Straight betting
Most sports fans are probably familiar with the most basic wager in sports, the straight bet, which is the most common wager placed by sports bettors, especially in sports such as football and basketball. Setting a betting line, often referred to as a point spread, gives you the option of betting on the favorite and giving up points, or betting on the underdog and scoring points. The favorite must win the game by more than the set point spread in order to cash. The underdog must win outright or lose by less than the point spread in order to “cover” and win the bet. In this case, the draw is called a “push” and is win or lose.
Total Line Betting
In many sports, the second most popular bet is the total scoreline. In this type of sports betting, the combined final score for both teams is set to a number and you can then bet on whether the actual score is “below” the total or “above” the set number.
Typically, when it comes to football and basketball games, you can bet on each half of the game.
Odds line/Moneyline betting
When you make a Moneyline bet, you choose a team that wins outright, with no point spread. The risk involved is the amount of money you need to wager to select the favorite team and the amount of money you need to wager to select the weaker team. These types of bets apply to all major sports, but they primarily apply to baseball and hockey. For example, if the Dodgers were playing the Giants at home, the line might be San Francisco (+120) vs. Los Angeles (-135). If the Giants win, you could make $120 on a $100 bet, while if the Dodgers win, you would have to risk $135 to win $100.
Parlay or combination bets
The act of combining two or more selections into a single bet is known as a parlay. It can be two separate selections or a limit set by a particular sportsbook (10-12 selections). The payout for a combo will be adjusted accordingly depending on the total number of your combinations. Typically, for two combos, they start at 13 to 5 in your favor, while for 10 combos, the payout can be as high as 645 to 1. The trick to cashing in on combos is that all of your choices must win, or the entire combos will fail. The streak can be a very high risk/high reward sports bet and is not always for the faint of heart.
Prediction or Teaser bets
Teaser bets are a twist on the streak in that you still combine two or more selections together for a single bet, but you can now adjust the spread in your favor for a lower total payout. If the sportsbook is offering a 6-point teaser bet, a 3.5-point underdog will now get 9.5 points. The downside to teasers is that they are still hard to hit and your overall payout is reduced quite a bit with an adjusted betting line. Normally, a straight three-team combo pays 6-1, but once you decide to tease the point spread in your favor, the odds of winning drop to 2-1.
Head-to-Head Betting
For sports such as NASCAR and professional golf, a common way to bet on these events is to bet on the outcome of a matchup between two competitors. Whichever competitor finishes the race or tournament in the higher position wins. Many times, each competitor will have an odds line as a way to handicap the handicap. Considering how difficult it can be to pick an outright winner in a very large field, this type of betting is very popular in this sport.