Sports betting is a popular way to try and make a little bit of money as you engage in your favorite past time. It is nothing new in terms of human history; as long as there has been competition between people, there has been an interest in guessing the outcome of that competition.
Let’s take a look way back, to a time when 해외축구중계 a man named Thag challenged Mok to a rock throwing contest. The rest of the tribe would talk amongst themselves, each person selecting the man they thought most likely to win. Perhaps Thag was slighter than Mok, so several people thought Mok could throw farther. The advantage in Mok’s size was obvious to all, so those wishing to bet on Mok had to come up with some way to get someone to take their bet and place a few walnuts on Thag. They did this by sweetening the pot; they might say, if Thag out throws Mok, then I will give you four walnuts. If Mok out throws Thag, on the other hand, then you only owe me two walnuts.
That is a very primitive (ha!) example of what odds are all about. The strategies have evolved enormously over time, but the basic concept has stayed the same. That is, odds are used to attract bets on a side that might not otherwise garnish much support.
Odds are really the basic cornerstone of sports betting. The past time is so involved that it actually has little to do with which team is better than another. Instead, the odds indicate how many people are BETTING on one team over another. It is in the interest of the bookmakers to attract as much attention to both sides as possible, so they tend to change the odds in order to encourage action for whichever team is receiving less bets.
Thus, it is possible for those who are patient and skilful enough to find odds which heighten their chances of winning money. Essentially, what a person is trying to do here is find good value for their bets.
Let’s take a look at an example. Let’s say that you want to bet the money line on a professional football game. Football betting on the line is expressed like this:
Washington Redskins -220
Pittsburgh Steelers +180
Neither of these bets would be good value, or good odds. In order for a bettor to take home $100 on the Redskins, he would have to bet $220, or more than twice that amount. While the ‘Skins may indeed be the more skilful team, luck can always (and frequently does) come into play in determining the outcome. If the Redskins ended up losing, the cost would be very bad for the bettor. The Steelers also don’t offer a very good bet, because the odds are stacked against them.
Look for bets that are a lot better value than these. The closer to $100 you can get for the favourite, the better the value on that bet is likely to be. On the other hand, the higher the payout for the underdog, the more valuable the bet is as well.