Sports Betting 101


The Supreme Court decision legalizing sports betting will have a powerful economic impact in states where it’s introduced. Those benefits include an estimated $8 billion in local taxes, hundreds of thousands of jobs and a boost to GDP.

Bets are based on probability, so the better you understand how to assess the odds, the more successful your sports betting will be. It’s also important to be selective in what wagers you place. Don’t bet on teams just because you’ve been rooting for them since they were kids – stay objective and you’ll make smarter bets.

Bankroll management is one of the most important parts of sports betting. It involves determining how much money you can afford to lose and then planning out how much to bet on each game or event. A good rule of thumb is to risk no more than 1% to 5% of your total bankroll per wager.

Proposition bets, or props, are wagers that aren’t standard point spreads, moneylines or totals. These bets can cover anything from the length of the national anthem to the first song that the halftime artist will perform. Props often carry higher win probabilities than standard bets, but you’ll have to pay a premium for them.

Futures bets are a type of sports wager that won’t be settled until some distant point in time. These are usually placed early in the season, like during the NFL preseason or March Madness.