Lesson 1 of 9

Sports betting basics

Odds, the main bet types, and the vocabulary every other lesson uses.

  1. 1.1How to read betting oddsA minus price is what you stake to win $100; a plus price is what $100 wins. Decimal odds are your total return per $1, and fractional odds are profit over stake. All three describe the same thing.
  2. 1.2Implied probability: turning odds into a percentageImplied probability is the win rate a price needs to break even. The implied chances of every side of a real market add up to more than 100%, and the excess is the sportsbook's margin.
  3. 1.3What is a moneyline bet?A moneyline bet is a bet on which side wins, by any margin. Favorites carry minus prices and pay less than you stake; underdogs carry plus prices and pay more.
  4. 1.4Point spread betting explainedThe spread gives the underdog a head start. The favorite has to win by more than the number; the underdog wins your bet by winning outright or losing by less.
  5. 1.5Over/under betting explainedA total, or over/under, is a bet on how many points both teams score combined. You bet the final total lands over or under the book's number; who wins doesn't matter.
  6. 1.6Parlays explained: odds, payouts and the mathA parlay's odds are its legs' decimal odds multiplied together, and every leg has to win. The book's margin multiplies too, so each leg you add makes the ticket worse unless each leg is a good bet.
  7. 1.7Player props explainedA player prop is a bet on what one player does: points, yards, strikeouts, a touchdown. Props are priced like totals but usually with a wider margin, and most books refund them if the player doesn't take part.
  8. 1.8Sports betting terms: a plain-English glossaryThe vocabulary of sports betting, grouped by what it describes, with each term defined in a sentence or two and linked to the guide that goes deeper.