Straights Bets

Basics

A straight bet is the most basic of all sports bets, consisting in very simply one wager on the outcome of a single event or game as determined by a known point spread, money line (ML), run line, Total or Puck (Canadian) Line. To win the wager, the team or entrant must win the game or event outright or cover the given spread.

Each event will have a favorite and an underdog. The favorite will be designated by having a negative point spread, run line or goal line (-) sign and the underdog will have a positive (+) sign or no sign at all. When two teams have the same odd or chance to win the game, the point spread changes to Even (EV).

The money line is the amount of money the customer must wager in order to win

There is no spread to cover with a money line wager; all the chosen team needs to do is win the game. Is very common to find the money line defined by how much you have to lay in order to get $100, for example, if a team shows -130, it means that you have to wager $130 to win $100. If a favorite shows -130 then the underdog doesn’t necessarily has to show the opposite, +130, which means that you’ll get $130 for every $100 you bet on that team.

The most common straight bets are sides and totals. Betting a side means picking which team will win a matchup against a given point spread The Point spreads show you the number of points a team must win by if they are the favorite or can lose by if they are the underdog. You will know the favorite because, just as with money lines, the points will have a negative sign. Underdogs, conversely, are designated by being given points. Their points are shown in the positive and that is the amount of points the team can lose by and still be considered winners for wagering purposes.

Let’s say that the Titans are playing the Cowboys next week

The Titans are the favorites, you know, because they are listed at -5 points on the point spread. That means they have to win the game by more than 5 points for a wager on the point spread to be graded as a win. On the money line, they are at -210. The negative sign shows them to be favored and means you would have to wager $210 in order to win $100 on this game. The Cowboys, conversely, are listed at +5 points on the point spread and +200 on the money line. A $100 wager on the money line on the Dolphins would pay you $200 if they win the game outright and, wagering on the point spread means they could lose the game by 4 points or less and you would still win that wager.

With point spreads, the number of points is always the same. You only need to change the -/+ sign. So, taking the underdog Cowboys according to the example, this means you will need to bet $110 to win $100, but your team can lose by up to 4 points and you still win. If your team loses by 5 points you push, and they now have to lose by 6 points for you to lose the game.

Basically the point spread gives you a secondary, fantasy score that is used only for wagering purposes. Betting the Totals or Over/Under is very simple. Betting a total means that you are wagering on the total number of points that will be scored in a game. It does not matter which team scores the points or wins the matchup. So, if a football game has a total of 42, you can bet that the total number of points scored will be over or under 42. To win the wager, the 2 team’s combined score for that game or a segment of the game (could be also a quarter, first of second time) must add up to either more or less than the given total, depending on which side you took. If you took the Over, you’d want the scores to add up to more than the Total offered and if you took the Under, you’d want the combined scores to add up to less than the Total offered. Run lines and Puck, or Canadian, lines are basically point spreads for baseball and hockey respectively, with attached money lines. They almost always are set at +/- 1.5 runs or goals while the attached money lines will move and vary.

Screen Shot from Sportsbook.com - Online Sports Betting