The Most Popular Types of Sports Bets

If you’re new to sports betting, you’re probably not familiar with a wide variety of bets online bookmakers offer you when betting on your favorite teams. Although there are many types of online bets, some being more complex than others, you can quickly understand all of them with just a little reading up. Here are five of the most popular types of sports bets explained in full detail, so you know which bet to make when and how to get the most value for your betting money.

Moneyline/Win Bet

This is the simplest of all sports bets and is the most straightforward one to pick up. The win bet is used universally, while the money line bet is most popular in the United States. The way this bet works is that you simply place a wager on the team you think will win the match, and if you get it right, you win the bet. It can vary from sport to sport, for example, in football, you will also have the draw option to bet on, while in other sports like tennis or playoff basketball games, there are just two options.

Handicap Bets

Handicap betting is one of the most popular types of bets among more experienced bettors. Handicap bets work exactly as they sound. The match favorite is placed under a handicapped situation, while the underdog starts the match with a positive result. For example, in a football match including Manchester United and Newcastle, online bookies can place a handicap on the teams and give Newcastle a goal advantage at slightly lower betting odds, or place a -1 goal handicap at the expense of Manchester United and increase the odds of betting on them. Manchester United have to win by at least two goals for you to win the handicap bet. in a way, this is very similar to the first type of bets, only it presents you with different options for betting on the teams you want to place bets on.

Specials/Prop Bets

Prop bets, also known as specials, are very fun and entertaining types of wagers that are more often up to luck than anything else. Serious professional bettors avoid making these types of bets, though if you’re informed, some of these bets can be good opportunities to earn a little extra cash. Prop bets are generally specific bets that usually don’t have a direct effect on the outcome of the match in question. For instance, popular specials bets are who will score the first goal, take the first corner, or will any player score a hat-trick.

Outright Bets

If you have a favored team or player to win a specific tournament or competition and you want to bet on this, then outright bets are your best option. these type of bets are basically wagering on the potential winner of the specific competition weeks or months before the competition even starts. This is also known as ante-post betting. When making outright or ante-post bets, all that it matters for you to win the bet is that the team or player you’ve backed at the beginning of the season goes all the way and lifts the trophy at the end.

Accumulator Bets

Accumulator bets involve placing multiple selections as a part of one single wager. For example, if you want to back Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea to each win their next game, you will include all four in an accumulator bet. However, you have to be careful when making accumulator bets, as they are relatively hard to win, as you have to get every selection right in order to pass your slip. If just one selection fails to win, your entire wager is lost. But, the upside of this is that, if you win, the returns can be very lucrative.