Betting On Sports

Placing money on the result of a sporting event is called sports betting or sports gambling. While many people regard betting as high interest in a sport, those who oppose the practice do so because they feel it threatens the basic honour of the sport.

Betting on sports activities may be officially permitted in some countries. In North America, it is generally forbidden. On the other hand, in Europe, in the history of bookmaking, the profession of providing betting odds and accepting sports bets, is legally accepted.

Sports Betting Online

Successful sports betting requires both skill and homework. It's definitely better to gather as much information about a sports bet as possible. Consider the probabilities of each team winning and compare this with an online bookmakers odds before placing a bet.

Sound judgment and luck are both required to be successful. To be consistently successful means you need to put in enough time and effort to study all aspects of the sport.

Different Types of Sports Bets

There are different types of sports bets ranging from the simple wager where you bet against a friend on whose favourite basketball team will win, to going to online bookmakers to bet on the outcome of a major sporting event like the Euro's or the English Premier League.

The two main types of sports bets offered by online bookmakers are a straight-up or money line bet, or a point spread wager. Betting odds are usually available on games like hockey, baseball, Football and boxing use money lines or straight-up prices.

The point spread is used in sports such as basketball and American football.

More Sports Bets

Other types of football bets include 'proposition bets' that are made on a very specific outcome of a match, like guessing the number of goals each team will score when betting on football.

'Parlays' involve multiple bets and rewards successful bettors with a large payout; and 'future wagers' that predict a future accomplishment by a team or player. There are official sports bookmakers throughout the world, and where betting is illegal it is often done online.