How to Read Sports Betting Lines – Guide

Sports betting can be quite profitable if you understand the betting lines and have thoroughly researched the players or teams that you wish to bet for. How to read sports betting lines is easy, but can seem like a huge task for new gamblers. Sports betting lines are made of betting odds, team names, and markets that you will use to decide on the amount of bet that you want to place either for an underdog or a favorite.

Punters must, therefore, understand that lines are different in every sportsbook and at times are designed to suit a particular clientele. The above is the reason why people are encouraged to have more than one sportsbook, as it will be much easier for them to shop for the best rewarding line. Another important thing to note when reading the sports betting lines is that they don’t remain static throughout the day. The lines are subject to change by the sportsbook because of occurrences such as injuries and changes in weather so you have to be prepared when placing bets in Sports betting Illinois.

How to read sports betting lines 

Remember we said that the sports betting lines are made of betting odds, and if you can understand the odds then it will be one of the primary determinants of the bets that are worth your while. The odds are usually displayed in different formats even for the free sports betting lines at Betrivers sportsbook.

Format of sports betting odds

Fractional odds– are unique and are in the fractional format, for example (9/5), if you one time wish to bet on boxing or horse racing, you will read the fractional odds as nine to five and not nine over five.

Decimal odds– a three-digit number with a decimal point between the first and the second digit (2.40)

American odds– are also known as the money line odds or the US odds, they are a three-digit number with a +/- at the front.

Anytime that you want to place a bet, you will notice that it comes in this format (-110), the above usually appears next to your bet and it is the commission that you will pay to the sportsbook before they accept your bet. The commission goes by “vig,” or vigorish or “juice.” If we are to look at it in a practical betting scenario is that you will have to risk $110 to win $ 100.

Important to notes is that the juice is not static, sometimes it could be a positive number, such as (+110), meaning that if you placed $100 as your bet, and it covers then you win up to $110 but if it loses, you will only lose the $100bet.

The best sports betting lines are balanced, but if not then the sportsbook might inadvertently have a lot of action on one side and which on many occasions results in disaster. There are, therefore, occasions that the risk could make profits for the punters or the sportsbook, remember, however, we are not talking about coincidences but calculated risks.

And that is why we initially insisted that players must first gain experience through the free sports betting lines. The latter will enable them to observe the movement of the line, and how much of the line has been moved. They will also know when the sportsbook is holding the line and observe for how long the line will be held and adjust their bets accordingly for profits.

Sport betting markets and lines

Totals (Over or Under)

Sportsbook at times provides punters with the total number of points scored, by both teams in a game. And which is called the totals, over/ under. Now your job as a punter is to decide whether the game will go over or under, or not go over/under.

Favorites and underdogs betting lines

Before a sportsbook releases a betting line on a particular game, they will have first made the decision about which team will be the favorite and which team will be the underdog. Now if you watch the lines closely, you will notice that there is a team with a minus sign at the front of its odds, the team is considered as the favorite, and the sportsbook expects them to win the game. The odds with a plus sign are the underdogs and the sportsbook expects them to lose the game.

Under this type of market, the game could end up in a toss-up. The latter is an outcome that implies either of the teams could win, in such a case the sportsbook will open it either as a “pick em up,” or a “pick.”

When betting for the favorites or the underdogs, you could do so through the sports betting moneylines or the spreads, a point spread is usually a bet on the margin of winning. And for this option, the underdog will get points while the favorites will give points.

You can also bet on the favorites or the underdogs via the sports betting Moneyline market, the favorites, in this case, will have a minus sign such as -200 and which means that you will have to risk about $200, to gain $100. Thus if the favorite loses, you lose $200 but if they win, you get $100. Still, under the Moneyline market, the underdogs will get a + sign such as +200, so if you are going to bet $100 on them and they win, you will take home $200 but if they lose, the $100 bet that you placed will also be lost. It is thus safe to say that punters tend to get more benefits by betting on the underdogs.

Spreads are famously found when betting on football and basketball

Moneyline is famously found when betting on hockey, soccer, or baseball.

Conclusion

When it comes to how to read sports betting lines, there are so many aspects that you have to put into perspective if you are to remain profitable. First is that the sportsbook must always make a profit and that as the line is being created things such as injuries, the relationship between players and the coach, home-field advantage, and the time that the game is being played is highly considered and which you must be knowledgeable about.