So What Can You Bet On, Anyways?

Our columnist Hannah breaks down the different types of bets you can make and which sports have legal betting. (Plus discussing the best sports betting/con artist movie of all time?)

When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies was the 1973 con artist film The Sting. While other kids my age were pining over Josh Hartnett or Brad Pitt, I was building an entire personality around the icy sharpness of Paul Newman’s eyes and the heartbreakingly unattainable pretty privilege of 1970s Robert Redford. (Eat your heart out, Tyler Durden!) 

But I digress. I was also riveted by the gambling of it all. Newman and Redford (the OG Clooney and Pitt) come together to con the film’s villain into a bad bet on a horse race. I used to try to mimic big bad Robert Shaw’s accent grumbling out, “Half a million on Lucky Dan to win.” 

Little did I know, I was getting my first lesson in Sports Betting 101. 

We’re not going to parse through every scene of The Sting today, sadly. But if you’re just getting started with sports betting, you’re in the right place! 

At its most basic, betting is just putting money behind a prediction. But there are so many different ways to predict an outcome, especially when it comes to sports. Sure, you can bet on who wins or loses (the aforementioned Lucky Dan bet in The Sting). But you can also bet on what a specific player might do in a game, wager on the score after the first quarter, or bet on what color Gatorade will drench the winning coach at the Super Bowl.

Today we’re breaking down the main types of bets in sports betting. Need more detail about any of it? Just click the links below to get a deeper dive. 

What are the main types of bets in sports betting?

There are basically endless ways to bet on sports, but we can categorize most types of wagers – in industry terms, “markets” – in the following buckets:

  • Moneyline: Who’s gonna win? She’s the most basic bet, sure, but she’s also the Queen Bee and one of the most commonly cited bets. Heck, this column is named after our girl, the Money Line Bet. 
  • Point Spread: How many points will the winner win by? I like betting the spread because even if a team seems guaranteed to win, you still have interesting betting options. Like, sure, the Nuggets will win, but can they win by five? 
  • Total, or Over/Under: Ah, the over/under, a term that has found its way into icebreakers, trivia nights, and brunch convos. This is a bet on the total amount of points scored in a game, both sides combined. Most people call it the over/under because oddsmakers set a number, and you bet on whether the final score will be over or under that number.
  • Prop Bets: Props are any bet not related to the game’s final outcome (unlike moneyline, spread, and total). You could have player props like how many points a specific player will score, team props like how many points the home team will score, and game props like how many dunks will happen in the first quarter. 
  • Futures: Futures bets involve betting on the outcome of a future event. For example, you could bet on which team will win the Super Bowl before the NFL season even starts, or you could bet on who you think will win MVP.
  • Parlays: Parlays are any combination of more than one bet. You have to win all of the bets (or “legs”) in your parlay in order to win the parlay. Parlays are a lot harder to win, but the payout is better because of it. Fun fact that I’m sure I’ll write about in-depth one day: My husband once won $10K on a $15 parlay bet.

What sports can you bet on?

Like, literally, all of them, sis.

No, but that’s kind of true? It depends on which sportsbook you’re using and which sports they include. 

It can also depend on what’s legal. For example, in the state of New York, where I live, you can’t bet on in-state college games. You also can’t bet on any futures that involve votes – so we can’t bet on the MVPs in a league, Rookie of the Year, etc. (We couldn’t bet in our own state on the NY Yankees’ Aaron Judge winning the AL MVP last year! I’ve spent a fair amount of time as a reporter asking lawmakers when they’re going to change that rule.) 

Most of the major sportsbooks include nearly any sport you can imagine, from the most popular sports like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and international soccer to WNBA, rugby, golf, tennis, lacrosse, Formula 1, MMA, or even the Call of Duty League. (So far, Pickleball isn’t on major sportsbooks, but if every tennis court in America’s public parks is any indication, Pickleball will likely invade soon!)

I’ve also done a lot of reporting on how the major sportsbooks don’t offer as many markets on women’s sports – yet. The best way to get more markets as a sports fan? Bet on that sport whenever it’s available!

Want the latest and greatest betting tips? Bookmark this betting tips page.

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