| |
GamesBox : Online Casino
Games - Sports Betting
Sports betting is the
general activity of predicting sports results by making a wager on
the outcome of a sporting event. Perhaps more so than other forms of
gambling, the legality and general acceptance of sports betting
varies from nation to nation. In the United States, the Professional
and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1994 makes it illegal to
operate a "betting, gambling or wagering scheme", except for in the
states of Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon. Nevada, however, is
the only state currently allowing sports gambling, while in many
European nations bookmaking (the profession of accepting sports
wagers) is highly regulated but not criminalized.
Odds
Odds for different outcomes in a single bet are presented either in
European format (decimal odds), UK format (fractional odds), or
American format (moneyline odds). European format (decimal odds) are
favoured in continental Europe, Canada, and Australia. They are the
ratio of the full payout to the stake, in a decimal format. Decimal
odds of 2.00 are an even bet. UK format (fractional odds) are
favoured by British bookmakers. They are the ratio of the amount won
to the stake. Fractional odds of 1/1 are an even bet. Moneyline odds
are favoured in the United States. They are the amount won on a 100
stake when positive and the stake needed to win 100 when negative.
Moneyline odds of 100 are an even bet.
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.
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.
-
Teasers. A teaser allows
the bettor to combine his bets on two or more different games. The
bettor can adjust the point spreads for the two games, but realizes
a lower return on the bets in the event of a win.
-
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. While all
sports wagers are by definition on future events, bets listed as
"futures" generally have a long-term horizon measured in weeks or
months; for example, a bet that a certain NFL team will win the
Super Bowl for the upcoming season. Such a bet must be made before
the season starts in September, and winning bets will not pay off
until the conclusion of the Super Bowl in January or February
(although many of the losing bets will be clear well before then and
can be closed out by the book). 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.
-
Head-to-Head. In these
bets, bettor predicts competitors results against each other and not
on the overall result of the event. One example are Formula 1 races,
where you bet on two or three drivers and their placement among the
others. Sometimes you can also bet a “tie”, in which one or both
drivers either have the same time, drop out, or get disqualified.
-
Totalizators. In totalizators (sometimes called flexible-rate bets) the odds are
changing in real-time according to the share of total exchange each
of the possible outcomes have received taking into account the
return rate of the bookmaker offering the bet. For example: If the
bookmakers return percentage is 90%, 90% of the amount placed on the
winning result will be given back to bettors and 10% goes to the
bookmaker. Naturally the more money bet on a certain result, the
smaller the odds on that outcome become.
The Internet not only
revolutionized the ability to bet online, but also the ability to
communicate with like-minded bettors. Sports betting forums offer
lively give and take where bettors discuss their predictions about
games and help one another decide on profitable bets. Additionally a
cottage industry of tipster sites has sprung up where inexperienced
bettors can, for free or a fee, receive previews and tips for
upcoming events. Free sites are generally affiliated with online
bookmakers and finance their service by introducing new customers to
their preferred online bookmakers.
Sports
Betting Online - Online sports betting is now very
popular. Here you will find one of the best sports betting sites
online.
JV Sports - JV Sports is an online community for fans to express their views through blogging and forum posts as well as make picks on their favorite games.
Bodykit
|
