If you notice that the site you are on is overrun with ads, begging you for money, try a different sportsbook. Advertisements are quick and easy ways for spammers to try and take your money. Stay away from sites which don't allow you to browse their site until you give a credit card number upfront. It is never safe to give out your personal identification information to a site which you have not scouted out yet.
Familiarize yourself with one sport at a time. You do not want to bet on every sport you love. Really dive into the stats on the sports organization's website or on sportsbook site. Keep track of the outside factors which come into play with sports, such as weather, injuries, "revenge," etc.
Never gamble away money you need to pay bills. Keeping the electricity and water running are much more important than sports gambling. Plan ahead of time. Save a little bit of money each week until you have a nest egg to gamble with. For example, if you plan on betting on the next football season, save a year in advance. this way if you lose the first few times you will still have money to fall back on.
If you want to deal with sportsbooks that have a bad reputation, expect all sorts of shenanigans. That means a challenging time opening up an account, questionable customer service and an arduous time withdrawing your funds. However, if you deal with many of the best sportsbooks brand names – like the top-rated books that industry watchdog SBR recommends – then you’ll be in good hands. Many of them are either publicly traded companies or sportsbooks with pristine, longstanding reputations.
There are a whole host of options for depositing and withdrawing from a sporstbook, but many are easier than others. For example: a credit card deposit or withdrawal is instantaneous. You’ll also want to look for books that have lots of banking methods. Should something change in the future, you’ll have more methods to transfer funds back and forth.
Straight bets are in fact the most common and most simple type of sports bet ever used. You make a straight bet when you wish to place a wager on single side of a game and to win it, you must correctly choose the team that will cover the spread. In general, when you make a straight bet you must pay 10% as a "service fee". This service fee is called the "juice" or "vig" and the amount charged may vary from one sportsbook to another. Browse through the betting sites, open an account on your favorite one, head over to check their lines and notice the juice they charge. Sometimes, you can find games at -105.
These are the sports in which point spreads are more relevant. The best way to show you what a point spread is with an example, so let's take one from the NFL. The Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos might play a lower team like the Cleveland Browns, but the spread might favor the Broncos by seven points because they're better. That would read as the Broncos -7 while the Browns would be +7. This means the Broncos have to beat the Browns by more than seven points, while the Browns need to win outright or lose by less than seven in order to win. If the outcome lands exactly on seven points, that’s known as a push and the game is a tie (you get your money back). It works the exact same way in basketball.
Point spreads aren't as popular in these sports, but it's still possible to do it. Puck lines are for betting hockey and run lines are for betting baseball, but there is a standard line for both: 1.5. You'll see one team is either -1.5 as the favorite, or +1.5 as the underdog. What this means is, for the favorite, they have to win by more than 1.5 goals (by two), and the underdog has to lose by less than 1.5 goals or win outright. So they could lose by one and you would win. It is the same for run lines in baseball, and again, the line is usually 1.5 either way.
Live betting allows you to bet in-game while the action is happening. It’s a relatively new feature that has been implemented at many books over the last few years, so some books do it better than others. And some sportsbooks still don’t offer it.
The amount of juice that you’re laying directly affects your bottom line. Some sportsbooks offer cheaper lines (-105 on football instead of -110, for example), which means you would have to wager 5% less each time. In the long run, that can save you a lot of money and sharp bettors will understand that. For recreational bettors, this is a smaller consideration.
Competitive isn’t the word when it comes to the amount of bookmakers pushing and shoving each other out of the way in order to secure your sign-up. This goes for all online gambling sites but particularly those focussed on sports betting where interest continues to soar.This could be based on the company’s reputation, an advertisement, a recommendation, or the like and even the lure of a bonus is unlikely to sway them.
By far the typical type of bonus, the sportsbook will match your first deposit, up to a certain percentage, from anywhere between 10% and 200%. For example, a promotion that offers 100% on your first deposit will effectively double your stake - if you deposit $50, the bookie will also deposit $50 as a reward for signing up. Such an offer will come with conditions however so it’s important to read the exact terms before committing.
A free bet tends to fall in-line with a big sporting event such as the Super Bowl or a particular game the sportsbook want to promote. Refund offers and money-back specials can also fall under the umbrella of a free bet. For example, with a money-back special, if you wager on the first goalscorer in a soccer match and it finishes goalless, the sportsbook will return your stake - essentially though, you’ve had a free bet on the game.