In the second quarter at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, USA, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) throws a pass while Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Micah Parsons (11) defends. Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports is required to provide credit.
The repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018 gave individual states permission to incorporate sports betting into their regulatory framework.
Today, 31 states, plus Washington, D.C., have legalized sports betting, with 21 (plus D.C.) legalizing mobile betting.
In addition, five other states have legalized but not yet implemented sports betting.
With all of this in mind, sports betting may be coming to your state or a state near you soon if it hasn’t already, and there are betting terms and types of wagers readers should be aware of if they want to dive into the world of sports betting.
Let’s Go Over Some Fundamental Terms And Bet Types
Understanding Betting Terminology
Odds
The odds are the most important aspect of sports betting because they show how much money you can win on a bet.
The odds are listed and followed by a “-” or “+.” The “-” represents the favored side, whereas the “+” represents the underdog.
Consider MNF in Week 2 of the 2021-22 season, when the Buffalo Bills’ moneyline odds were -450. The Tennessee Titans were +350 against them.
This is one example of how odds can be displayed (more on this later), but to demonstrate how much money you’ll need to wager or make, consider this in the context of $100.
- “-” Odds Example: If the odds are -450, you must wager $450 to win $100.
- “+” Odds Example: If you bet $100 and the odds are +350, you will win $350.
Moneyline
The goal of this bet is to simply choose the winning side: there are no strings attached. These are a team’s “straight up” odds, as no point spread is factored in.
The “-” is the favored side, just like the odds. The “+” represents the underdog.
Spread of Points
There’s no getting around it in the NFL: some teams are simply better than others. As a result, sportsbooks devised a point spread to depict the difference between superiority and inferiority. The odds for these are typically -110, because the spread makes the teams as “even” as possible.
For example, the Bills were favored by -10 points, while the Titans were favored by +10. Both have -110 odds. To cover the spread in this case, the Bills must win by more than 10 points. The Titans must win outright or lose by no more than ten points.
To win $100 at -110, you must wager $110.
This is one of the three main types of bets.
Push
A push is the same as a tie in sports betting: If you have a -4 point spread and the favored team wins by four points, they have “tied” or “pushed” in sports betting.
In real life, a team wins if the final score is 26-22, but in sports betting, the score is 22-22.
When this occurs, bettors receive the amount wagered back. In a parlay, however, this section of the bet is voided and re-calculated to reflect the remaining legs.
Juice/Vig
The juice and odds are linked: this is the “commission” or “price” you pay for betting.
For instance, -110 odds. At -100, you would bet $10 to win $10. However, with the additional -10, you must wager $11 in order to receive $10.
If the odds are -101 or better, this is interpreted as the juice.
For instance, -115 odds. The -15 comes from the juice.
Example 2: odds of -120. The juice is the extra -20.
Leg
When bettors hear the term “leg,” they are referring to a parlay wager. They’ll bet on multiple contests on one ticket with a parlay, and each game/participant they choose is one of the “legs.”
A Bad Beat
Readers, whether they’ve wagered on sports before or not, have seen this: A team is winning late, and before they know it, the team has given up the lead at the end of the game and lost.
Of course, in the context of sports betting, this can be interpreted very differently.
In Week 2 of the 2021-22 season, the Chiefs were -4.5 point favorites. With 1:11 remaining in the game, they led 27-17. The Chargers’ QB Justin Herbert then hit WR Joshua Palmer for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal to pull the team within three points.
In that case, the Chiefs needed to stop a fourth-down play to cover the spread, but they were unable to do so, resulting in losses for all Chiefs -4.5 bettors.
Hook
If you listen to sports betting analysis, you’ll hear things like “the Chiefs are the favored team in this one, giving four and the “hook,” or the extra 0.5 points.
The hook is important because there can’t be a “push” in the game, which means there will be a clear winner.
Types of Popular Bets
Parlay
We’ve discussed legs and briefly touched on parlays (betting on multiple contests on one ticket).
What makes a parlay exciting are some of the long odds readers can bet against in order to win more money.
A parlay requires all legs on the ticket to win in order for the reader to be paid.
If just one leg fails, the entire parlay fails.
The odds for online sportsbooks take this risk into account.
| Parlay Legs | Odds |
| Buffalo Bills -9.5 | -115 |
| Philadelphia Eagles -2.5 | -115 |
| 2-Pick Parlay | +249 |
Instead of betting on these games individually at -110 odds, readers can parlay them together at +249 odds.
So, if a bettor has a $100 budget, they will win $249 on this parlay rather than betting $50 on each and winning $86.94.
Multi-Game Parlay
A Same-Game Parlay is similar to a standard parlay, except that all legs are from the same game.
In the same game, consider the Bills -9.5 (-110 odds) and the under of 47.5 (-110 odds).
When betting same-game parlays (SGPs), bettors can concentrate on one game and create a “correlating parlay,” such as believing the Bills will blow out and shut down their opponent, resulting in them covering the -10 but falling short of the 47.5 because the opposing team fails to score many points.
Props
Prop bets are best thought of as betting on “micro-events” within the main event.
- Example of a “Main Event”: Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans
Props are classified into three types: game, player, and team.
- Example of a Game Prop: Bills’ First Drive
- Total Team Touchdowns is an example of a team prop.
Example of a Player Prop: Josh Allen Passing Yards, Stefon Diggs Receiving Yards
Prop bettors primarily wager through the lens of an over/under: they’ll usually gauge whether yards will go over or under the sportsbook’s line.
Example: Josh Allen has 262.5 passing yards. The over/under odds are -135, and the under is -105. A bettor is betting on whether Allen will surpass or fall short of 262.5 passing yards.
Futures
Futures are among the least-wagered bet types, but they provide a lot of value: For new bettors, the only issue with futures is that they can take months to settle, tying up their money for the foreseeable future.
Super Bowl Winner is an example of a bet that can be placed when the offseason begins but will not be resolved until February.
Futures, on the other hand, have a plethora of “+” odd bets that, if correct, reward bettors with “+” odds cash.
Over/Under Totals
Totals, also known as over/under bets, are wagers on the total number of points scored in a game.
Assume bettors do not have a strong preference for the point spread or moneyline. In that case, they can consider both teams and see if they can clear the totals line together.
For example, the total line for the Bills and Titans is 47.5. The over/under odds are the same at -110. Bettors wager on whether the final points go over 47.5 or under that total at the end of the game.
Teaser
For NFL betting, the legs of a parlay can be “teased” for six, 6.5, or seven points.
These are a “positive” for bettors who are betting on a point spread or totals, but the odds will reflect the teaser number chosen.
Consider the following parlay from earlier:
| Parlay Legs | Odds |
| Buffalo Bills -9.5 | -115 |
| Philadelphia Eagles -2.5 | -115 |
| 2-Pick Parlay | +249 |
Consider this parlay with a six-point teaser on each leg:
| Parlay Legs | Odds |
| Buffalo Bills -3.5 | N/A |
| Philadelphia Eagles +3.5 | N/A |
| 2-Pick Six-Point Teaser Parlay | -120 |
The “N/A” was assigned to the individual game odds because, with NFL betting, the odds for the parlay will reflect the point teaser selected.
Here’s an example from OKBET:
| Parlay Legs | Odds |
| 2-Pick Six-Point Teaser Parlay | -120 |
| 2-Pick 6.5-Point Teaser Parlay | -130 |
| 2-Pick Seven-Point Teaser Parlay | -140 |
The Round Robin
Round Robin is another way to bet on parlays: To participate in round-robin betting, the parlay must have three legs or more.
The sportsbook will generate the total number of ways a bettor can bet the parlay with a round robin, and they will wager an amount on each parlay.
A three-leg round-robin parlay, for example, will have three bets on two-leg parlays. The bettor then decides how much money they want to bet on each parlay combination. So, if the bettor decides to bet $5 on three two-leg parlays, they will bet a total of $15.
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