Sports Wagering Gambling Guide - Straight Wagers or Side Wagers

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Straight Wagering

What are straight wagers?

Straight wagers are the most common of bets made at sportsbooks. The are simply bets made using a pointspread. For these wagers, the payout is almost always -110, or risk $110 to win $100 (risk $10 to win $9.10).

How do I win a straight wager?

To win a straight wager, you need to figure in the pointspread. Simply add your pointspread to the the final score for the team you chose. If that number is bigger than their opponent, you won. Winning against the spread is called "covering" the wager.

Remember, if you chose the favorite, the pointspread will be negative. So you are actually subtracting!

Give me an example

San Francisco -5
St. Louis +5
The odds are risk $1.10 to win $1.00 (-110) unless otherwise indicated.

For the player who wagers on San Francisco -5, they must win by more than 5 points for this to be a winning wager
For the player who wagers on St. Louis +5, they must either win the game, or lose by less than 5 points for this to be a winning wager
If the outcome falls on the number, either way, the bet is declared a "Push", and the original stake is refunded

All wagers include all overtime scoring!

What sports bet this way?

Football, basketball almost exclusively are bet using the pointspread (although, often moneylines are also available). Hockey uses a pointspread, but combines it with a moneyline (so the payout isn't always -110). Baseball and soccer are commonly bet as moneylines.

Historically, do favorites or underdogs have an advantage?

Over the past year you will find underdogs and favorites win an equal number of games, except in moneyline sports like soccer and baseball. Here, favorites will win more often since there isn't a spread to make the game more even. One interesting note is NHL where gfavorites and underdogs win about 50% even though the spread is always one half goal (so ties favor the underdog). With that knowledge, it is a good idea to look at teams with odds greater than +100. It is human nature to pick favorites most often, even though statistically, the don't win quite half the matches in spread based sports.