How to Bet 101

A 'Parlay' bet is a bet placed on multiple outcomes to occur. For a Parlay bet to win, all outcomes within the Parlay must be selected correctly. The odds for each pick are multiplied by one another to determine the odds for the Parlay.

For example, New England at -150 odds, parlayed with New York at +200 odds, would result in +400 odds. Wager $20 on the above two picks, see New England and New York BOTH win and you cash in with a cool $100 payout.

The 'Money Line' is simply Sportsbook speak for 'Who will win?' Odds are associated with each team involved in the Money Line bet based on their probability of winning.

Want to bet a basketball game between New York and Philadelphia? You can be sure that a small wager on New York will bring a big payout, while it’ll take a much larger wager on Philadelphia (the favored team to win) in order to get that same payout.

A Point Spread bet is when each outcome has a + or a - handicap applied to it. This handicap is often called the 'line'. On a 'line' of 3.5, one team will have 3.5 points added to their score, one team will have 3.5 points subtracted from their score. The winner of the Point Spread is the team who 'covers' the Spread based on the line and the final score.

For example, if Indiana and Chicago are playing a basketball game and the line is -5.5 for Indiana, they would need to win by 6 or more points to ‘cover.’ If Indiana wins 105-100, bets on them to cover would lose.

Over/Under bets are a value provided for one of many statistical categories, including the Final Score, Individual Team Score, or any Player Stats. Outcomes are listed as either 'Over' or 'Under' the stat. Odds are then associated with outcomes, based on the stat and the provided total.

Want to bet on Philadelphia’s rookie running back total rushing yards? The ‘total’ will be set at an estimated value of (example) say 82.5 yards. If at the conclusion of the game, the Philadelphia running back gets to 83 or more yards, then that means the ‘Over’ wins and everyone rejoices.

Live betting allows you to bet in real time while the action is unfolding. Think the next basket will be a 3 pointer? You can bet on it. Think Kansas City will make a monster comeback? Bet on it.

Odds will be representative of the likelihood of any of those events occurring, but beware; as live odds are dynamic, they are constantly going up and down so if you see something juicy, make sure you take it.