Sports Betting Guide 2020

Over the last decade, we have witnessed the growth of legal sports betting around the globe. A billion dollar industry that grows in popularity by the day. Whether you are wandering around the casino or signing into your favorite website, sports betting has never been easier or more accessible than it is today.

Online Betting Guide 2020

As exciting as the sports betting world can be, it is definitely a smart move to arm yourself with knowledge before getting involved. In this article, we will go over everything you need to know to get started, such as:

What Sports Betting Is
Types of Bets
The legality of Sports Betting
Where to Bet in the US
Where to bet offshore
Popular Betting Sports
Payments and Deposits

After you get familiar with all of these topics, you can head into this new and exciting endeavor with your eyes wide open! Let’s get started.

What is Sports Betting

As you can imagine, sports betting is the act of predicting the outcome of a specific sporting event and placing a wager. Folks all over the world have been participating in sports betting for centuries and will most likely continue on long into the future. With laws and regulations on sports betting loosening up, the industry is experiencing massive growth and bettors are rejoicing.

As a sports bettor, you will need to know where and how to legally place your bet. You can either head to Vegas and walk into one of their casinos or sportsbooks, or you can create an account with a legal online casino.

Types of Sports Bets

If you are new to sports betting, you will need to get familiar with the different types of bets that can be placed. These bets vary from sport to sport, but we will cover some of the most common bets you will likely encounter.

Over-Under and Totals

The over-under, or total, is when the oddsmaker combines the total number of points they believe the teams competing against each other will score. So, when placing your bet, you can decide whether you feel the total number of points scored will be more or less than the one set by the oddsmakers.

Futures

When you bet on the futures, you are betting on the outcome of a season or tournament before it even begins. For example, if you believe in your heart that the Eagles will win the Superbowl before the first game of the season, you can place a futures bet that they will win it all!

Prop Bets

A prop bet, or special, is almost a fun or silly bet that does not involve the final outcome of the contest you are betting on. Some examples of prop bets would be things like:

Which team will score first
Who will win the coin toss
Which fighter throws the first punch
Which team will be penalized first

Full Cover

A full cover bet is a wager that includes every possible multiple bet for a number of selections. This includes doubles, trebles, and accumulators. With a number of different bets within a full cover bet, you don’t need to win every outcome in order to walk away with some cash. But, the more games you win, the more money you will be rewarded!

Moneyline

A moneyline bet is a very straightforward and easy bet to understand, especially for a newbie to sports betting. When you place a moneyline bet, you are predicting the outcome of a sporting event. All you have to do is pick the winner!

Parlays

A parlay bet involves picking a number of different games or events as well as a number of different games to place your bets on. So, you may choose four different games with four different types of bets. In order to win a parlay bet, you have to choose correctly for all of them. While this is one of the more difficult bets to win, the payout can be significantly higher.

Reverse If

Reverse if bets aren’t quite as popular as some of the others we have mentioned, however, they are still readily available at most sportsbooks. In a reverse if bet, you place a wager on two teams. If both teams lose, you lose the full amount of the bet. If one team loses, you lose a partial amount of the bet. If both teams win, you win the full payout!

Handicapping

Last on our list is handicapping. Handicapping occurs when a wager has been placed that attempts to even the playing field. The odds will account for differences in the strength of the separate opponents.

Is Betting Legal in the United States?

In the past, sports betting has gotten a bad rap and was suppressed by laws and regulations. Today, these laws are being kicked to the curb. However, there are still many laws in place that can get you into trouble should you stray into the illegal side of the industry. Having an understanding of what you are allowed to do and what you are not will save you from encountering a lot of problems in your sports betting career.

Legal Sports Betting States

In 2018, states were given the opportunity to decide whether they wanted to allow sports betting or not. This came when The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, a federal ban on state-authorized sports betting, was lifted allowing states to choose for themselves.

Since then, many states have been hopping on the bandwagon and there will be likely many more to come. Here is a list of states that have legal, state-regulated sports betting today:

Nevada
Delaware
New Jersey
Mississippi
West Virginia
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island

This next list below is a list of states that are in the process of legalizing sports betting:

Iowa
Indiana
Tennessee
Montana
Illinois

Online Sports Betting

With the rise of technology, states are scrambling to get their sports betting online and accessible from wherever you are at within the state lines. New Jersey become the first state with legal online betting sites with their first site kicking off only weeks after the federal ban was dropped. Here are some of the states that currently support online betting:

New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Nevada

Where to Bet Offshore

When going to offshore online betting sites, it will benefit you greatly to be aware of the betting laws in that particular country. Some countries full endorse sports betting while others are strictly against it.

Currently, there are no Federal Laws criminalizing someone from placing an offshore bet from the United States. However, if your state does not allow online gambling, then it is obviously still illegal and you could get into some trouble for it. Some of the most popular offshore sportsbooks include sites like

MyBookie
GT Bets
Intertops
BetAnySports
BetOnline

Most Popular Betting Sports

When placing a sports bet, you can pretty much pick from whichever sport you prefer. Around the world, however, there are a few sports that seem to draw in the biggest numbers. Obviously, American Football is more popular in America whereas Soccer is a lot more popular in Europe and around the world. So, the list below details some of the most popular sports in the world:

Soccer
American Football
Basketball
Tennis
Cricket
Golf
Formula 1
Boxing

Payouts and Deposits

When you get set up in online sports betting, the site you choose to place your bets on will most likely force you into entering in some of your financial information. This will be necessary for payouts and deposits.

Normally, there will be a deposits section on the website where you will be asked for your banking information as well as some other personally identifiable information for validating your identity.

The amount of money you can deposit can vary, however, most of the major sites will have some type of limit on how much you are allowed to deposit within a set time period. Some of these rules are in place to promote responsible gaming while others are there to put a cap on how much some of the “heavy hitters” can put down at a time.

Direct online bank transfers are the most common and preferred method for deposits and payouts, but other options exist as well. Normally, direct online bank transfers are the best way to avoid having to pay any fees when making transactions. Some of the other methods of payment can include:

Debit/Credit cards
eWallets
PayPal
Prepaid Cards
Bitcoin
Money Orders
Cashier Checks
Person to Person

Rules and regulations vary from state to state, country to country. So, do your research on any site you decide to place bets on!

In Closing…

In the coming years, the rise of sports betting will likely be a complete game changer. As more and more states jump on board, placing bets on your favorite teams will be more accessible than ever.

If you are new to the game, you could not have picked a better time to get involved. The money generated from this excellent industry is expected to rise to 240 billion dollars by 2024. This will not only benefit the bettors but also create opportunities for anyone to get involved in this industry and prosper.

Now that you are armed with the knowledge to succeed, you can hit the ground running while embarking on this exciting and remarkable journey. Watching sports will never be the same again!