How to Start Betting on Sports – A Quick Guide
How to Start Sports Betting
- Step 1 – Set a Budget: Set aside some money you can afford to lose before you start sports gambling.
- Step 2 – Pick a Sport to Bet On: Select a sport that’s suitable for your knowledge and experience.
- Step 3 – Join a Betting Site: Pick an online bookmaker and open a new account.
- Step 4 – Learn How Betting Odds Work: Before you bet real money on sports, you should learn how the odds work.
- Step 5 – Learn the Popular Betting Options: Explore the most common wagers available.
- Step 6 – Learn How to Make Money Betting on Sports: Once you know the basics, you can start making the transition from beginner to winner.
- Step 7 – Try Different Betting Options: You can find many exciting opportunities on the internet, so it’s a good idea to give them a try.
Step 1 – Set a Budget
You should look at your initial bankroll as an investment for the future or the cost of the fun you’re about to have and the experience you’re about to gather.
Once you have set a budget aside, it’s time to figure out your staking plan. The goal here is to make sure you won’t lose all your money in a heartbeat. Even the most successful bettors have losing streaks and reckless bet sizing is the easiest way to bust.
There are two major factors you should consider when placing your wager. Let’s take a look at them.
- Probability to win – The higher the probability of a bet to win, the more you can afford to risk.
- How good the bet is – If you think that a bet is excellent, you can stake a bit more.
Step 2 – Pick a Sport to Bet On
Popular Sports to Bet On
On the negative side, finding value bets might be harder in more mainstream competitions. The bookies pay special attention to them, and they rarely make mistakes with their odds.
First-time sports bettors might do better in more obscure sports or competitions where the bookmakers don’t invest as much money. If you have inside information or plenty of knowledge about a less popular competition, that might be the better choice for beginners.
The good news is that when you’re starting with betting on sports, you don’t have to pick one league and stick with it forever.
You can always try different options and see what works best. Still, having a plan is vital for beginner sports bettors. If you want some more help picking the right sport for you, the following page will help.
- Football – Both the NFL and NCAA Division 1 are extremely popular and covered by most bookmakers if you decide to start with football.
- Basketball – You can pick between the NBA, college basketball, the top European leagues, and major international events like the Olympics, the FIBA World Cup, EuroBasket, and more.
- Soccer – The number of soccer leagues available for betting is staggering. It includes all the big leagues in Europe, the MLS, major international tournaments, and all sorts of obscure leagues from all over the globe.
- Baseball – The MLB is the most popular option here, but there are other leagues from different parts of the world offered for gambling.
- Tennis – The tennis calendar includes many tournaments for both men and women each year, so you will have many opportunities to find good wagers.
Step 3 – Join a Betting Site
How We Rate
Safety & Security
You should be able to gamble online without fear. So we only recommend licensed sites that use the latest security and encryption techniques.
Bonuses
Maximize your bankroll with fantastic bonuses. Our recommended sites offer valuable bonuses with fair terms and conditions, including manageable wagering requirements.
Games & Betting
The best sites have the best wagering options. That’s why you will find extensive games and betting opportunities on our recommended sites.
Banking
Getting your money to and from your account shouldn’t be a hassle. We only recommend sites with a variety of convenient banking methods, including cryptocurrency and e-wallets.
Common Betting Site Offers
We know that many people who are getting into sports betting want to gamble on their mobile devices. If you are one of them, you should check our selection of top-rated betting apps that work on all popular devices like iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Phone.
- Welcome Bonuses – This is usually the biggest and most rewarding bonus that betting sites offer. It’s only available for your first deposit, so make sure to maximize your returns.
- Reload Bonuses – Every subsequent deposit can bring you another bonus. Even if they are not as valuable as the welcome offers, you still get extra value for your money.
- Free Bets – You can enjoy all sorts of free bets, either to try specific features or for popular events like the Super Bowl, the soccer World Cup, March Madness, and other similar events.
- Enhanced Odds – As the name suggests, you can find improved prices on certain events for a limited time only.
- Contests – You can enjoy all sorts of exciting contests for mainstream leagues and events.
Step 4 – Learn How Betting Odds Work
- Using Odds to Calculate Your Returns – The odds show how much money a successful wager would return.
- Calculating Probabilities – Every betting price can be transformed into a probability that shows you approximately how likely the outcome is. The higher the odds and potential return, the lower the chance to win.
Decimal Odds
American Odds
- Positive American Odds – First in line are positive American odds such as +150 or +300. They show how much you would win (pure profit) if you wager $100. For example, betting $100 on a price of +200 would return a $200 profit + your initial wager for a total of $300.
- Negative American Odds – Next are the negative American odds like -150 or -300, for example. In these cases, the price shows how much you have to bet to win $100.
Fractional Odds
- 6/1 or 6-1
- 5/8 or 5-8
Total Payout = [Stake * (Numerator/Denominator)] + Stake
Here’s a quick example, so you can understand the formula better.
Image that you bet $10 on odds of 3/1, and you win. This is how you’d figure out your total payout.
[10 * (3/1)] + 10 or $40 for a total profit of $30.
If you feel that fractional or American odds are too complicated, you’ll be please to know that most online betting sites offer the option to switch between the three formats. You can pick the one you like the most.
For more information on how each of them works, feel free to visit our guide to betting odds. It also explains how to turns odds into implied probabilities.
Step 5 – Learn the Popular Betting Options
Most Common Types of Bets
If you want more information on these and the less popular variations available on the web, our page on the different types of sports wagers can certainly help.
There’s another form of sports gambling that has become popular, too, and anyone that’s looking for how to get into betting should consider it.
Live betting has exploded ever since the start of online bookmakers, and it opens the door to some unique opportunities. Many of the markets are the same but there are also new ones, and you place your wagers after the event has started.
It’s a completely different experience, so feel free to check our guide to in-play betting for more information on the different markets and useful tips that can help you get most of the experience.
- Moneyline – The name of this one could also be match-winner, match result, or something similar. The concept is always the same and you simply have to pick a winner of an event. In certain sports, you can also bet on the draw as a potential outcome.
- Spreads/Handicaps – This is another popular option in which one of the sides in the game starts with a handicap. You place a wager on who wins with this handicap in place.
- Totals – If you prefer a market that’s not dependent on the winner of an event, this one is perfect. The betting sites provide a line of overall points scored and you decide whether both sides combined will score more or fewer points.
- Futures and Outrights – Though it’s more like a group of markets, the concept here is simple. Futures and outrights allow you to bet on long-term events. For example, you can bet on any NBA team to win the championship.
Step 6 – Learn How to Make Money Betting Sports
- Finding Value in Betting Odds – You can’t make money unless you bet on odds that offer positive value. There’s no way around it, and this page will help you understand the concept better.
- The Biggest Challenges of Sports Betting – Learn more about the biggest obstacles on your road to success, so you can prepare yourself to face them.
- Top Tips for Beginners – If you were asking yourself “how can I start betting” before you came here, you are obviously still a beginner. We highlight the top tips that can help you right from the start of your journey.
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Step 7 (Optional) – Try Different Betting Options
- Pari-Mutuel Wagering – In this form of sports gambling, all the money goes into a pool and the winners share the prize proportionally, based on the size of their initial wagers.
- Spread Betting – A riskier form of sports gambling in which there are no fixed profits or losses.
- Exchange Betting – The concept here is that you face other people and not the bookmaker.
- Daily Fantasy Sports – If you want something completely different, try constructing your own team of real athletes and earning points based on their performance.