If you’re a sports fan and wanted to bet on sports in the past, but you were overwhelmed by the technical jargon like points spreads, odds and bookmaking, rest easy. After reading this article, you’ll be able to participate in just a few minutes. Although betting on sports can seem to be a bit daunting at first, it’s actually not so complicated as it might appear.
A Brief History Of Gambling In Sports
Gambling was a tradition that had origins in England and naturally, colonists brought their passion for gambling into America. United States and continued with the traditions. Early colonists were said to bet on cockfights as well as boxing and horse racing. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, the main betting was focused on boxing and horse racing, with boxing second in line. With the growing popularity in baseball betting, the main focus on sports betting shifted to betting on baseball in the end into the twentieth century.
At the beginning of the 20th century, sports such as the NCAA basketball and football began to attract the attention of all people and, with time, these sports began to compete with baseball for popularity. The earliest method of betting on basketball and football involved the use of odds , which is still in use to this day – and is also known by the name of money line.
Evolution Of The Sports Betting
The practice of betting on money line caused a lot of problems for bookmakers, and they were required to develop alternative methods. A large majority of sbobet indonesia gamblers were likely to bet on college teams which were more successful than their rivals and made the outcome of matches an unassailable fact and resulting in losses for bookmakers. Before that the Second World War broke out and the bookmakers introduced an entirely new approach to betting on sports that changed the industry for the better.
Enter The Point Spread
In simple words simply, the point spread is a handicap applied to the most probable winner in any basketball or football match in points. In the example above, if Lakers were expected to smash the Clippers in a game, the point spread of the game could be calculated up to 20 points. In simple terms 20 points will be subtracted from the total score of the Lakers score as well as added to the score of the Clippers. In this scenario anyone who placed a wager on Lakers could only win when the Lakers beat the Clippers at minimum 21 points. Gamblers betting on the Clippers are guaranteed to be successful should they Clippers triumph in the game. However, even if Clippers fail to win the game the gamblers still stand to make money if Clippers are down by 19 or less points.
The point spread assisted bookmakers balance their books since bets placed on sports events were spread more evenly in comparison to the prior system in which most gamblers placed bets on the same team.
The Advent Of Totals
The enormous impact of this point spread made bookmakers to realize that the greater number of betting choices that the people had, the greater bets they were likely to make. This led to the development of a different systemcalled the totals. Also called “overs / unders,” it allows gamblers the chance to bet on the score of both teams, regardless whether the game will be decided. match.