Sports betting is here in a big way. The US has quickly embraced sports betting after the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned in 2018. Since then, each state has had the ability to legislate sports betting for themselves.
Most states have legalized at least one type of sports betting — either in person, online, or both. New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania led the way in legalization. Other states quickly followed once they saw how popular sports betting was and how much it could generate in tax revenue. New York legalized online sports betting in 2022, including betting on amateur sports like college football.
Reading betting odds is a skill. Unfortunately for US bettors, the nearly 25 years that PASPA was in place meant that most people either lost that skill or never had a chance to learn it.
Odds are written in 3 different notations, which all have the same value. In the UK, fractional odds are the most widely used. In Europe, you’re most likely to find odds written as decimals. In the US, plus and minus odds (also written as +/- odds) are the standard. Reading plus/minus odds can be tricky and can initially feel counterintuitive.
In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about plus and minus odds, as well as the basics of the different types of bets you can place. We’ll finish the article by giving some more general tips when betting online that should improve your sports betting experience.
Reading plus and minus odds
Plus and minus odds are used in the United States and are easiest to understand if you think about them in terms of a $100 bet. Plus and minus bets indicate the expected winner and the underdog.
A minus (-) indicates the favorite and the amount you would have to bet to win $100. So, if the odds on a team to win are -175, you would need to bet $175 to profit $100. A plus (+) shows which team is the underdog and is the amount you would profit from a $100 bet. As an example, if a team has odds of +175 then a $100 bet will generate a profit of $175.
Of course you don’t need to bet $100 every time. You can work out how much your bet will pay out by multiplying the amount of your bet by the odds (for plus odds) or by the amount you want to win (for minus odds).
Some sportsbooks write their odds as fractional odds, so it’s helpful to know how to convert these to plus and minus odds. Converting fractional odds to +/- odds is easy, you just have to do the math. Divide the top number by the bottom number and you’ll have your +/- odds. For example, 9/2 divides to 4.5 which become +450.
Types of bets
There are many types of bets that you can place. Online sportsbooks make it much easier to place more complicated bets and to find more unique bets. The most familiar bets are moneyline bets. These are the basic bets on which team will win a game. These can also be combined into a series of bets. A parlay bet is made up of at least three moneyline bets. For a parlay to pay out, every bet in it must be a winner.
There are several other popular bet types. Spread bets are bets placed on how much a team will win or lose by. This is a smart bet to place when the odds on the winner are really short. Total bets are also called over/unders. These are bets placed on the total number of points scored during a game. The bookmaker sets the expected number of points and you bet on whether the actual amount will be high (over) or lower (under).
Prop bets are a more creative type of bet. Prop bets are placed on anything but the outcome of the game. Classic prop bets are tied to players stats — if a player will run a certain number of yards, if a defensive player will score, how many strikeouts or walks a pitcher will throw, which team/player will score first, etc. These vary depending on the sport. Novelty props are where things really get fun. Novelty props can be placed on nearly anything to do with a game. Popular ones include whether the coin toss will land heads or tails, what flavor Gatorade the team will have to pour on the coach, and what color cleats a player will wear.
Horse racing has many unique bets. Alongside Win, Place, and Show bets (if a horse will finish 1st, 1st or 2nd, or in the first 3), bettors can place bets on the order of the horses in the race. Depending on how many horses you’re betting on, these are called Exacta (2 horses to win and place), Trifecta (first three horses), Superfecta (first four horses), and Hi-5 (first five horses).
Betting tips
If you’re just getting started with sports betting, it’s smart to start with just one sport. Serious sports betting requires a lot of research and in-depth knowledge of the sport you’re betting on. You need to know the stats of the individual players, of the teams as a whole, and of past match ups between the teams. It’s easier to keep track of all this data for one sport at a time.
It’s important to always compare odds before you place a bet. Sportsbooks will often have similar odds on major matches but even small differences in odds can have a major impact on how much certain bets pay out. Some sportsbooks specialize in particular sports, so their odds are more likely to reflect real outcomes.
Lastly, it’s essential to make a budget and stick to it. Setting a budget helps to keep betting fun and reduces the risks of spending more than you’re comfortable with. It can be very tempting to deposit more to chase a win or if the odds look great, but overspending isn’t worth it in the long run.
