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Betting on sports is a huge industry and Premier Per Head has been helping independent bookmaking agents build their business for the past 14 years.
There are a number of ways to bet on sports and the following five types of wagers tend to draw the majority of the action from today’s betting public.
Straight Bet
Making a straight bet on a game is the most basic and popular way to bet on sports such as football and basketball. Oddsmakers create a point spread for a particular matchup and you can either bet the favorite by “giving” the points or bet the underdog by “taking” the points.
Parlay Bet
A parlay is a bet that groups two or more picks together in one single bet. To cash-in on a parlay bet you must win all of your picks. This can be a very lucrative payout given the degree of difficulty in making the right pick in all of your parlay plays. The more picks that you combine into one parlay bet, the higher the actual payout will be. Typical pay back odds on a two-team parlay are 2.5/1 and the odds go all the way up to a 350/1 pay back on a 10-team parlay.
Over/Under Bet
Picking the over or under in a matchup is often referred to as a total line bet. The Oddmakers at the best price per head Sportsbooks will set a number for the combined score in a particular game and you have to bet whether or not that score goes “over” or stays “under” the set total line.
Money Line Bet
Oddsmakers also set money lines for games as a way to create a betting spread. Based on a starting point of 100, it will cost you more to wager on the favorite to win 100, while you can earn more than 100 by betting on the underdog. These types of bets are very popular for sports such as baseball and hockey.
Futures Bet
Futures odds are set for sporting events across a set period of time. For example, you can bet on an NFL team to win that season’s Super Bowl before the regular season even gets underway. These types of betting odds are then adjusted as you get closer and closer to the actual event. Futures can be set for other things such as the “over” or “under” on a team’s win total for an upcoming season or for which player might win that particular sport’s “Most Valuable Player” that year.
