Perhaps the easiest thing is to start by the basics, a sportsbook, whether it is a physical sportsbook or an online sportsbook, is basically a company that accepts bets from sports bettors. The sportsbook offers a list of upcoming sporting events and different options on how to bet on the outcome of the same. How Online Sportsbooks Work. Betting at online sportsbooks is becoming increasingly popular because they remove the need to travel all the way to brick.

Last month we held a little clinic on Sports Book betting and let you behind the curtain on some sports wagering slang terms. After all, you need to talk the talk before you can walk the walk. This month we are continuing our education in letting you know how Sports Books work. Again, if you know why sports books do the things they do, you may have a better experience while playing.

Right off the bat, let’s be perfectly clear. Sports books make money on every straight bet they take action on. It’s a foregone conclusion. Let me explain.

Sports Books charge vigorish also known as “the vig” or “juice”. Juice is the amount charged by a sportsbook for their services. By taking on the risk of handling all bets, the book takes a percentage, typically 10%. Why else would they take the risk of covering all bets? Bookmakers use this concept to make money on their wagers regardless of the outcome. Because of the vigorish concept, bookmakers should not have an interest in either side winning in a given sporting event.

Piggybacking that same concept, sports books set the line at a certain number that will encourage betting action on both teams. No matter what NCAA Football Predictions you may hear on the radio or read online, the point spread is there to encourage the exact same amount of money is wagered on both teams.

Please keep in mind that sports books have no rooting interest in any game on the boards. They just want equal action on both sides. Because most sports books keep 10% juice, when you win a bet, you are only paid about 190% of your bet. If you bet $100 on the Ravens this past weekend and another person bet $100 on the Steelers, the sports book would be happy. Because the Ravens won, the sports book would take the $100 lost by the Steelers bettor and apply it to your winnings. You would get your original wager of $100 plus a portion of the money the Steelers bettor lost. You would cash a ticket worth $190 and the sports book keeps the remaining $10 as their commission for taking the betting action and risks.

You may sometimes see a point spread move up or down from the day the opening line was announced to game time. A line moving up or down simply indicates one team has received an inordinate amount of money placed on it. Because the sports book wants to encourage equal betting on both teams, they will then move the line a point or two in the favor of the other team that has been under bet. By giving more points to the other team makes them more attractive to sports wagerers and thus encourage more money to come in on the other side.

When a sports book announces the opening point spreads, they are not based what the actual professional handicapper thinks will be the final score differential. The opening line is the handicapper’s guess as to what he believes the general public will perceive the final score to be. Under performing teams that are popular nationwide, Notre Dame is a prime example, will typically get smaller opening odds because handicappers know people will bet with their heart. Many fans will lay down a wager on their favorite team just because they want to support their team not only in their heart but at the betting window. Teams with large fan followings that are loyal to a fault are hard to handicap because the lines maybe skewed to encourage others to bet on the opposition and to balance out all the rabid fans.

Now that you know the inner working of how a sports book can afford to pay out all those huge winners, you can be a better informed and knowledgeable wagerer. Next month’s installment of Sports Book 101 will involve smart sports wagering and how to wager responsibly using a tight bankroll.

How Online Betting Works

Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.

Sports Betting Odds Explained

Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.

American Style Sports Betting Odds

Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:

American Odds

• Matchup Odds
• New England Patriots +120
• Pittsburgh Steelers -140

Online Sportsbooks Reviews Sbr

The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.

The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.

The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.

A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.

Examples:

A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.

Examples:

Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.

In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).

The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.

Ready To Start Betting?MyBookie and BetUS are my two favorite sportsbooks and make betting very easy. You will also get a Free Money Bonus at each sportsbook if you follow either link above.

Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds

Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.

Top 10 Online Sportsbooks

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.

What Are The Best Online Sportsbooks

Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.