When diving into the sports betting world, it is possible to become overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. It is important that you take it a day at a time to fully understand each category you face.
When it comes to betting lines, lucky for you, it will not be as confusing as the name suggests. This guide will help you understand what betting lines are and how to read them.
Top Tips For Betting Lines
As mentioned above, betting lines are another category to the sports betting world. When planning a betting lines bet, it is important that you cover a few basic tips first to succeed.
The top tips to cover for betting lines are:
- What are betting lines?
- How to read betting lines
- Playing it safe
What Are Betting Lines?
Betting lines are where a bookmaker has handicapped a team or player to make the odds appealing, or at least fair. This margin between the two teams at hand creates a scenario or likelihood that one of two outcomes will happen; either a win or loss.
There are multiple betting lines to look at. Each sportsbook will have differences in opinion and options for each event, so the betting lines will all look different for each one.
How To Read Betting Lines
There are multiple lines to look for when placing bets. The most common betting lines are the line bets themselves, money lines, and the totals. Sometimes the totals bet is called an over/under bet.
An over/under bet is where you wager on whether a team or player will score a certain number of points, either over or under that certain amount. The totals bet is simply another term for this.
For an example of betting lines, let's look at two teams' NFL line betting options:
Line Betting Moneyline Totals
| Line Betting | Moneyline | Totals | |
| Dallas Cowboys | +8 | +180 | 40 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | -8 | -200 | - |
As you can see, the Eagles are favored to win by the moneyline bet. The line betting section shows that they are also favored to win by at least nine or more points. The minus sign shows that they are the favorite, while the plus sign shows the Cowboys as the underdog.
For the moneyline wager, you would have to put down $200 on the Eagles to get a $100 return should they win. As with the Cowboys, a $100 bet would net you $180 if they win.
Looking at the totals bet, it is placed at 40. This means if you were to bet on this, you would have to take either over 40 points or under 40 points for both teams' combined effort.
The outcome of the game does not matter, but simply whether or not you think the point total will be over or under the 40 mark.
Playing it Safe
As a newer sports bettor, you are going to experience a lot of different emotions and feelings towards your bets. Winning and losing are a part of sports, but so is the betting side of things.
You should never bet with money that you cannot afford to lose. Simply put, you have no business playing with money that is needed for food or other bills. On top of that, if you're going to risk your hard-earned money, you should know how to read betting odds well.
Try starting with a small bet to get a feel for everything. Once you get an idea of how your style of betting is, betting lines will come to you.
The bigger the odds and payouts, the more likely you will be attracted to them. Be careful of the" home run" of bets, because these may not always be the best ones to make. Do not veer from your strategy.
Take a look at the underdog more often. Just because they are not favored to win does not mean they cannot win. Look at the teams at hand and see how they match up with their environment, team news, chemistry, and things like injuries.
You should always quit while you are ahead. Chances are, if you are on a hot streak, then it will eventually burn out. Take a step back to see your success and how you got there.
