Types of Bets: Here is Everything You Should Know

Types of Bets: A Comprehensive Guide What is Betting in Gambling?How to Choose a Bet TypeAssess Your GoalsMatch Bet Complexity with Your Skill LevelTypes of Bets For BeginnersMoneyline BetsPoint SpreadOver/Under TotalsTraditional Sports BettingMoneyline Bets Point Spread BetsOver/Under BetsCommon Online Gambling PlatformsUnderstanding Core Types of BetsBetting on Non-Sporting EventsPolitical BettingEntertainment BettingNovelty BetsLegal & Ethical ConsiderationsTips for Betting Success Common Sports Bets PlatformsCommon Sports bests platforms in Africa;Bets Platform in Europe;Common Sports Bets Platforms in AsiaCommon Sports Bets in North America Compare different betting apps based on your needs Types of Bets Explained: A Comprehensive Guide

Types of Bets: A Comprehensive Guide

Betting has evolved over centuries from gentlemanly wagers between friends to a professional multi-billion-dollar global industry.

The popularity of having a bet continues to rise in modern society, aided by factors like the growth of online betting platforms, mobile betting apps, and the general legalization of sports gambling across more countries.

There is a diversity of betting options now available and it’s more important than ever to understand the different types of bets at your disposal. The emergence of new bets has further expanded the range of wagering options, offering bettors even more ways to engage and find value. This is highly recommended before you start wagering significant sums.

This article will guide you through the intricacies of sports bets, online bets, exotic bets, and more – equipping you with the knowledge to navigate the landscape of betting with confidence.

What is Betting in Gambling?

At its core, betting refers to wagering money or something of value on the outcome of an uncertain future event.

While betting takes place informally between friends and colleagues daily, structured betting more commonly refers to gambling.

This is placing bets through either a bookmaker or on a betting exchange platform.

Common examples of having a bet within gambling include:

• Betting on the outcome of a sports event or match – whether that involves picking an outright winner (such as a game outright), point spread, or the total points scored.
• Gambling on casino games with inherent randomness like slots, roulette, craps or baccarat.
• We were playing poker or other card games for money, either in-person or online.
• Wagering on competitive video gameplay as an e-sport.
• Betting on major political elections or entertainment event results.

And thanks to the age of the internet, the scope of gambling betting markets has expanded enormously in modern times.

It is now covering pretty much anything with an uncertain result, from celebrity gossip to the weather.

Betting differs from other gambling activities without an inherent wager, such as playing the lottery, bingo or non-monetary social games solely for entertainment.

It specifically refers to voluntarily risking money on uncertain outcomes for the opportunity to make a profit on your predictions.

How to Choose a Bet Type

With so many bet varieties to pick from, deciding what to wager on can feel overwhelming for newcomers.

Here are useful factors to consider before choosing your types of bets:

Match Bet Complexity with Your Skill Level

As a beginner, lean towards straightforward moneyline, point spread and over/under bets while you still learn the intricacies of sports wagering. These are often called simple bets, and they are highly accessible for beginners due to their uncomplicated nature.

Assess Your Goals

What appeals to you most – the thrill of betting on exotic markets, maximizing potential returns from accumulator bets, or do you simply want an enjoyable way to add interest when watching sports? Prioritizing key motivations helps guide what bets suit you.

Match Bet Complexity with Your Skill Level

As a beginner, lean towards straightforward moneyline, point spread and over/under bets while you still learn the intricacies of sports wagering. More experienced bettors can evaluate whether they possess the advanced analytical skills required to profit consistently from complex accumulators or forecast bets.

Understand the Risk-Reward Tradeoff

Less likely bets generally bring proportionally larger potential payouts. Make sure you feel comfortable with the real risk and implied probability of any wager. For example, betting on obscure entertainment outcomes offers excitement but unlikely profits long-term.

Diversify Bet Selections

Wagering solely on favourite top teams brings consistency but smaller returns. Conversely, only betting high-risk outsiders can seem alluring but variance will catch out most bettors. Blend some speculative bets on underdogs at higher odds along with safer options.

Types of Bets For Beginners

When first getting started with sports betting, limiting yourself to simple types of bets for beginners is prudent while you learn the ropes. More straightforward types of bets for beginners allow focusing on mastering core factors like bankroll management, understanding odds, and researching teams/players.

In soccer betting, a ‘win bet’ is one of the most fundamental and straightforward options. With a win bet, you simply predict whether the home team will win, the away team will win, or if the match will end in a draw.

Beginners should consider sticking with these popular types of bets:

Moneyline Bets

Moneyline bets rank among the most elementary types of bets for beginners. Simply pick which team or player you expect to win an upcoming fixture—this is also known as betting ‘straight up’, meaning to win outright without any point spread. The odds guide your potential payout. Losing bets forfeits your stake.

Point Spread

Point spread betting provides another very accessible type of bet for beginners. Point spreads often include a half point to prevent ties (pushes) and to provide more precise betting lines. Here bookmakers set a margin of victory required for favourites to “cover the spread” and underdogs to stay within striking distance. Newbies find this type of handicap wagering easy to grasp.

Over/Under Totals

Predicting whether teams will combine to score over or under a set threshold presents another excellent beginner bet type option. You don’t need to call the outright winner, just expect a generally high/low-scoring game based on historical stats.

Gradually introduce more exotic types of bets for beginners like accumulators to your repertoire. But avoid overly complex bets initially – maximize your chance of building confidence and profits over the long run sticking to simpler beginner bet types.

Traditional Sports Betting

Sports betting remains one of the most popular forms of gambling, largely focused on events like football, basketball, baseball and horse racing, as well as American football, college football, college basketball, and the Premier League. Baseball betting often uses the run line, which is similar to a point spread but applies to runs scored.

There are a variety of ways to bet on the outcome of sporting events, including:

Correct score bets are another popular option, where you predict the exact final score of a match or event. This type of bet is especially common in football and soccer.

Moneyline Bets 

These require you to predict the outright winner of a match or race, without any handicap or point spread taken into account. Typically the underdog team will have greater odds – meaning a larger payout if you correctly bet on them pulling off an upset victory.

Point Spread Bets

Also referred to as a handicap, bookmakers will set a margin of victory that the favoured team—meaning the team expected to win and referred to as the favored team—needs to exceed for a point spread bet on them to pay out. This helps level the playing field versus just backing the outright winner in a moneyline bet.

Over/Under Bets

With these, you’ll be betting on whether the total points scored by both teams finish over or under a threshold set by the sportsbook. It removes the complication of needing to predict an outright winner.

Advanced Bet Types

As you gain experience in sports betting, you may want to explore more sophisticated bet types that offer greater excitement and the potential for higher rewards. Advanced bet types go beyond the basics, allowing you to combine multiple bets, adjust odds, or wager on future events and specific outcomes within a game. Understanding these advanced options can help you diversify your sports bets and develop new strategies for maximizing your potential payout.

Parlay Bets

A parlay bet is a popular choice among sports bettors looking to turn a small stake into a big win. With a parlay bet, you combine multiple individual bets—such as moneyline bets, point spreads, or totals—into one single wager. The catch? Every single bet within the parlay must win for the entire bet to pay out. If even one selection loses, the whole parlay bet is lost. This all-or-nothing approach makes parlay bets riskier than placing separate single bets, but the potential payout is much higher because the odds of each individual bet are multiplied together. For example, you might place a parlay bet on three different NBA games, picking the winner of each. If all your picks are correct, your single wager could return a significant profit compared to betting on each game individually. Parlay bets are a thrilling way to engage with multiple sporting events at once, but remember: the more bets you add, the harder it is to win the entire bet.

Teaser Bets

Teaser bets are a special type of parlay bet that give you more control over the point spread or totals line. When you place a teaser bet, you can adjust the point spread by a few points in your favor for each game included in the bet. This makes it easier for your selections to win, but it also lowers the odds and, therefore, the potential payout. Teaser bets are especially popular in sports like football and basketball, where point spreads play a major role. For instance, if you’re betting on two football games, you might use a teaser to move the point spread by six points for each game, increasing your chances of covering the spread. While teaser bets offer a better chance of winning compared to standard parlays, the trade-off is a lower payout. Teaser bets are ideal for bettors who want to balance risk and reward while still enjoying the excitement of multiple games.

Futures Bets

Futures bets are wagers placed on the outcome of a future event, often long before the event takes place. These bets are commonly used to predict the winner of a championship, tournament, or league—such as betting on a team to win the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, or the US Open golf tournament. Futures bets are typically made before the season starts or early in the competition, and they offer attractive odds because of the uncertainty involved. The potential payout for a successful futures bet can be substantial, especially if you back an underdog team to win outright. However, these bets require patience, as you’ll need to wait until the end of the season or event to see if your prediction comes true. Many bettors enjoy combining futures bets with other types of sports wagers throughout the season to keep things interesting and potentially increase their overall winnings.

Prop Bets

Prop bets, short for proposition bets, allow you to wager on specific outcomes within a sporting event that don’t necessarily relate to the final score. Prop bets can cover a wide range of possibilities, from individual player performance—like how many touchdowns a quarterback will throw or how many points a basketball player will score—to team achievements, such as the number of corner kicks in a football match. Prop bets are especially popular during major sporting events like the Super Bowl, where you can bet on everything from the length of the national anthem to which team will score first. These bets add an extra layer of excitement to sports betting, letting you focus on particular aspects of the game or even just have fun with quirky, creative wagers. Whether you’re a stats enthusiast or just looking to spice up your viewing experience, prop bets offer endless ways to engage with your favorite sports.

In conclusion, advanced bet types such as parlay bets, teaser bets, futures bets, and prop bets open up a world of possibilities for sports betting enthusiasts. By learning how each bet type works and understanding the risks and rewards involved, you can make smarter wagers and enjoy a more dynamic betting experience. Whether you’re aiming for a big payout with a parlay bet, adjusting the odds with teaser bets, predicting future champions with futures bets, or diving into the details with prop bets, these advanced options can take your sports betting to the next level.

Common Online Gambling Platforms

The advent of online sportsbooks and betting exchanges has dramatically increased accessibility to gambling worldwide. Some of the most popular platforms include:

Bet365

One of the largest online gambling companies globally, bet365 allows members to live stream sporting events and supports an array of sports betting markets.

Many online platforms, including Bet365 and DraftKings, offer live betting options that allow users to place wagers during ongoing events.

DraftKings

Originally daily fantasy sports focused, DraftKings expanded into online betting – leveraging its experience building fantasy platforms. DraftKings Sportsbook is also recognized as a premier venue for in-person sports betting, such as at Boot Hill Casino, and is known for its user-friendly platform and diverse betting options. It’s now legal in over a dozen US states.

Betfair

As one of the largest betting exchanges, Betfair facilitates peer-to-peer online betting – matching backers and layers directly rather than risking its own capital. This gives great flexibility but requires an understanding of highly advanced bet types.

While convenient access and potential profits entice online punters, responsible gambling is vital. Protect yourself by analyzing trustworthy platform reviews, understanding territorial restrictions, considering identity verification rigour, and crucially – setting strict losing limits.

Many platforms attract new customers with promotional offers such as a free bet or free bets, which often come with specific conditions.

Understanding Core Types of Bets

Before evaluating more complex exotic bets, get familiar with some standard bet variations:

Single Bets

As the name suggests, this involves betting on just a single outcome – for example wagering on Team A to win an upcoming match. These are also known as singles bets and are the simplest form of betting, often involving one team or one outcome. A single bet means you are wagering on a specific outcome, making it a precise and straightforward bet type. This contains your risk exposure versus betting on multiple outcomes.

Multiple Bets

Here you combine single bets across two or more events, such as betting on Team A to win along with predicting over 2.5 goals will occur across the match. These involve combining separate bets and can include two bets or more. The bets listed on most sportsbooks often highlight these options, making them easy to find and place. This lets you potentially boost winnings but risk compounds.

Accumulator Bets

Popular online, accumulators combine four or more single bet selections into one combined bet, with exponentially increasing returns if your predictions are correct. Accumulators can involve more money and higher risk, as one bet can impact the entire outcome. However, just one incorrect pick results in an overall loss.

Exotic Bet Types

Once confident with traditional betting formats, exotic bet markets open up a world of alternative options:

Forecast & Tricast Bets

In horse racing, forecast bets require correctly predicting which two horses finish 1st and 2nd, while tricast betting also demands accurately picking the 3rd place finisher. A forecast wager is a bet where you predict the order of finishers, and a straight forecast means picking the exact 1st and 2nd in order. A reverse forecast allows you to select two horses to finish 1st and 2nd in any order, increasing the chance but also the stake. A combination forecast involves picking three or more selections to finish in the top two in any order, resulting in multiple bets. A computer straight forecast is a type of wager where the exact finishing order of the top two is predicted, often calculated by the betting system. These bet types are especially popular in horse racing and greyhound racing.

Each Way Bets

These bets cover both your selection to either win outright or place within the first set number of positions, typically 2nd or 3rd. Each way bets involve two bets: one for the win and one for the place. A place bet, especially common in greyhound racing, involves wagering on a dog to either win or finish in a top position, and is often used as a lower-risk betting option that balances potential reward with increased chances of winning. The odds on each component of an each-way bet differs.

Asian Handicaps

Used frequently on football betting exchanges, Asian handicaps eliminate the chance of a draw result by applying a predefined goal advantage margin to a stronger team. This appeals to traditional fixed odds betting and can involve two teams competing with adjusted handicaps.

Live Bets, In Play, and In Play Betting

Live bets, also known as in play or in play betting, allow you to place wagers during the course of an ongoing event. Odds are updated dynamically as the game progresses, providing an interactive and engaging betting experience. This is especially popular in sports like football and hockey, where bettors can react to real-time developments.

Cover Bet, Cover Bets, Full Cover Bet, and Full Cover Bets

A cover bet is a strategy that involves placing multiple bets to maximize coverage of possible outcomes. Full cover bets, such as Yankees, Canadians, Heinz, and Goliath, include all possible doubles, trebles, and accumulators from a set of selections, and sometimes singles. These bets combine various combinations to increase your chances of a return, even if not all selections win.

Round Robin and Round Robin Bet

A round robin or round robin bet is a strategy where you create multiple parlays from a set of selections. This approach covers various possible outcomes and helps manage risk by spreading your initial wager across several smaller bets, rather than relying on one bet to win.

Understanding Unit Stake, Unit Stakes, Stake Units, Initial Wager, and Original Bet

When placing complex bets, it’s important to understand the concepts of unit stake, unit stakes, and stake units. Each separate bet or combination within a system bet requires its own unit stake, and the total amount wagered can add up quickly. Your initial wager or original bet is the starting amount you risk, and managing these amounts is crucial for effective risk management and betting strategy.

Betting on Non-Sporting Events

Sports comprises the majority share of the global betting industry currently, although more novelty betting markets continue emerging, including:

Political Betting

Especially popular surrounding major democratic elections, political betting allows you to wager on outcomes like the winner of an upcoming US Presidential vote result or which party will win the next UK General Election.

Entertainment Betting

Turn your passion for entertainment into profits by betting on outcomes like the winner of reality television singing competitions, major celebrity relationship news or even movie awards results.

Novelty Bets

Fancy betting on unconventional events like the gender of the next British royal baby that’s born or what color suit the Prime Minister will wear to a major public address? Novelty bets cover pretty much anything you can imagine!

Legal & Ethical Considerations

While placing the occasional casual bet adds enjoyment for many people, responsible gambling is essential.

Be honest with yourself by analyzing your motivations for betting and avoid chasing losses obsessively. Consider affordable budgets for discretionary gambling and stick ruthlessly within your limits.

Legal Regulations

Most countries now implement strict regulations surrounding online betting. Understand territorial restrictions, platform certification validity in your jurisdiction, identity verification requirements, and consequences like suspended payouts for violating terms of service.

Seeking Help

If gambling begins negatively impacting personal relationships, professional productivity or financial stability – seek support immediately through reputable problem gambling organizations that can provide guidance confidentially. 

Tips for Betting Success 

Follow these tips to help make informed betting decisions:

Understand Betting Odds

Learning to calculate implied probabilities from the fractional, decimal or moneyline odds presented allows for judiciously assessing the real risk-reward ratio of betting options.

Budget & Bankroll Strategy

Restrict betting solely from a dedicated discretionary budget that losing entirely won’t impact essential outgoings, along with a system for disciplined staking levels relative to the current bankroll.

Research & Analysis

There’s no shortcut for thoroughly doing these; researching teams, individual players, venue statistics, weather forecasts, expert opinions, line movements and a variety of other factors that can influence likely betting outcomes across different sports and events.

Common Sports Bets Platforms

Common Sports bests platforms in Africa;

• Betway – Licensed across multiple territories, local banking and support.
• Sportybet – Nigeria-focused with competitive odds.
• Supabets – South African online betting site, offering a range of sports.
• Betika – Kenya’s largest online and SMS platform.

Bets Platform in Europe;

Europe enjoys access to a highly competitive landscape of international and locally regulated betting platforms, like:

• Bet365
• Betfair
• Paddy Power
• Unibet
• William Hill

Common Sports Bets Platforms in Asia

Some top sports betting sites used across Asia include:

• SBOBet
• Dafabet
• Fun88
• 10CRIC

The aforementioned are all along with numerous licensed operators focusing on individual countries to offer localized betting sites.

Common Sports Bets in North America

Despite sports betting remaining federally illegal outside limited states, offshore sportsbooks thrive, including favourites like:

• Bovada
• MyBookie
• BetOnline
• Intertops

As state-regulated mobile sports betting gradually unfurls across America, platforms like DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars Sportsbook keep gaining market share domestically.

While betting increasingly permeates modern culture with [the convenience of mobile apps](https://prometteursolutions.com/blog/sports-betting-app-development-technologies-a-comprehensive-guide/) and globalized platforms, pause to understand the diverse options now available before risking significant capital.

Start slowly, bet responsibly within strict limits, and equip yourself with the foundations covered here; from traditional handicap bets through to exotic betting forms and everything in between across the ever-evolving landscape.

Prometteur – Global Sportsbook & Sports Betting Solutions Provider

Prometteur is a leading global provider of sportsbook and sports betting solutions, offering cutting-edge technology and comprehensive platforms to operators worldwide. With a focus on innovation, security, and user experience, Prometteur empowers betting companies to deliver seamless and engaging sports wagering services across multiple types of bets and sports. Their solutions support a wide range of bet types, competitive odds, live betting features, and integration with various payment systems, ensuring a robust and scalable betting environment.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding the different types of bets is essential for making informed sports betting decisions.
• Beginners should start with simple bets like moneyline, point spread, and over/under before exploring advanced bet types.
• Advanced bets such as parlays, teaser bets, futures bets, and prop bets offer higher rewards but come with increased risk.
• Online sportsbooks and betting exchanges provide convenient access to a variety of bet types and live betting options.
• Responsible gambling and bankroll management are crucial for long-term success in sports betting.
• Staying informed about legal and ethical considerations helps ensure a safe and enjoyable betting experience.

FAQs

Q1: What is the easiest type of bet for beginners?
A1: Moneyline bets are generally the easiest for beginners since they involve simply picking the winner of a game or match without considering point spreads or totals.

Q2: How does a parlay bet work?
A2: A parlay bet combines multiple individual bets into one wager. All selections must win for the parlay to pay out, making it riskier but offering higher potential returns.

Q3: What are prop bets?
A3: Prop bets focus on specific events or outcomes within a sporting event, such as a player’s performance or a particular game occurrence, rather than the final score.

Q4: Can I place bets while a game is in progress?
A4: Yes, live betting (also known as in-play betting) allows you to place wagers during an ongoing event with odds updated in real time.

Q5: What should I consider to bet responsibly?
A5: Set strict betting limits, manage your bankroll carefully, avoid chasing losses, and only bet with money you can afford to lose.