A Beginner’s Guide to Online Sports Betting
The world of sports betting has changed drastically in recent years. Long gone are the days where bettors would need to walk into a store and physically place their bets. Nowadays it’s all done online with all the same advantages as playing at online casinos. Many believe sports betting online is complicated for beginners but it doesn’t need to be this way! This is why we have created this guide, which will highlight and explain all of the fundamentals required for online sports betting.
We start right here with the basics, and give you all that you need to fully understand online sports betting.
Finding a Bookmaker
First things first, it’s no use understanding online sports betting without having a place to actually make any bets. Therefore, the first step to getting started is to find an online bookmaker. A bookmaker is simply a company, or online platform, in this case where a player can deposit money and start placing bets. There are literally thousands of them across the globe, and a simple Google search will show the more reputable ones.
To keep things simple, let’s use a hypothetical bookmaker as an example. You find a bookmaker called ‘Easy Bet 7’, and decide that this looks like a good site. This is the site that you decide you will join, and you want to get started. This will lead us on to the next step.
Creating an Online Betting Account
By visiting the ‘Easy Bet 7’ website, you will see a link to either ‘sign up’ or ‘register’. You will need to click on this link and provide account details such as full name, email, address and date of birth to open an account. After creating the account, you will now have full access to the 'Easy Bet 7' site. This enables you to deposit money and start placing bets.
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Types of Sports Bets
Now that you have created your account and deposited some funds, you are ready to start placing your first online sport bets. There are 2 main types of sports bets that a beginner should understand before delving into the more complicated bets.
Single Bets
A single bet (sometimes called a money line bet) is a bet that is placed on a singular outcome of a specific game. For example, if Manchester United is playing against Chelsea there are 3 possible outcomes. Manchester United could win, the game could be a draw or Chelsea could win. If you place a bet on any of those 3 outcomes, you have just placed a single bet.
If your prediction is correct, you will win money from your bet. The opposite is true if your prediction is incorrect.
Accumulator Bets
Unlike single bets (one outcome of one event), accumulator bets actually combine multiple single bets into one big bet. For example, let’s say there are 3 football games taking place this coming weekend. These games are: Manchester United vs. Chelsea, Arsenal vs. Manchester City and Newcastle vs. Bournemouth. Rather than just betting on the outcome of one game, you are now betting on the outcome for all 3 games and combining these bets into one. If you bet on Manchester United to win, Arsenal to draw with Manchester City and Newcastle to win, you have just placed an accumulator bet.
There is a catch however when it comes to accumulator bets. In order to win any money, all of your predictions must be correct. This means that if you get one prediction wrong, you will win absolutely nothing.
Understanding Odds
This is where we will do just a little bit of math to gain an overall understanding of online sports betting. Let’s again refer to the above example, Manchester United vs. Chelsea. Before an event starts, a bookmaker will always price an event using odds. Odds are simply a number assigned to a particular outcome of an event. They basically indicate how likely a particular outcome may be. Let’s explain.
Easy Bet 7 has priced the game using the following odds: Manchester United (to win) 2.0, Draw 3.4 and Chelsea (to win) 4.0.
If you decide to bet $5 on Manchester United to win, your total return would be $10 (5 x 2.0) if they actually win.
If you decide to bet $5 on a draw, your total return would be $17 (5 x 3.4) if the game did finish as a draw.
If you decide to bet $5 on Chelsea to win, your total return would be $20 (5 x 4) if they did actually win.
In a nutshell, this is how odds will always work. One last thing, the total return is not your overall profit. To get this number, simply minus the money that you did bet on the event from your total return. Therefore a Chelsea win in the above example would leave you with a profit of $15.
And finally, here are a few tips to stick by when starting with online sports betting.
Dos and Don’ts for Online Sports Betting
Sports betting should always be fun, and players should never gamble more than they can afford to lose. This is the first and most important rule when sports betting!
Besides this, there are a few rules to follow to have a good start.
Bet low on accumulators
Accumulator betting is probably the most risky type of betting. By combining multiple games together, your potential profit will be much greater but so will your overall risk of losing. Bet low so that you have a chance to win big, while limiting your likely losses.
Bet on sports that you know
Just because you read somewhere online that a local beach volleyball team will win the league does not mean that you should go for it! Bet on sports that you have an interest in, or at least some knowledge of, so that you can place educated bets.
Never chase your losses
And this means NEVER! If you narrowly lose a bet at odds of 2.0, do not go ahead and bet a larger amount on another game with similar odds to recoup your losses. This is how problem gambling always starts. By avoiding this, you will always stay in control and keep enjoying sports betting online.
