How to bet on Sports

Odds

Odds are simply a way of determining what is likely to happen in any given event and how much you will potentially get if you're right. The odds you'll see on PlayNow.com when you first arrive, are decimal odds.

Decimal odds

Decimal odds are sports betting's easiest to understand and calculate. They work the same no matter which team you pick. The lower the value, the more likely the outcome. The higher the value, the less likely the outcome.

Calculating your potential payouts

To figure out your potential payout of a $10 bet on Kansas City at 1.36 odds, simply multiply your bet by that decimal value to get $3.60 plus your original $10 back for a total potential payout of $13.60. Want Detroit at 3.25? Since that is less likely to happen, your $10 bet multiplied by 3.25 will get a potential payout of $22.50 plus your original $10 bet.

American odds

American odds may be what you see when you're watching the game or on social media from betting experts. In addition to value, American odds feature positive and negative values.

Understanding +'s and -'s

The plus sign indicates the team that is less likely to win or the underdog for the game. The minus indicates the team likely to win, or favourite. The lower the negative value, the higher the implied probability.

Calculating your potential payouts

American odds are generally calculated using $100 values, so a little simple math is involved if you are starting small (don't worry PlayNow.com does all of this math for you). Want to see your potential payout on the underdog? Divide your $10 bet by 100 and them multiply by 230 for your potential payout of $23 plus your original wager back. How about the favourite? Flip the calculation by taking your $10 bet, dividing it by 280 and multiplying it by 100 for a potential payout of $3.57. Easy right?

Understanding favourites

In sports betting, we often talk about favourites and underdogs based on their predicted chances of winning. Favourites are expected to win and come with shorter odds. Betting on them to win, your potential payout will be, you guessed it, smaller.

Understanding underdogs

Underdogs are the opposite. They are not expected to win, so they have higher odds and a potential larger profit if they do win. In decimal odds anything less than 1.90 indicates a favourite, while anything greater is an underdog. While in American odds, underdogs usually have that + sign, there can be cases where you have the favourite at –115 and the underdog at –105.

Pick 'ems

A pick 'em scenario is when both teams are seen as having equal chances of winning and the bookmaker can't decide who the favourite is - so it's your pick. It means they are close to even for both, say if both teams had 1.90 in decimal odds or both were -110.

Markets and Bet Types

Sports betting is made up of two parts, markets and bet types. You typically choose your market and then decide the bet you want to make on it.

Markets

Markets simply refer to a specific event or scenario you can bet on. Essentially what exactly you are betting on within a specific game. Different sports have different markets due to their unique aspects. These are what you are going to see when you arrive in the sports section of Playnow.com.

Bet types

While a bet type is the format or structure of the bet itself. This is all about defining how you are placing the bets, whether you are betting on just one outcome, combining multiple bets, betting live during the game or how your payouts are calculated.

Money Line

Money Line is one of the simplest and most popular bets in sports betting because you're typically betting on is who will win a game or event - the score doesn't matter.

Point Spread

This is a bet not just on who will win, but by how much. A team must "cover the spread" for the bet to win. You may also hear this called Puck Line for hockey or Run Line for baseball.

Totals (often called Over/under)

With a 'Totals' or 'Over/Under' wager, you're not betting on any one team but typically on whether the combined total score of both teams will be over or under the number that's been set for the game. Wagering on this type of outcome is great when you're not sure who's going to win but have a sense of whether it's going to be a low or high scoring game overall.

There are 4 primary ways to bet on sports

Single Bet

Single Bets are the simplest and most popular, and are exactly what they sound like, an individual bet placed on a single game or event. One bet on one outcome.

Parlay Bet

A Parlay Bet combines multiple outcomes from different events into one bet. Instead of different single bets. Parlay bets are all or nothing. If any of the selections in your Parlay Bet are settled as a Loss, then your bet doesn't win.

Same Game Parlay (SGP)

Think of your multiple outcome Parlay Bet, but this time instead of different events, your parlay is all related to one event or game.

Live Bet

Just because a game has already begun doesn't mean you've missed out on your chance to place a bet on it. With Live Betting, you can bet on games still in progress. Due to the fast pace of Live Betting, live odds are dynamically changing throughout the course of an event according to the action in the game.