The Beginners Guide to Sports Betting

    

                        Source: The New York Times

In today's world, sports betting is exploding. States across the country are beginning to legalize sports gambling and there are seemingly unlimited options for placing bets.  Lock It In is the first blog dedicated to teach and assist the average gambler to help them bet responsibly and warn them of pitfalls to avoid while doing it. They're many lessons to be learned, but we'll start at the top. Welcome to the beginners guide of sports betting. 

1. Betting with Units

    Let's talk about units. Units are a metric used by sports bettors that represent the size of someone's bet. In order to bet responsibly, it first helps to create a bankroll, or the amount of money you're willing to risk and lose while gambling. This should be an amount of money you are comfortable losing. The first rule of gambling is the most important one: NEVER, EVER bet with money you do not have. Do not ask friends or family members for loans, do not go to the bank and take out money. If you're thinking about doing these things, you're walking a dangerous line. Once you have a set amount of money you're comfortable losing, create your unit sizes. A unit is a percentage of your bankroll and is used by gamblers to represent how much they are placing on a certain game. Instead of somebody saying, "I bet $25 on the Giants -7," it is common for bettors to instead say, "I bet 2 units on the Giants -7." This does multiple things. First, it prevents you from losing control of the amount of money you're betting. It's an easy system to understand and allows a bettor to realize just how much he/she is gambling. If a bettor is placing 2 units on a bet, they know they're risking approximately 2% of their bankroll. The more units that are placed, the more confident the bettor is in that bet. This allows gamblers to compare with each other and share picks, without sharing actual dollar amounts. A steadfast rule to live by: Never bet more than 5 units (or 5% of your bankroll) on a single event. Even if your bet is losing, do not try and live bet the same game or try doubling down to make your money back. Only bet on a single sporting event once, that way you can't go overboard or dig yourself into a hole with one game. 

2. Understanding Spreads

      For each sporting event, oddsmakers are in charge of setting the lines for games. That means picking the favorite and the underdog. The team that the oddsmakers believe will win is considered the favorite, while the team the oddsmakers think will lose is considered the underdog. One of the ways to bet the favorite or underdog, is betting the spread. A point spread is the amount of points the oddsmakers believe a team will win or lose by. If the New York Giants are playing the New York Jets, the Giants might be listed as -3. This means the oddsmakers believe the Giants will win the game by 3 or more points. If a bettor believes the Giants will win by a touchdown, he/she might consider betting on the Giants -3. In order for this bet to win, the Giants must win the game by more than 3 points. If they win by exactly 3 points, the bet pushes. This means the bettor doesn't win or lose and will get their money back for the bet. If the Giants win by fewer than 3 or lose the game outright, the bet loses. If a bettor believes the Jets will win OR lose by 3 points or less, they may bet on the Jets +3. This means that in order for the bet to win, the Jets either have to win the game outright, or lose by fewer than 3 points.  

    While these tips are a great start to understanding sports betting, there's a lot more to learn. Next week, we'll look into moneylines and game totals and continue our tips to mold you into the responsible sports bettor you want to be!

Sources: https://www.google.com/search?q=sports+betting&sxsrf=ALeKk01MUwhMWrFyXzwTedow37ia9SokjA:1600795161673&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2uuDXov3rAhUumHIEHWwMCbQQ_AUoAnoECA4QBA&biw=1440&bih=747#imgrc=57BEm6mPU7JYFM

https://www.actionnetwork.com/how-to-bet-on-sports/general/sports-betting-for-beginners-10-things-to-know