Sports betting is carried out by Bookmakers, spread betting firms and betting exchanges offer a variety of ways to wager over the Internet on the results of sporting events, the most popular being fixed-odds gambling.
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 1992 makes it illegal to operate a scheme except for in a few states. In many European nations bookmaking (the profession of accepting sports wagers) is highly regulated but not criminalized. The NCAA has threatened to ban all playoff games in Delaware if the state allows betting on college sports.[1] New Jersey, which is also interested, has been similarly threatened. [2] Proponents of legalized sports betting generally regard it as a hobby for sports fans that increases their interest in particular sporting events, thus benefiting the leagues, teams and players they bet on through higher attendances and television audiences. Opponents fear that, over and above the general ramifications of gambling, it threatens the integrity of amateur and professional sport, the history of which includes numerous attempts by sports gamblers to fix matches, although proponents counter that legitimate bookmakers will invariably fight corruption just as fiercely as governing bodies and law enforcement do. Most sports bettors are overall losers as the bookmakers odds are fairly efficient. However, there are professional sports bettors that make a good income betting sports, many of which utilize sports information services.
|
|
||||||
Odds |
Types of bets |
|||||
|
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. US format 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. US odds of 100 are an even bet.
Decimal Fractional US 1.50 1/2 -200 2.00 1/1 +100 2.50 3/2 +150 3.00 2/1 +200 Conversion formulas x To Do this Decimal Fractional x-1 , then convert to fraction Decimal US = 100*(x-1) if x>=2; -100/(x-1) if x<2 Fractional Decimal divide fraction, then x+1
Fractional US divide fraction, then 100*x if x>=1; -100/x if x<1 US Decimal (x/100)+1 if x>0; (-100/x)+1 if x<0
US Fractional x/100, then convert to fraction if x>0; -100/x, then convert to fraction if x<0 In Asia betting markets, other frequently used formats for expressing odds include Hong Kong, Malay, and Indonesian-style odds formats. Odds are also quite often expressed in terms of implied probability, which corresponds to the probability with which the event in question would need to occur for the bet to be a breakeven proposition (on the average).
|
Aside from simple wagers—betting a friend that one's favorite baseball team will win its division, for instance, or buying a football "square" for the Super Bowl--sports betting is commonly done through a bookmaker. Legal sports bookmakers exist throughout the world (perhaps most notably in Las Vegas). In areas where sports betting is illegal, bettors usually make their sports wagers with illicit bookmakers (known colloquially as "bookies") and on the Internet, where thousands of online bookmakers accept wagers on sporting events around the world. (In the United States, the legality of Internet wagering is ambiguous, due to the fact that online bookmakers generally operate outside of the U.S. Some online bookmakers do not accept wagers from the U.S. due to these unresolved legal questions.) The bookmaker earns a commission or "vigorish" by regarding the money at risk as less than the size of the bet placed. A common line is a $110 bet on a fair coin which pays $210 to win and $0 to lose. On this line, it costs $220 to bet both sides of the same coin simultaneously, but the combined bet always pays $210. The $10 loss constitutes the vig. There are opposing positions on whether the winner or loser can be construed as paying the vig, but this debate is not especially meaningful. If you view $110 to win $210 on a fair coin as $100 at risk, then it will appear as if the loser pays the vig; if you view the same line as $110 at risk, then it will appear as if the winner pays the vig. It happens that standard practice among bookies is to adjust odds so the amount at risk remains constant from the winning side of the proposition, hence the common perception that the loser pays the vig. Vigs expressed as percentages suffer from the same perceptual bias. On the line as given in this example, for a fair coin, the bookie has an expectation of making $5 for each $110 bet placed, which is often divided out and expressed as 4.5% odds on teams or adversaries are quoted in terms of the favorite (the team that is expected to win, thus requiring a riskier wager) and the underdog. |
|||||
Many online tools also exist for automated conversion between these odds formats.
Types of bets
Aside from simple wagers—betting a friend that one's favorite baseball team will win its division, for instance, or buying a football "square" for the Super Bowl--sports betting is commonly done through a bookmaker. Legal sports bookmakers exist throughout the world (perhaps most notably in Las Vegas). In areas where sports betting is illegal, bettors usually make their sports wagers with illicit bookmakers (known colloquially as "bookies") and on the Internet, where thousands of online bookmakers accept wagers on sporting events around the world. (In the United States, the legality of Internet wagering is ambiguous, due to the fact that online bookmakers generally operate outside of the U.S. Some online bookmakers do not accept wagers from the U.S. due to these unresolved legal questions.) The bookmaker earns a commission or "vigorish" by regarding the money at risk as less than the size of the bet placed. A common line is a $110 bet on a fair coin which pays $210 to win and $0 to lose. On this line, it costs $220 to bet both sides of the same coin simultaneously, but the combined bet always pays $210. The $10 loss constitutes the vig. There are opposing positions on whether the winner or loser can be construed as paying the vig, but this debate is not especially meaningful.
If you view $110 to win $210 on a fair coin as $100 at risk, then it will appear as if the loser pays the vig; if you view the same line as $110 at risk, then it will appear as if the winner pays the vig. It happens that standard practice among bookies is to adjust odds so the amount at risk remains constant from the winning side of the proposition, hence the common perception that the loser pays the vig. Vigs expressed as percentages suffer from the same perceptual bias. On the line as given in this example, for a fair coin, the bookie has an expectation of making $5 for each $110 bet placed, which is often divided out and expressed as 4.5% odds on teams or adversaries are quoted in terms of the favorite (the team that is expected to win, thus requiring a riskier wager) and the underdog.
Understanding Sports Betting Odds
Basically there are four ways that an online sportsbook will specify odds (also known as "the line"). They are American, Decimal, Fractional, and Horse Odds (which are generally used for betting on horse racing). A brief explanation of each type follows.
American style odds: So called "American style odds" are expressed in terms of a "-" for favorites and a "+" for underdogs.
For example, if the line on the team that you want to bet on is "-120", that tells you that you must wager $120 dollars in order to win $100 (Or risk $1.20 to win $1.00, whichever makes more sense to you). If the line is "+110," it means that for every $100 you wager, you stand to win $110.
So when an online sportsbook refers to a "dime line," they are referring to the difference between the favorite and the underdog. If a favorite is listed as "-120" and the dog is listed as "+110," then this is a dime line because the favorite bettors are risking .10 more per dollar than the underdog bettors stand to get back. As you can see, this is how a sportsbook makes its money. This spread is generally referred to as the "juice" or "vig."
Decimal odds: Most European sportsbooks use decimal odds by default. Calculating your winnings using decimal odds is simple. If you wager $100 at 2.31 odds, you will receive $231 ($100 x 2.31) if you win (which includes your original $100 stake). If you wager $100 on 1.75 odds you will receive $175 if you win (which includes your original $100 stake).
Fraction odds: Some European sportsbooks (especially those catering to punters in the United Kingdom) express odds in fractions. In such cases, the win amount is listed first. So a line listed as 9/10 would give you $9 for a winning bet on a $10 wager.
Horses odds: In horse racing, odds are generally expressed in the form of x to y (or x - y). You are risking y in order to win x.
For example, if you see odds listed as 10 to 1, it means that you are risking $1 in order to win $10, or $100 in order to win $1000. Conversely, if the odds are 1 to 10, it means that you have to wager $10 to win $1, or $100 to win $10. [3]
Sports betting forums
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. Many popular sports betting forums exist, but the quality of the forums greatly depends on the members.
