Horse Race Betting

Introduction to Sports Betting . . .
(article written by Tanya at CasinoTop 10)

Do you think you know sports? If you feel that you know sports well enough to know the outcomes of various sporting contests, you may be interested in sports betting. Since you can now place bets on online gambling sites, sports betting is easier than it has ever been before. If you're going to bet on sports, here's what you need to know.

If you're betting on sports, you have to know about point spreads. If the Steelers are playing the Lions, anyone could probably figure out that the Steelers will win 99 percent of the time. For this reason, you can't just put money on the Steelers to win. To get an even money bet on the Steelers, you will have to give points.

What this means is that the Steelers must not just win, they must win by the amount of the point spread. For example if the spread is -8, the Steelers must win by more than eight for a bet on the Steelers to be a winner. If you take Detroit + 8, you win as long as the Steelers do not win by eight or more.

Vigorish

Sports books make money not by gambling, but by keeping the amount bet relatively equal on each side and taking a small fee from the losers. This fee, usually 10 percent of the bet, is called the vigorish. What this means is that if you bet $100 on the Steelers giving eight points and they win by nine or more, you get $100. If they fail to cover the spread, however, you must pay $110. This extra $10 is where the sports book gets paid.

Money Lines

If you don't like spread betting, you can also bet money lines. A money line is simply a way of expressing odds. If the money line on the Steelers game is Detroit +210 Pittsburgh -$240, it simply means that you are getting 2.1-to-1 to take Detroit, and giving 2.4-to-1 if you take Pittsburgh. To win $100 if Pittsburgh wins, you will have to put $240 at risk. If you put $100 on Detroit, you get $210 if you win (but don't count on it).

Horse Race Betting

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