How Sports Betting Works
If you’re a sports fan, sports betting products like PRO-LINE (PRO-LINE, PRO-LINE Fantasy, and PRO-LINE Stadium Parlay) can add excitement to any game.
Each game has its own set of rules and betting options. To play, you choose from the selections made available for wagering on each game, bet on the outcomes you think will occur, and if you get your pick(s) right, the amount you win is determined by multiplying the odds on the game(s) (set by professional odds makers) by the amount you have wagered. Atlantic Lottery’s PRO-LINE Stadium website explains the rules of each game. Sports betting is available at retail locations as well as online at alc.ca.
Understanding the Odds
There are many misunderstandings about how sports betting works, and how you can ‘beat’ the system to win more often; however, the outcome of a sporting event is never certain, no matter how much you know about the teams.
DECIMAL BETTING ODDS: What are they? Decimal odds show the amount that your wager will be multiplied by, should you win.
For example: If the odds are 2.00 and your bet is $5, your payout would be $10. BUT: your wager is included in the payout calculation, so really your win, or profit, would be $5.
DYNAMIC ODDS: When you place your bet, your odds are locked in. Someone else placing their bet at a different time could have different odds.
For example: If a star athlete is pulled from play one hour before the game starts, the odds of that team winning may go down and the odds of the other team winning may increase. As a result, someone who placed a bet at this point (one hour before the game) may have different odds than someone who placed a bet the day before, when the star athlete planned to play.
Understanding the Bets
MONEYLINE: This is a bet based on the odds of who will win or lose a game, match, or race.
POINT SPREAD: This is a bet based on whether a team wins or loses by the number of handicap points assigned to the favoured team.
OVER/UNDER: This is a bet on whether the combined total score goes over or under a certain number.
PROPS: This is a bet on events that happen during a sporting event. For example, will the quarterback throw more than two touchdowns.
FUTURES: This is a bet on an event, series, or an award that will finish in the future. This is different from a wager on the outcomes for a single game, as it is completed in the future, not the day the wager is placed.
PARLAY: This is when a player makes multiple wagers (at least two) and ties them into the same bet. If any bets in the parlay lose, then the entire parlay loses. If all wagers win, the bettor gets a bigger payout.
The Truth About Sports Betting
People who know a lot about sports may think they can use that knowledge to their advantage for placing bets.
The challenge is that the oddsmakers know a lot too. They have access to detailed statistics and sophisticated systems for generating odds.
They study the players’ health, team matchups, the weather and anything else that may influence the outcomes. They then incorporate those factors into the odds of a particular bet.
Don’t be fooled, chance still plays a big part. No matter your skill level, you can’t control the many variables that determine outcomes, and the odds are always set in favor of the house.