What is Line Betting?
Line Betting, also known as Straight Up or Even Money betting, is a form of sports wagering where the bettor must predict whether an outcome will be either “win” or “loss.” The odds are set at 1.0 for both outcomes, and there is no payout on this type of bet.
For example: If you place $100 on the Chicago Bears to win against the Green Bay Packers in their upcoming game, your line bet will look like this:
- Chicago +1.5 100.00
- Green Bay -2.0 0.00
More Basics to Learn in Line Betting
We use odd numbers instead of even ones because it makes more sense when dealing with money. For instance, if you were placing bets on horses, using even number lines would make less sense than odd numbers.
In other words, if you had placed $10 on each horse, then the winner would have won $20, while the loser would only lose $10. This means that the total amount wagered would still add up to $30.
However, if you used odd numbers, the winner would get paid out twice what they originally staked, which is not fair since they did nothing wrong! So by using odd numbers, all parties involved know exactly how much was wagered on the event.
The main advantage of line betting over parlay betting is that it does not require any skill whatsoever. You can simply pick one team from two different leagues and hope that they do better than expected.
It doesn’t matter who wins or loses, just so long as a result is favorable enough for you.
However, unlike parlays, line betting requires some knowledge about the sport itself. Since you need to understand the game’s rules before making predictions, you should always check them first.
How Does Line Betting Work?
When you choose to play line betting games online, you’ll find yourself presented with several options. Some sites offer multiple types of line betting games such as NFL football, NBA basketball, NCAA college basketball, NHL hockey, MLB baseball, MLS soccer, etc.
Others may limit themselves to specific sporting events such as NASCAR racing, boxing matches, tennis tournaments, golf championships, etc. Still, others might focus exclusively on certain teams within these categories.
Regardless of the category, you select, most websites allow you to create custom line betting games based upon whatever criteria you want.
You could base your selections on past performance, current standings, projected future results, recent trends, injuries, weather conditions, etc. Whatever you decide to go with, remember that the key factor here is consistency.
When playing line-betting games, you’re essentially predicting the exact score of every single match. Therefore, you cannot afford to miss anything.
As soon as something happens during the course of the contest, you’ve got to adjust accordingly. Otherwise, you risk losing everything.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t expect too many upsets. If a particular matchup has been predicted correctly, there’s no way that both sides will end up winning.
The same goes for underdogs. They are usually favored due to their lack of experience against top-notch competition. But this isn’t necessarily true. Sometimes an underdog can surprise everyone and win big time.
Just be sure to remain keen to the odds. Odds constantly change throughout the day, especially after major news stories break.
Stay tuned for more betting tutorials over at BettingBlogger.com!