quarter for the first five places, but the each way terms lesson throughout each and every five day tournament, with win-only markets usually available during the final round. Dead heats pay out a proportion of the win or each-way return.
Many bookmakers offer several alternative bets, including the following:
Proposition bets. These are wagers made on a very specific outcome of a match. Examples include guessing the number of goals each team scores in a soccer match, betting whether a wide receiver in a football game will net more or less than a set amount of total yardage, or wagering that a baseball player on one team will accumulate more hits than another player on the opposing team. Parlays. A parlay involves multiple bets (usually up to 12) and rewards successful bettors with a large payout. For example, a bettor could include four different wagers in a four-team parlay, whereby he is wagering that all four bets will win. If any of the four bets fails to cover, the bettor loses the parlay, but if all four bets win, the bettor receives a substantially higher payout (usually 10-1 in the case of a four-teamer) than if he made the four wagers separately. Run line, puck line or goal line bets. These are wagers offered as alternatives to straight-up/moneyline prices in baseball, hockey or soccer, respectively. These bets feature a fixed point spread that offers a higher payout for the favorite and a lower one for the underdog. For example, the above-described Cardinals/Cubs baseball game might offer a run line of St. Louis -1.5 (+100) and Chicago +1.5 (-120). A bettor taking St. Louis on the run line can avoid risking $200 to win $100 on the moneyline, but will collect only if the Cardinals win by 2 runs or more. Similarly, a run line wager on the Cubs will pay if Chicago loses by no more than a run, but it requires the bettor to risk $120 to win $100. Future wagers. This bet predicts a future accomplishment by a team or player. One example is a bet that a certain NFL team will win the Super Bowl for the upcoming season. Odds for such a bet generally are expressed in a ratio of units paid to unit wagered. The team wagered upon might be 50-1 to win the Super Bowl, which means that the bet will pay 50 times the amount wagered if the team does so. See also Sports betting systems