These are some basic aspects of gambling that a bettor must first understand before placing your first wagers, in order to set yourself up for success in your sports wagers. For example, if you bet on the underdog team that is +125, then you need only bet $100 to win $125. On the other hand, if you bet on the underdog of the game who has a statistically less greater chance of winning, the payout it more. So if a team is -135, that means the player must bet $135 to win $100. These negative and positive numbers directly correlate to the payout a player stands to receive.

A positive number represents the underdog team in the game, while the negative number is for the favorite. In moneyline bets the odds work a bit differently in the sense that they are represented by as positive or negative number next to the team name. Meaning 70% chance they’ll win, 30% chance the other team will win. For example, if a team has a 70% chance of a winning a game, according to the oddsmakers in Las Vegas, then the odds would be 70 to 30. The odds represent which team, athlete, horse, etc, has the best chance of winning the contest. The odds essentially tell you the likelihood of a team winning a particular play. Reading and understanding the odds of a play is crucial to knowing which side of a play you should bet on.

Before placing your first sports wager on a game, there’s a few fundamental things you must understand in order to properly know what you’re betting on and the potential payout you stand to receive from your wager.

Understanding sports bettings odds