Sports betting has been legal in Ohio for nearly two weeks, and Sunday night’s wild-card game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens ranks as the highest-stakes event.
Whether you’re already planning to invest money in the game, thinking about taking advantage of the free bet promotions, or just confused by all the terms thrown around, this guide is for you.
We’ll start with the most common terms and numbers and by the end you’ll be able to decipher almost everything you hear and be comfortable with betting.
Different types of sports bets: Spread, Over/Under and Moneyline
The three most common types of bets are Spread, Point Total and Moneyline. A spread is the number of points a team favors or earns in a game. The easiest way to understand this is to either add or subtract the number of points a team gives or receives. The Bengals are 7.5-point favorites as of this writing, which means you would subtract 7.5 from the Bengals’ final score on Sunday night. If they still win after that, they have covered the spread.
All bet lines are subject to change based on the amount of money or grip they are placed on. For example, the Bengals-Ravens spread has already moved a full point this week, opening at 6.5. A fluctuation of 1 point indicates that there is a lot of money bet on the Bengals.
Total or Over/Under is simply the number of points scored by both teams at the end of the game. This week’s playoff game currently has an over/under total of 41. Betting on the over means the game will go over 41 and the under is less. So they either celebrate a lot of goalless runs or points that need to be scored early and often.
The money line bet is the simplest bet because it’s either a win or a loss without factoring in a point spread.
Odds are the plus or minus numbers next to a bet
Have you ever wondered why you see -110 everywhere and then some crazy numbers like +2500? These are the odds and they represent the amount of money it takes to win either $100 or a fractional multiplier for the same amount. The Bengals, the 7.5-point favorite, are -111, so you’d have to bet $111 to win $100. Conversely, the Ravens are +320 to win the game outright. This means that a $100 bet would net you $320.
Rotation numbers keep cashiers happy
When you go to a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, you need to know the rotation numbers of the bet you want to place. The board will look something like this: 115 Cincinnati-7.5O41-390.
The 115 is the rotation number to give to the cashier at the window when you are ready to place your bet. -7.5 is the spread, O41 is over the total points for the game and -390 is the money line odds for the Bengals to win (bet $390 to win 100). Some cashiers will kick you out and tell you to come back if you don’t know the rotation numbers.
Strong, or the vig, the juice and a “good price”
The reason -110 is so common is because it is the basic odds factor as the casino charges 10% (vigorous or vig, also known as juice) on bets. From that baseline, the odds will go up or down, as will the Bengals at -111, making them more expensive to bet on this week.
Sports bettors and handicappers often use the term “good price” or “good value” in one line. This means that a spread, total or any other bet they like has better odds than the standard -110 odds. For example, the Seattle Seahawks are currently at -105 to cover a 9.5 point spread this week. If they lose to the San Francisco 49ers by less than 10, a $105 bet nets $100. That $5 doesn’t seem like much, but it does add up when we’re talking about professional bettors with thousands of dollars on each bet.
If you win a bet, you also get your original stake back. So the $111 you bet on the Bengals has a total payout of $211.
Parlays and teasers
Now that you know about standard bets and odds, it’s time to get a little more complicated. Let’s say you want the Bengals to cover the 7.5 point span, both teams total more than 41 points combined and the Seahawks lose by less than 10 points. The sportsbook gives you the opportunity to consolidate all of this into a bet called a parlay.
Parlays have higher odds and much higher potential payouts, but there’s a catch – all bets in a parlay must win. Most sportsbooks allow you to combine up to 12 bets into a single combination where 10 cents could win more than $1,000, but that’s because this is highly unlikely. Walk in, the teaser.
If you want a better chance of cashing in multiple bets at once, you can make a so-called teaser. It’s similar to a parlay in that you have to hit all of your bets, but you’re more likely to make money since you can add points on either side of the line. The most common teaser is six points, which means you could take the Bengals to 1.5-point favorites, give the total to 35, and give the Seahawks 15.5 points overall. However, adding or subtracting these points will cost you when it comes to the odds. So the payday for cashing a teaser is still higher than a direct bet on one thing, but significantly lower than a combination.
player suggestions
One of the biggest additions to the betting lineup is player offer bets or props. Maybe you think Joe Burrow is going to have a big game on Sunday. You can bet on his total yardage, touchdowns, interceptions, total attempts, and basically any measurable statistic.
Other common suggestions include first player to score a touchdown, players to score a touchdown at all, defensive/special team touchdowns, and even the result of the coin toss. Yes, you can bet heads or tails, although that, along with hundreds of other suggestions, is usually reserved for the Super Bowl. You can even create cross-sport parlays on props so you can bet Burrows stats and parlay college basketball, NHL, tennis, golf, or anything else on the board.
Don’t let the hook cost you
If you want to sound like a seasoned sports betting veteran, refer to the halfway point in a line as “the hook”. The Bengals are not 7.5-point favorites, they “seven and the catch.” Maybe you don’t like that number because it’s more than a touchdown. If someone at Paycor Stadium or the bar asks you if you want to cover the Bengals, you can say, “I liked the number on 7, but I don’t like the hook.” Or if you lose, you can blame the hook for costing you.
If you want to adjust the 7.5 point spread to 6.5, you can drag it down one point and pay the extra juice. These are also known as matched or alternative spreads, and the odds can get a bit out of control the more extreme you go in either direction.
Please gamble responsibly
While this doesn’t cover the entire sports betting gamut, it should be a beginner’s guide. Hope you have fun if you decide to bet on Ohio sports, but if you or someone you know has or is developing a gambling problem, call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24 hours a day at 1-800- GAMBLER on.
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