Overview
This is by no means a blog that will tell you how to win! Trust me I have been on the wrong side plenty of times over my gambling career. My goal is to provide some advice on how to have fun, win, lose or push.
Old School vs Today
Although I have fully embraced modern gambling, I still bring old school basics to the new world. When I started gambling, I used to make a phone call from a land line and get the lines for the Saturday or Sunday slate of games. If the local paper had the same lines as my bookie, I would make my wagers, otherwise I would call back and risk the dreaded busy signal.
Gambling Today
If your state has legalized gambling, then it is easy to place a wager. There is no shortage of mobile apps that will let you signup, deposit money and you can start gambling in minutes. There are still casinos and other establishments that offer in person wagering too. You get the point it is easy to make a wager today. In my opinion, the bigger issue is what you can wager on, which is virtually anything. This is where they get you. The more options there are the better it is for the House.
Old School
Until about 2018 or so there were two ways for most people in the United States to gamble. Call your bookie or go to a casino in a state that had legalized gambling (i.e., Las Vegas, Nevada). Sure, both options gave you prop bets, albeit limited, but they did exist. The standard wager was typically on the outcome of a game. Typically, it was take the points or lay the points or keep the points and I will bet the money line. Let’s now talk about basic terminology.
Basic Terms
Favorite
The team the house deems as the favorite to win the game.
Underdog/Dog
The team the house deems as the weaker opponent to win the game.
Vig/Juice
This is known as the house edge. I personally like calling it the Juice. The juice for a game is usually -105 or -110. For our purposes let's go with -110. This means to win $100 on a game you need to wager $110. If you win you collect $210, so you will be +$100 for the game. If you lose the house collects $110.
Why does this exist?
Because the house prefers half the money is wagered on side of a game and the other half on the other side.
For example, the Browns are favored by 3.5 (or Browns -3.5) over the Bengals (or Bengals +3.5). If $110 is
wagered on the Bengals and $110 is wagered on the Browns then the house wins $10.
Spread/Points Spread/Points/Number
This refers to how much one team is favored to win over another team. In the above example, if you wager on the Browns then you are laying 3.5 points. Which means the Browns need to win by 4 or more for you to win. If you bet the Bengals then you are taking 3.5 points. Which means if the Bengals lose by 3 or less points you win. So, you can still win even if your team doesn’t win.
Money Line
This is where you waive the points and bet the money line. Your team must win and not cover the point spread. However, the money line is usually a higher number than the Juice. The money line will vary based on how much of a favorite one team is considered over the other team. The money line will vary around roughly 20 to 30 points between the favorite and the underdog. For example, let’s continue with the Browns/Bengals. The Browns may have a money line of -150, the Bengals may have a money line of +125. To win $100 on the Browns straight up win will cost $150. If you decide to take the Bengals and they win straight up, then a $100 wager will net you $125. The difference between the two money line wagers is the house vig.
Cover
The team that covers the point spread. The favorite must win by a score more than points they are given. The underdog needs to lose by less than the points they are given. Add the points to the final score of the underdogs score to determine who covered the spread. For example, let’s say the Browns win 21 – 17 over the Bengals. The Browns covered the spread and hit the money line.
Straight Up
A team wins the game without factoring in the points.
ATS (Against the Spread)
Known as the teams win/loss record against the spread.
Lock
A team you feel has no shot of losing the game and if they are the favorite will cover the point spread with ease.
Wagering Lingo
- Quarter=$25 wager
- Half=$50 wager
- Dollar=$100 wager
- Dime=$1000 wager (in some circles it is also referred to as Gorilla)
Blog Goal
As stated above, my goal is to provide a guideline on how to have fun win, lose or tie. How is this achieved in today’s world?
Guidelines
- Only wager money you can afford to lose.
- Pick no more than 3 games that are your favorite picks for that day.
- Make a separate wager on each game using the same dollar amount. This means no parlays, teasers, exotic bets, etc. We will discuss these wager types in another blog.
- When you love a game, load up! This means bet more on this game then you would on the other games.
In my experience, when you stick to the 3 games you rarely go 3-0 or 0-3. Typically, your record is 2-1 or 1-2. You are always around the even mark. You usually don’t really love a game until the mid-point of a season. You have a lot of knowledge built up so barring any unforeseen circumstances your chances are probably good to win that game. By staying around even gives you an opportunity to go up for the year.
Tips
- The underdog is your friend! As I like to say, I am howling at the moon today. Why? Because most people bet the favorites. The house knows this and can't always get the even split they want. When the favorites cover, the house loses!
- In today's wagering world, don't be afraid of the in-game wager. This has been a really good tool to either minimize my loss or maybe even pick up a few extra dollars. This is a feature a really like and use with the app.
- If you have a good feeling about a game and live close to a casino. Go and make an in-person wager. This has advantages because it is a cash transaction, and it is not tracked by your app. Again, this only works if you are close enough or are planning a trip to a casino.
- Bet small on your gambling app. Why? You don't lose a lot of money. This should keep you under the tax threshold.
Finally
This does not cover everything about sports gambling. It only provides the basics and gives some guidelines and tips on how not to lose too much. I have had really good years and really bad years, but if I stick to the above advice I have had a lot of fun sports gambling over the years.
