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Where
can I bet legally on Sports?
What sports can I bet on?
What is "the spread"?
Why do I have to bet $11 to
win $10?
What are all of the different
types of bets?
Can I make a million dollars
with one bet?
Who makes the odds?
Do I have to be over 21 to
bet on sports?
What is the minimum bet that
must be reported to the IRS?
Which sportsbooks have the
fastest payouts and the best bonuses?
Where can I
bet legally on Sports?
Leaving aside various forms of (animal)
racing, there are at least four ways to
bet on sports in the US, and of these
two are legal, one is illegal, and one
is ambiguous.
You can bet legally at licensed Nevada
Sports Books, and illegally with bookies
in virtually every town. Most of the following
describes the ins and outs of gambling
at sports books. There are two points
worth noting here. First, Nevada Sports
Books can set up phone accounts, but will
not accept wagers across state lines.
Second, odds with illegal bookies are
often worse than those one can get in
Nevada.
Betting with offshore
(international) sports books seems to
be on the rise, and promises to spread
from phone services to internet based
online services. From the point of view
of bets and odds offered, these books
are similar to licensed Nevada Sports
Books. The legality of these services
is, at best, ambiguous. There are claims
and opinions on all sides of the argument,
but few legal precedents. In addition,
some offshore books are run by old trustworthy
firms, some are fly-by-night scams, and
many are somewhere in between. Cavaet
Bettor.
The last way (and other
than in state Nevada betting the only
other clearly legal way) to bet on sports
in the US is the Oregon Lottery. This
was described as follows in a rec.gambling
post:
The Oregon lottery
is alive and well as far as football betting.
The game is called sports action. The
line is set by Jim Feist. It is set and
printed on Wednesday and does not change.
This can work to the bettor's advantage
due to changes in team lineups due to
injuries and such. The minimum wager is
$2.00 and the minimum number of games
bet is 3. The payoffs for a three game
win is $5.00 per dollar wagered. Four
games gets $10.00 per dollar wagered.
All other wagers are paid on a paramutual
fashion. For example, a seven game winner
usually pays around $160 to $350. The
maximum number of games that can be bet
have a winner. A week or two ago $14,000
carried over in the 14 pool. There are
also some games that are called special
play games with over/under total score.
The line seems to be fairly consistent
with the Vegas line on the Wednesday that
it is set. <<<Back Top
What sports
can I bet on?
You can bet on any sport the Sports Book
you are wagering with covers. At most
books, this includes professional and
college football and basketball, professional
baseball, professional hockey, and horse
and dog racing. Every now and then Sports
Books will offer proposition bets (see
below) on events like professional golf
tournaments and the Indy 500 and the like,
but not on a regular basis for other events
in those sports. <<<Back Top
What is "the
spread"?
The spread is a point advantage given
to a weaker team that is expected to lose
by X number of points. This is the odds
makers way of making even bets possible
for a Sports Book. Usually if you bet
against the spread you make an 11-10 bet.
This means that you win $10 if you bet
$11 for a total of $21 if your team covers
the spread.
A team covers the spread if it wins the
game with the score modified by the spread.
If Dallas and Washington are playing and
the spread is (Dallas -7), then Dallas
has to win by at least 8 points to cover.
Half-point spreads are also possible. <<<Back Top
Why do I have
to bet $11 to win $10?
This is one of the many ways the Sports
book makes its money. In an ideal situation,
the same amount of money will be bet on
both sides of the line and the Sports
Book will take its 10% from the losing
side. If $55000 ($50000 and an addition
$5000 to make the bets) was bet on Washington
and $55000 bet on Dallas, no matter who
wins the game the SB will make $5000.
In case of a tie, all money is refunded.
This is a rather simplified version as
the spread moves when one side becomes
more heavily bet on. <<<Back Top
What are all
of the different types of bets?
Proposition bet
A prop bet is a bet the SB offers at odds
and conditions of its choosing. Prop bets
can be exotic bets like which team will
score the most touchdowns, which team
will shoot the most three pointers, which
running back will rush for the most yards,
etc. Most prop bets are offered at 11-10
odds, but some of the exotics will be
offered at better or worse odds, depending
on the bet.
Money Line Bets
A money line bet is a bet on the straight
up total of an event or the odds for a
straight up prop bet. There are two totals
given for either side on a money line
bet. A negative and a plus side.
Dallas -170
Washington +150
What this means is
that for every $17 you bet on Dallas,
you win $10 if they win. For every $10
you bet on Washington, you win $15 if
they win. This is the way SB's make money
off games by not giving points.
Spread Bets
These are the standard bets to make. Basically
a proposition bet at 11-10 odds where
the conditions are you give or take points
on the team you are betting on hoping
that the modified total of your teams
score beats the other teams straight score.
Bets on the spread are often know as straight
bets because they pay even money (minus
the 10% vig).
Tampa Bay +19 1/2
Miami -19 1/2
This means that if
you bet on Miami, Miami needs to score
at least 20 more points than Tampa to
cover. If you bet on Tampa, the score
must be at least within 19 for you to
win. The bottom team is almost always
the home team.
Over/Under Bets
These are also 11-10 bets on what the
total of the game will be. If the total
posted on a game is 39 1/2 points, then
you can wager that the total score of
both teams added together will be either
over or under the posted total. Betting
the over is known as "betting on
the ball", betting under is known
as "betting on the clock".
Chicago -5 1/2 -180 1:00 pm
Atlanta +5 1/2 +150 42 1/2
This gives the money
line, the point spread, and the total
for the game. It also tells you that Atlanta
is the home team, and the game starts
at 1:00 pm. As far as I know, this is
the standard posting at mosts Books.
Parlays
A parlay bet is betting on the outcome
of two or more events, and getting higher
odds than betting on the outcome of both
events. The drawback is that the odds
aren't right and that you must win all
of the events to win the parlay.
# of plays Standard Odds True Odds
---------- ------------- ---------
2 plays 13-5 3-1
3 plays 6-1 7-1
4 plays 10-1 15-1
5 plays 20-1 31-1
6 plays 40-1 63-1
7 plays 80-1 127-1
The more events parlayed
the worse the odds shift in the casinos
advantage. The advantage for the player
for parlays lies in the fact that he can
bet more on the same game (spread and
over/under) and he can bet more on two
teams who are playing at the same time.
In order to be competitive, some casinos
offer ties-win parlay cards. This greatly
helps the player. The Las Vegas Hilton
SB is one of these.
Teasers
A teaser bet is a bet where you can move
the spread by a set amount, but have to
pay to do it. You must bet at least two
teams like a parlay and win both. You
can move the spread by on all the games
by the set amount.
Football Teasers
# of teams 6 pts 6 1/2 pts 7 pts
---------- ----- --------- -----
2 teams 11-10 5-6 5-7
3 teams 8-5 3-2 6-5
4 teams 5-2 2-1 9-5
5 teams 4-1 7-2 3-1
6 teams 6-1 5-1 4-1
Basketball
Teasers
# of teams 4 pts 4 1/2 pts 5 pts
---------- ----- --------- -----
2 teams 11-10 5-6 5-7
3 teams 8-5 3-2 6-5
4 teams 5-2 2-1 9-5
5 teams 4-1 7-2 3-1
6 teams 6-1 5-1 9-2
Buying a half point
You can shift the spread a half point
in your favor by laying 6-5 odds instead
of the standard 11-10. This is called
buying a half point. You usually want
to stay away from this bet except on three
point spreads on football games. This
is also know as "buying the hook".
<<<Back Top
Can I make
a million dollars with one bet?
Sure. Bet $1,100,000 straight up. <<<Back Top
Who makes the
odds?
Las Vegas Sports Consultants Inc., establishes
the odds for about 75% of the licensed
Sports Books in Nevada, as well as for
the Oregon State Lottery. It is run by
Michael 'Roxy' Roxborough. He also operates
as a consultant on gaming strategies,
management, marketing, and personnel.
Most illegal books in and out of Nevada
draw their odds from what is posted at
the various casinos. Transmitting gambling
information across state lines for the
purpose of placing or taking bets is illegal.
News items about point spreads and the
like can be reported for informational
and entertainment purposes only. <<<Back Top
Do I have to
be over 21 to bet on sports?
Yes. <<<Back Top
What is the
minimum bet that must be reported to the
IRS?
Well all gambling wins and losses are
supposed to be reported to the IRS at
the end of the year, but if you bet more
than $10,000 at once, you must fill out
some IRS paperwork at the ticket counter.
All money won must be reported to the
IRS. <<<Back Top
Which
sportsbooks have the fastest payouts and
the best bonuses?
Check these online
sportsbooks and casinos:
<<<Back Top
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