Jazzsports Types of Bets by Cristina Fdez

Sports’ betting has existed for a very long time, but as it became more widespread and sportsbooks gathered force, a huge selection of types of lines and bets became available. The regular lines like money lines, totals and point spreads started to lose ground in some sports with the arrival of more interesting options, like the Asian Handicap Line. The Asian Handicap Line is a soccer line that originated in Asia but has quickly become Europe’s and other soccer fans’ favorite. Just like with a regular goal line you get points (with the underdog) or give up points (with the favorite) to even out the playing field. While a goal line for a soccer match might be Arsenal -1.5 goals, the Asian Handicap line would be be -1.25. This does not mean that you are giving up 1.25 goals. What the Asian Handicap does is split your bet in two. Half of your wager will go to -1 and the other half to -1.5. The reason it is represented in that way is because 1.25 is in the middle, between 1 and 1.5. Imagine it on a ruler:

So when you bet the 0.25 line, 50% of your bet goes to 0 (known as Pk) and 50% of your bet goes to 0.5. If you take the 0.75 line, 50% of your bet goes to 0.5 and the other 50% to 1. And so forth. You will also hear them referred to in quarters, so what you read online as -0.75 will be called “minus three quarters” by the clerk. Study the chart below to see how you see it and how we call it. How you see it online -0.25 +0.75 +1.25

-1.75

How a clerk might read it to you “Minus a quarter” “Minus one fourth” “Plus three quarters” “Plus three fourths” “Plus one and a quarter” “Minus one and three-fourths” “Minus one and three quarters”

Line for 50% of your bet

Line for the other 50% of your bet

-1

+0.5

+1.5

“-1.5

-2

So for example, the line on the Arsenal is -1.25 -120 and you want to bet $100. Instead of betting $120 to win $100 on the Arsenal, as if it were a regular goal line, you will split your bet: $60/$50 on Arsenal -1 and the other $60/$50 on Arsenal -1.5.

In order for you to win the full $100, Arsenal will have to win by two points. But if Arsenal were to win by only one point, you would not lose 100% of your bet as you would on the goal line -1.5. You would tie the first $60/50 (Arsenal -1) and lose the second $60 (Arsenal -1.5). So instead of losing $100, you only lost $60.

Soccer has grown more and more popular in the western gambling world in the recent years. It was always a favorite in Europe, but once Asia caught on it became a worldwide favorite. And now with the 2014 World Cup around the corner, interest has peaked. Soccer has several different types of lines you can go for: the goal line, which works just as a baseball runline or hockey puckline does, giving or taking away points to even out the difference between favorite and underdog. There’s also the total where you bet the final score going over or staying under a particular number, just as you would in other sports. And then there’s the two that are exclusively associated with this sport: the Asian Handicap Line and the Three-Way Line. With the Asian Handicap Line you split your bet in two and take two slightly different lines (for more on the Asian Handicap Line click here). But today let’s focus on the Three-Way Line. It looks very much like a moneyline and is constantly being confused with one. But there’s one very big difference: ties lose. When you take a moneyline, you bet a team to win outright, no matter what the final score is. If both teams were to tie, your bet would be considered a draw and you would get your money back. With the ThreeWay Line, if you take one of the teams and the game ends in a tie, you would lose your bet. This is because the Three-Way Line offers three lines as its name suggests, instead of the usual two as with the moneyline. You will have the choice of taking the favorite, the underdog or the draw. A typical Three-Way Line will look like this online: Manchester City Chelsea FC Draw

+230 +125 +220

Notice none of these lines are negative. This is because by adding a third possibility into the mix, the odds of the favorite winning (for gambling purposes) have diminished. So although Chelsea FC is the favorite, it’s +125. For you to see a negative “moneyline” on this type of line it would have to be a big favorite and would look something like this:

UD Almeria Real Sociedad Draw

+540 -190 +300

Real Sociedad -190 doesn’t seem as such a big favorite, but look at how the underdog and the draw flew upward on the positive line: +540 and +300. With a moneyline, an underdog of +300 would mean a favorite of about -350 give or take. Now you know how a Three-Way Line looks online, but how would a clerk read it to you? When you call asking for a soccer line you must remember not to ask for a moneyline. A clerk might simply tell you we don’t offer moneylines for soccer. What you want to ask for is the Three-Way Line. The clerk will then read the favorite team first (even if it is a positive line), then the dog and lastly the draw line. Using the first example, it would sound something like this:

“Chelsea FC plus one-twenty-five, Manchester City plus two-thirty and the draw plus two-twenty.” If the clerk does not say plus before the first line, it’s probably a negative favorite, like the one in the second example. In that case it would sound something like this: “Real Sociedad ninety, UD Alameda plus five-forty and the draw plus threehundred.” And remember, if you have any doubts about lines, comebacks or how they work you can always call and ask our clerks and they will gladly answer any questions you might have.

Within the sportsbook world, few things are as intense as halftime betting. I imagine players watching the game in different places: at home, in a bar, hidden in their offices behind a locked door, on the edge of their seats watching the clock run out. And the moment those zeroes lock into place going for their phones or refreshing their online accounts. In our world, we’re also watching the game, watching that clock go. There’s always the first few who jump the gun and call before the game has gone to halftime. But then the moment comes, like a rising tidal wave of ringing phones and for the next fifteen minutes it’s chaos. Clerks all around you are giving out lines, numbers are flying back and forth, a steam player might call in and while you’re trying to focus on what the player on the other end of the phone is saying, the clerk next to you is yelling out a play and asking if his player can take more than the limit. It’s no wonder then that niceties are forgotten in the rush. Clerks will speak faster, type faster and fire questions at you in order to get everyone’s wager in before the game starts. So, when calling in halftime bets, always be prepared. Know what you want, know what line is acceptable to you and which one will be too high. Know how much you want to win and how much you’re willing to risk to get that amount. There’s nothing more satisfying than a smooth call. This is not to say that we don’t welcome questions. Don’t be afraid to stop your clerk and ask him or her to explain something further or to repeat a line. It is your money after all. Halftime betting is pretty self-explanatory but if you’re new at this, or you just want a little more information, read on. Halftimes are available for several different sports, but the most popular halftime betting is for NFL, NBA, college basketball and football, and recently for soccer. There will be certain restrictions such as limits on how much you can bet on halftimes, or what kind of plays you can take, but not as much as prop bets for example. You will be able to parlay halftimes, or take them in if-bets, reverses, round robins, among others. You will not, however, be able to take halftimes in teasers. When you call during halftime the line you will be read is for what happens exclusively during the second half. So basically, for betting purposes, the slate is wiped clean. Whatever score there was up to that point is reset and it goes back to 0-0. For example, say the halftime line of an NFL game is: 2H Bears +7 -115 2H Packers -7 -105

o27 EV u27-120

The score at halftime was Packers up 24-0. You decide to take the Bears +7. The final score of the game is Packers 27-0. You would win that bet, because for the second half exclusively, the score would have been Packers 3-0, a score the Bears +7 would easily cover.

Halftime bets add a little extra excitement to the second half of the game, but they’re also a way to recoup if your bet for the whole game suddenly doesn’t look so good. In any case, it’s always good to have more options.

The sportsbook industry—just as any other, is constantly reinventing itself and finding new innovative ways for bettors to gamble. Live wagering is one of those innovations. This type of betting is relatively new, but is quickly become a fan favorite. Gone are the days when players had to hear those five dreaded words: sorry, it’s off the board. The game might have kicked off, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bet on it anymore. Live betting allows you to wager on an event in progress, with constantly moving lines as the match situation changes. Did you ever bet on a football game, absolutely certain that it was a safe bet, only to have the quarterback hurt in the first fifteen minutes of the game? There’s no need for the rest of your night to be ruined. With live wagering you can place that ill-fated bet before the quarterback was hurt, but then you can also make a brand new one once he’s been replaced by that rookie you trust as far as you can throw him. And the extra excitement involved in live wagering cannot be beat. If watching a game you bet on the usual way is already exciting, imagine that every tiny detail and change in the game could cause a shift in the line. Here is where your attention to detail and doing your homework really pays off. A slight change in the weather, a player taking a hit to an old injury, a ref having a bad day, a team’s history of amazing comebacks: all these are details that can make a difference when placing a live wager. For effective wagering you must be the type of bettor who sits on the edge of your seat and hangs on to every detail of the game. And you have to make quick decisions. Live wagering lines move constantly and can be taken down any second. So you have to know what you want and watch those lines closely! There will be a short delay when something important happens in the game, between the moment the old line is taken down and the new one comes up. Lines close fast so be quick and decisive. Live wagering is offered in most sports. It will be up to the line managers to decide on what to offer live wagering that day. Especially for college football, there can’t be lines for all the games going on at the same time. The manpower involved would be ridiculous. The only event where live wagering is definitely not available is horse racing, for obvious reasons. But you can find live lines for boxing, UFC, baseball, soccer, college football, NFL, etc. Restrictions do apply on live wagering. For example, you can only take straight bets and these lines are only offered online through our website. The lines are adjusted throughout the game, aproximately every five minutes unless something important happens. And depending on the score they will be taken down a few minutes before the end of the game. All in all, live wagering is an exciting new option you might want to try. You can combine it with your usual pre-game betting, and recoup on bets that because of a sudden change of events, suddenly look like losers. It’s an edge-of your seat, nailbiting experience to say the least. Try it out and enjoy the game.

There are many ways to make betting more interesting, and for me Teasers is one of them. They just give you that litte extra advantage you need to push a bet over the winning edge. If you’re new at betting, or you’re just looking for something different than the usual straight bet you have always been partial to, this article is for you: a simple explanation of what a teaser is and how it works. A teaser is a bet with a group of two or more picks just like a parlay. The difference is that in teasers you get to subract points from the spread. There are many different types of teasers, and players with different profiles will have different rules. But just for the sake of a simpler explanation today we’ll be talking about the Regular Teasers’ house rules for post-up players. But you’ll always want to double check with your clerk to see what your restrictions and payouts are. Some good questions to ask are: 1. 2. 3. 4.

How many points do my regular teasers offer in football? What about basketball? Up to how many picks can I take in a teaser? What happens with cancellations and ties? Will my teaser cancel, lose, win, or just turn into a smaller teaser with an adjusted payout? How much can I bet on regular teasers?

Teasers are exclusively for basketball and football (be that pro or collegiate). And while you can mix both sports in the same teaser the points subtracted will be different. So while in football you can take a 6-point, 6.5-point or 7-point teaser, in basketball it would be a 4, 4.5, or 5 point teaser. This works like this: You would make a three-team regular teaser, 7 points in football, 5 points in basketball. This is done automatically, if you take a 7 pointer in football, it will be a 5 pointer in basketball. A 6.5 pointer in football will be a 4.5 pointer in basketball and a 6 pointer in football would be a 4 pointer in basketball. You can’t mix and match. You can take a teaser with only teams-to-win, or combined with totals. It’s not unusual for players to take four-team teasers with both sides of the same game, accompanied with the over and under the teased total. Although it is more common in the larger Special Teasers (A clerk’s simple explanation on Special Teasers is coming soon). Take a look at this comparison between a 3-team parlay and a 3-team teaser, notice how the lines and the payout differ: 3-team Parlay $100/600 NFL Titans +11 -110 NFL Ravens Over 41 -110 NBA Nets -4.5 -110

3-team Regular Teaser $100/150 6.5 pts in football/4.5 pts in basketball NFL Titans +17.5 NFL Ravens Over 34.5 NBA Nets +2

Clearly, a parlay pays much more than a teaser. But here is where you have to decide as a player how big of a difference it would make to take the Titans +17.5 instead of +11. Sometimes, it just has to be done. The next important factor to consider is the payout. In a teaser your payout will be affected by two factors: a. How many picks you’re taking. The bigger the teaser, the better the payout. b. How many points you’re taking. The more points subracted from your picks, the less the teaser pays. Look at the table below, notice the difference in payouts. 3-team regular teaser $100/170

3-team regular teaser $100/150

3-team regular teaser $100/130

6 pts in football/4 pts in basketball

6.5 pts in football/4.5 pts in basketball

7 pts in football/5 pts in basketball

Titans +17 Ravens Over 35 Nets +1.5

Titans +17.5 Ravens Over 34.5 Nets +2

Titans +18 Ravens Over 34 Nets +2.5

So remember, teasers are a good option when you need just a little extra points to win. And the trick is to balance how many points you want in your teaser with how many picks for a fair payout. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call in and contact a clerk!

In gambling, there’s always the safe fallback straight bet. Then for a little more excitement there’s the parlay. But for nail-biting fun and really playing around with the numbers you want to go with the teaser. A teaser is a bet with a group of two or more picks just like a parlay. The difference is that in teasers you get to subract points from the spread or total. There are many different types of teasers, and different profiles and players will have different rules. There’s the regular teaser for lower subtraction of points but a higher payout or the Special Teasers, with big, juicy point subtraction, but a smaller payout. Special Teasers come in many different varieties, some are only for college games, others for only basketball, some are particular to a specific sportsbook, but here are some examples: POINTS IN

WHAT HAPPENS WITH

NAME

FOOTBALL/BASKETBALL

TIES

PAYOUT

4T Monster Teaser

13pts/10pts (pro or college)

Ties lose

$130/100

3T Super Teaser

10pts/8pts (pro or college)

Ties lose

$120/100

3T Crazy College Teaser

10pts/8pts (only college)

Ties lose

$105/100

4T NCAA Special Teaser

6pts/5pts (only college)

Ties push

$100/300

With teasers the trick is to decide how many teams you want versus how many points. If you’re interested in the Special Teasers instead of the Regular Teasers then already we know you need more points. If it’s college teams you’re interested in you definitely want to try out the college-specific ones because the payout is remarkably better. Another important factor you want to pay attention to is what happens when a pick in your teaser ties. In most Special Teasers, ties lose. Depending on what line it falls on after the adjustment for the teaser, you want to be careful with that. You can make a Special Teaser with one game by taking both teams, plus the over and under, going for that middle. The bigger the teaser, the easier it’ll be to get that middle. The 4T Monster teaser is a big favorite for this technique. Compare what would happen with the real lines in all four types of teasers: Real Lines (NCAA football) Iowa -15.5 (NCAA football) Purdue +15.5 (NCAA basketball) ,Ball

State +14 State -14

(NCAA basketball) ,Indiana

Real Lines

4T MonsterTeaser $130/100

Iowa -2.5 +28.5 (NCAA basketball) ,Ball State +24 (NCAA basketball) ,Indiana State -4

4T NCAA Teaser $100/300

Iowa -9.5 +21.5 (NCAA basketball) ,Ball State +18 (NCAA basketball) ,Indiana State -10

(NCAA football)

(NCAA football) Purdue

3T SuperTeaser $120/100

3T Crazy College Teaser $105/100

(NCAA football) Iowa -15.5 (NCAA football) Purdue +15.5 (NCAA basketball) ,Ball

State +14

Iowa -5.5 +25.5 (NCAA basketball) ,Ball State +22

(NCAA football)

(NCAA football) Purdue

Obviously, if you were to take three college teams it would make no sense to take the 3T Super Teaser. But if you only have pro teams then you have to make a decision if you want one more team and three more points (in football, two more in basketball), or if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll stay with three teams and less points. Payout is now different also. Teasers are fun and exciting, but make sure you know what your options are so you can take the most out of them. Enjoy the game!

As clerks, we receive the biggest volume of calls before games go off. About a half hour or sometimes up to an hour of rush, depending on the day or the game in question. But then there are those calls that come in after the games. Sometimes we’ll get some sort of post-game rush. Players will call after a game for several reasons, some want to double check they got their win marked down, but mostly players call in when the result of a game they bet on isn’t a normal win/loss situation. An NFL tie is one of those situations. If an NFL game ends in a tie by the end of the fourth quarter, they go to overtime. This overtime is a modified version of a regular period. NFL.com’s rulebook says: Article 3.

“(a) Both teams must have the opportunity to possess the ball once during the extra period, unless the team that receives the opening kickoff scores a touchdown on its initial possession, in which case it is the winner, or if the team kicking off to start the overtime period scores a safety on the receiving team’s initial possession, in which case the team that kicked off is the winner. (b) If the team that possesses the ball first does not score on its initial possession, the team next scoring by any method shall be the winner. (c) If the team that possesses the ball first scores a field goal on its initial possession, the other team (the second team) shall have the opportunity to possess the ball. (1) If the second team scores a touchdown on its possession, it is the winner. (2) If the second team scores a field goal on its possession, the team next scoring by any method shall be the winner.” Article 4.

“The following shall apply to overtime games in the preseason and regular season. (a) There shall be a maximum of one 15-minute period, even if the second team has not had an opportunity to possess the ball or if its initial possession has not ended. If the score is tied at the end of the period, the game shall result in a tie.” This was the case of this Sunday’s Packers and Vikings game. By the end of the fourth quarter they were tied at 23-23. They went into an overtime period in which both teams scored a field goal. By the end of the fifteen-minute overtime, they were tied at 26-26 and the game ended there. Overtime does count, for gambling purposes (unless, specified otherwise). So all bets were graded with the final score of 26-26.

A Clerk’s Simple Explanation: Horse Betting Limits Sometimes we’re just not in the mood to wait for a whole three hours to know if we won a bet. There are times in a person’s life when we just want to bet and win immediately. Horse betting isn’t immediate, but it’s pretty close. From start to finish a race will last less than two minutes. There are lots of consecutive races at any given track during the day, and you can bet on each race for about five hours of nail-biting excitement. As a gambler you must consider three main factors that will affect your wagering experience: max payouts, limits, and post times. For information on odds and max payouts read our article “A Clerk's Simple Explanation - Horse Betting Odds”. And while a Max Payout is how much you will be able to get back from a bet, a Limit is the amount of money that you will be allowed to risk on each bet. Different packages and different agents will offer different limits; so make sure to check with your agent about your specific situation. In this short article I will be referring to our general House Rules. We have three types of tracks and each has a different set of limits. We offer betting on Major Tracks, Minor Tracks and Other Tracks. In Major Tracks you will be able to bet up to $400 on win/place/show and $40 on gimmicks (everything that’s not a straight bet: exactas, exacta boxes, quinellas, daily doubles, parlays, round robins, etc.). In Minor Tracks you can bet up to $200 in win/place/show and $20 on gimmicks. And finally you can bet $40 on win/place/show and $10 on gimmicks when betting on what we call Other Tracks. We can’t talk about Limits without mentioning Max Payouts because they are tightly intertwined. A four hundred dollar limit for a Major Track might seem low, but if you’re taking the horse to win we’re talking about the possibility of winning up to three thousand dollars (minus the handle). And if we’re talking about gimmicks, for example an exacta box, you will be able to bet forty dollars on it. If the odds are high, and they reach or surpass our 50 max payout you just might win $1000 (minus the handle). Not bad for a forty dollar risk. This is how you would calculate the examples above: On the straight bet: 15 (max payout odds) x $400 (major track limit on a bet to win) = $6000 And since it’s calculated based on a $2 bet you must divide it by 2 = $3000 For gimmicks: 50 (max payout odds) x $40 (major track limit on a gimmick) = $2000 And since it’s calculated based on a $2 bet you must divide it by 2 = $1000 When calculating horse racing payouts you must always remember to subtract your risk, or handle as it is called in horse betting. For a quick explanation on horse racing Post Times click here.

A Clerk’s Simple Explanation: Horse Betting Odds Sports aren’t the only thing you can bet on. Have you given a try to horse-betting yet? Horse wagering is definitely a different kind of thrill. Races are short and everything can and will change in a millisecond. Favorites can end up last and underdogs take the win, making your payout something completely unexpected. Odds can move a lot during the day. As bets start pouring into the racetrack and more money piles up behind one horse’s name, the odds change making that one the favorite. Some sportsbooks offer fixed odds, but we offer full-track odds, which means we will not know what a chosen horse will pay until the race goes off. Now, we also have max payouts, which means we will pay those odds up to a certain point and it is important that players know what to expect when betting. Different packages with different agents will have slightly different rules, but for the sake of discussion we’ll focus on our general house rules. These rules indicate that in the most common straight bet, in other words betting a horse to win, place or show (first, second and third place) our max payouts are 15 / 6 / 3. Fifteen if you’re betting the horse to win, six if you’re betting the horse to come in second and 3 if you’re betting it to come in third. These are the maximum odds that will be paid and they’re based on 2$ bets. It works like this: Say you bet 20$ on a horse to win. If the odds of that horse are higher than 15 when the race goes off then we will pay 15, because that’s our max. It would be calculated like this: 15 x $20 = $300 This is based on $2 bets so you have to divide that result by 2. So the return on that bet would be $150. Remember you have to subtract the handle (the $20 you’re betting)! If you take the same horse for $20 but this time to place, then it would look something like this: (6 x $20) / 2 = $60 If you were betting to show? (3 x $20) / 2 = $30 Gimmicks (exactas, quinellas, daily doubles, etc.) on the other hand, have a 50 odds max payout. So in the exact same way you would multiply 50 times the $20 you bet and divide it by 2. 50 x $20 = $1000 And then: $1000/2 = $500 For a simple explanation on horse-betting limits click here.

A Clerk’s Simple Explanation: Horse Betting Post Times One of the biggest problems players seem to have with horse racing bets is the Post Time. The Post Time is the scheduled time a race begins. We absolutely do not take bets on Post Time. There are two big differences between horse betting and sports betting when talking about this point. First of all, a horse race lasts less than two minutes. So taking a bet fifteen seconds after post time is the equivalent of taking a bet fifteen minutes into the first quarter of a football game. Too much has happened, too much information indicating who will be the winner has been exposed for it to be a fair wager. Secondly, as opposed to sports betting where we almost always have a visual (basically a TV with the game on), or it is at least easier to find, in horse racing we do not. Not unless it’s one of the big events like the Kentucky Derby for example. So we have to rely on the information provided by the track’s website. And if the website doesn’t offer post times we have to rely on websites that offer live odds. So it gets complicated to give leeway when it comes to post times. I cannot say how many times a player has called right at post time and gets highly frustrated when the clerk cannot take his bet. Normally they’re calling from the track itself, and I truly believe the race has not gone off yet, as they insist on but we simply cannot confirm this information so we go on what the system says. This “system” being the track’s official post time that’s linked to the software used to take horse racing bets. Because of this we recommend players call at least two minutes or more before post time. This is very important to ensure you get your bets in. Harness tracks that offer post times on their websites call them Off Times. That’s the time we use to grade bets. There are a few smaller harness tracks that don’t offer post times for each individual race. In those cases all races are graded using the post time for the very first race. If you’re not sure what the case is for the track you’re interested in, go into its official website, that’s where you can find such information. Another important issue regarding post times is cancellations and changes. Cancellations will also have a post time given to the player by the clerk. Any changes made after post time are void. For information on horse betting odds and max payouts click here. For information on horse racing limits click here. If you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to call and contact a clerk!