If you follow certain sports competitions and want to make money on them, you need to sign up for a sportsbook. To make bets online, you need to know how to choose the best bookmaker site, read betting odds, and be aware of different types of bets. In other words, you need an ultimate sports betting guide for beginners.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll provide you with vital tips that will help you make first steps in online betting. They include:
Choosing an online sportsbook
Learning betting terminology
Understanding types of bets
Reading the odds
Claiming bonuses
So, let’s get started with the best sports betting guide for beginners!
Choosing the best online sportsbook
To make your betting journey successful from the beginning, you need to pick the right sportsbook. It’s highly important nowadays, as there are many scam casinos and sportsbooks pretending to be real, but aiming to steal your data and money. A reputable and reliable site will ensure that your funds are secure, payout winnings promptly, and so on.
Here are some factors to consider when selecting an online sportsbook:
- Licensing. Foremost, you must ensure that your future sportsbook is regulated by a reputable authority, such as UKGC or MGA. It must have a valid license issued by one or several authorities – you can check it at the bottom of the homepage.
- Reputation. Checking sportsbooks’ reputation and real customer reviews matters, too. A quick online search can provide valuable insights and reveal the bookmaker’s true colors.
- Variety of betting options. Choose an online sportsbook with a wide range of betting options. Don’t stick to sports – many world’s largest websites also offer bets on celebrities, politics, and even weather.
- Bonuses. To make your stay as good as possible, look for sportsbooks that offer attractive bonuses and promotions. They will provide you with extra cash and maximize your potential winnings.
- Payment options. To ensure your future, permanent sportsbook uses secure encryption technology to protect your personal and financial information and provides deposit & withdrawal methods that fit you.
By considering all these factors, you can narrow down your options and choose an online sportsbook that meets your needs and provides a safe betting experience. Here are some of the world’s best online sportsbooks you can reach in most countries: Bet365, 888 sports, 22Bet, Betsson, mBit, PariMatch, and VBet.
Learning important betting terminology
Like any activity, sports betting has its own set of unique words and phrases. Familiarizing yourself with this terminology will help you better understand the information provided by sportsbooks and be aware of their specifics.
There are hundreds of betting-related terms, so we won’t mention them all in our sports betting guide for beginners. You can check a full list in our glossary of sports betting terms; meanwhile, we’ll list the top 10 most important words you need to memorize right now.
- Accumulator – a type of bet which combines several events into one, allowing the bettor to wager on multiple things at the same time.
- Asian handicap – a betting condition which makes the game fairer according to critics. Asian handicap works in a way where the stronger team will have to achieve a higher goal than the underdog.
- Favorite – a player/team who is likely to win.
- Handicap – a betting technique where bookies give the favorites a disadvantage, so the people may take up the chance to bet on the underdogs.
- Live betting – betting which takes place during the game..
- Margin – various numbers of outcomes that are divided into two criteria: one is naming the winner and the margin by which the team/player will win.
- Novelty bet – bets on non-sports events such as politics or entertainment.
- Odds – a method which determines the likelihood of any event.
- Stake – betting amount.
- Underdog – player/team who doesn’t have a good chance of winning.
Reading different types of betting odds
In sports betting, the ability to read the odds is vital. Odds show the probability of an event to take place or a player/team to win. Depending on a sportsbook, odds can be represented in 3 different formats: decimal, fractional, or moneyline (American). Here you can learn how to read betting odds of all types, but we’ll give a brief explanation below.
- Decimal odds show you the amount of money you’ll receive for every $1 you bet.
- Fractional odds display the potential profit in relation to your bet.
- Moneyline odds indicate how much you need to bet to win $100 or how much you can earn with a $100 wager
Understanding types of bets
Once you learn how to read the odds, it’s time for our sports betting guide for beginners to list the different bets available. There are many types of bets at online sportsbooks, but the most popular picks among sports fans include the following:
- Straight bets allow you to pick the team or player you believe will win the game.
- Spread bets mean that a sportsbook sets a margin of victory, and you choose whether the favorite will win by more points than the spread or the underdog will lose by fewer points than the spread.
- Over/under bets, also known as totals, let you predict whether the total points scored in a game will be over or under the specified number.
- Futures enable making predictions about the outcome of entire events and competitions, not individual games and matches.
- Accumulators combine multiple events into one, allowing you to wager on many events simultaneously.
This is not a complete list of bets you can find in a sports betting guide for beginners, but these five are enough for beginners to get familiar with wagers, odds, payouts, and how they all work. If you are interested in other options, check other types of bets at online sportsbooks.
Claiming bonuses for new bettors
Finally, the most attractive part of our sports betting guide for beginners. Bonuses allow online bettors to multiply their wins, earn free cash, and participate in various draws. As a new user, you are entitled to several bonus offers made specifically for bettors with new accounts. Bonuses vary from one sportsbook to another and can include:
- Welcome bonus. It is a one-time offer that may come in different forms, including free cash, deposit matches, etc.
- Free bets. This bonus allows you to place a bet with the sportsbooks’ money without risking your own cash.
- Deposit bonus. It comes as a match of your first deposit, multiplying your balance x2, x3, and so on.
- No deposit bonus. A rare type of bonus that is offered to new customers who don’t need to top up, but can still make bets and win.
They are just some of the best online betting bonuses you can claim at online sportsbooks after completing registration. Then, a broader range of offers will open its doors for you. As a registered user, you can claim referral bonuses, reloads, points, etc. You can also follow the sportsbook promotions to receive exclusive rewards.
