COMMON BET TYPES
WIN BETS
Win bets also known as moneyline bets is the most basic form of betting there is. You are simply betting on the athlete or team that you believe will win an event.
Let’s look at an example:
You are betting on the 2020 Pipe Masters and you believe that Gabriel Medina will win, therefore you place a bet on Gabriel Medina and if he ends up winning, you will also win your bet. Super simple!
HEAD TO HEAD
In head to head betting, also known as two-way betting, you essentially bet on the outcome of the match, win, lose and in the case of football, draw. Head to head betting that involves the draw as a third outcome is also known as Three-way betting. Another sport where three-way betting is popular is Ice hockey. Most sports however, only have two possible outcomes.
Let’s look at an example:
Silvana Lima is up against Sage Erickson in a surf heat. A bookmaker will offer odds on either athlete to win. Say you place a bet on Silvana Lima, if she wins the heat, you will win your wager.
Much of the popularity of head to head betting is derived from its simplistic format.
OVER/UNDER BETTING
Over/Under betting, also known as totals is an increasingly popular type of betting. The beauty of picking over/under odds is that it doesn’t matter which team or athlete you’re supporting – it’s the result that determines whether you’re a winner. You could be betting on your favorite team, or on your nemesis team – over/under odds allow you to win bets in a competitive game. These totals bets have greater flexibility for betting fans, as they bring many other factors into play, such as injuries, substitutions, course layout etc.
Let’s look at an example:
Nyjah Huston is competing in a Street League final. Bookmakers will offer odds on his total score being over 34 points or if it will be under 34 points. If you bet Over and the total score is 34.1 points or more, you win. If the total score is 33.9 or less, you have lost your bet.
TIPS
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Last Week Doesn’t Count For Much
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Track Occurrences, Not Averages
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Don't Get Exotic
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Identify True Scoring Potential
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Consider The Situation
When first starting out in the world of sports betting, most bettors focus on head to head match result betting. This is of course natural as it is what most of us are familiar with. It takes a while before the majority of bettors begin to consider alternative markets such as betting on over or under goal or points totals.
HANDICAP BETTING
The basic concept of handicap Betting is simple: Bookmakers make a sporting event an even money contest (50-50 proposition) by adding and subtracting a number of points to and from the competition teams or athletes.
In points-based sports, an even money contest is typically created by simply adding points onto the side deemed to be the underdog.
Let’s look at an example:
If Flamengo is favourites to beat Sao Paulo, the bookmaker might give Sao Paulo a 2-0 handicap advantage. If you then place a handicap bet on Flamengo to win, but they only win the game 1-0, you will lose your bet, due to the handicap that had been applied. Effectively, in the eyes of the bookmaker, Flamengo lost the game 2-1.
Always bear in mind that in handicap betting, the handicap only applies to the selection you are betting on.
Similarly, if you placed a handicap bet on Brazil vs France, and the bookmaker had set the handicap at 3-0, your bet on Brazil would still pay out even if France won the game 2-0, as in the eyes of the bookmaker Brazil would have been 3-2 winners.
EACH WAY BETTING
Each way betting, has been very popular with bettors for many decades typically with horse racing, but also golf and F1 are popular sports for each way betting.
Essentially, an each way bet splits a wager into two separate bets. One is a win bet, the other is a place bet. To place an each way bet, you need to double your stake – so if you want to place €5 each way on an athlete, the total stake is €10.
The odds for a place bet is usually 1/5 or 1/4 of the odds for a win.
Let’s look at an example:
Let's say a golf player is 11.00 to win a tournament (10 to 1).
Unfortunately for you, your player doesn't win, but fortunately, he comes 3rd. You've put €10 each-way on that player. Receiving 1/5 the win odds for a place will see you get odds of 3.00 (2 to 1) for the €10 place portion of your each-way wager.
This will give you a full return of €30. After we deduct our total stake of €20 you have made a profit of €10.
And just imagine if your player won!
PARLAY BETS
Parlay bets also known as accumulator bets, multi bets or combo bets are an incredibly popular way to bet.
So how does it work? Essentially a multi-bet consists of two or more selections often referred to as legs. The number of selections made can vary although most bookmakers have limits on the number of legs you can include in any given multi as well as the total amount that can be paid out on a multi-bet. A two leg multi-bet is often referred to as a double, a three-leg multi a treble and a four-leg multi a quady.
HOW ARE THE ODDS CALCULATED?
The odds for each leg are multiplied into the next. So if you have a double where the first selection is odds of 2.00 and the second selection is odds of 1.50, the odds you will receive for your multi-bet is 2.00 multiplied by 1.50, which equals 3.00.
Let's look at an example:
You have bet on four Premier League matches. You've taken Manchester United to win at odds of 1.75, Chelsea to win at odds of 1.90, Liverpool to win at 2.20 with Arsenal and Tottenham to play a draw at odds of 3.40.
To calculate the odds for your 4 leg selection, simply multiply the individual odds.
1,75 x 1,90 x 2,20 x 3,40 = 24,87
PROPOSITION BETS
Proposition bets also known as Specials can be on just about anything. Basically it means that you wager on an individual player or specific event that typically do not have an effect on the outcome of the game or contest. For example which player will score the first goal in a game or which skater will get the first 9 club at a Street League event.
