Understanding the Different Types of Sports Bets

Sports betting is quickly becoming a popular pastime for people all across the country. The opportunity to make a sports game a little more interesting and maybe make a few bucks is too good to miss for some.

When you first start placing bets, you can be met with a bewildering set of options. There are lots of different types of bets you can make, some depending on the sport you want to bet on, and it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the types of bets before you start your gambling career.

Here is a guide to a lucky seven of the most popular types of bets you can make, and a little strategy on how to use them. If you start small and build your pot slowly, you can keep every game interesting, and maybe bring win some big money.

Points Spreads and Spread Betting Spread betting is an incredibly popular way to bet on football and basketball, as well as a lot of other team sports. A bookmaker will look at the teams competing in a game and award or deduct points to create a favorite and underdog depending on team form or home field advantage for instance. If you bet on the favorite to win, you are betting that they will win by more points than the difference between the two teams' points to 'beat the spread'. Bet on the loser and you win if they lose by less than the difference, or win the game.

Handicap Bets Handicap bets have a similar principal to spread bets, but use a different points system to set odds and give the gambler options. You can increase the chance of a win, but at lower odds giving you a smaller return. You can increase your return by betting at higher odds, but the odds reflect the reduced chance of a winning bet. This type of betting is often used for horse racing, or sports where a high number of outcomes are possible from the game or contest.

Accumulators Accumulator bets, sometimes called parlays or multiples, are bets on the outcome of multiple games or contests on a single wager. A simple example of this is an accumulator bet on all football games in a league on any given Sunday. If there were six games, and you correctly called the results of all 6 in a single wager, your winnings can be multiplied by the odds of each individual game, leading to massive returns from low stakes. If one outcome is incorrect, however, the whole bet loses. This is often a popular way to bet on European sports.

The Win Bet This is one of the simplest types of bets that you can make. A win bet is simply that, a bet on someone, something or some team to win. The odds will vary greatly between sports and teams, but the principle is the same in every instance. You are betting on success.

Future Betting Future betting is a way of getting higher odds than normal from regular competitions. Bookmakers will often take bets on the outcome of a tournament or league well in advance of it starting. Placing wagers at this stage can often generate large odds, as bookmakers and sports fans alike are unsure who the in-form team or sportsperson is. If you can bet on the winner of an event months before it begins, you can turn tens of dollars into tens of thousands.

Totals or Over/Unders This type of bet is extremely popular and a great way to spice up any sport, as you can use this method of betting on any sport. A bookmaker will set a total for an outcome, the number of runs in a baseball inning, the total score in a basketball game, even the number of fouls in a soccer match. You can bet that the actual number when the contest is over will be higher (over) or lower (under) than the bookmakers total.

Prop Bets Prop bets, or proposal bets, are straightforward and can sometimes have very favorable odds. Prop bets will be on a strict outcome, such as 'name the first player to score' for example. If you name the correct player, you win.

Responsible sports betting can be a great pastime. If you start with small stakes and get a couple of wins under your belt, you can keep betting small stakes the with the same money. With bets like accumulators, you can make thousands from dollar betting, and you can keep the dollars coming in with some careful spread bets.

There is a sports game happening somewhere right now, and there will be someone taking bets on the outcome. Sports betting can often open up a world of new sports to the betting fan, and you may find yourself following anything from Indian professional Cricket to South American Jai-alai.