Learn intermediate and advanced sports betting techniques.
Key Points
– Once a bettor is comfortable, more advanced sports betting techniques can be learned.
– Advanced sports betting wagers require more knowledge and research.
Intermediate & Advanced Sports Betting
If you have been betting on sports for any amount of time, you are probably aware of the basic fundamentals. You know how to place straight bets on the moneyline and on the point spread.
At some point, you can graduate to intermediate and advanced sports betting. These types of bets aren’t all that challenging, but they do take some basic understanding. When you start betting, these are not the bets that you usually place.
These wagers take a little more expertise, investigation, and research to succeed. Here are a few more advanced sports betting wagers.
Intermediate Sports Betting – Totals
A wager on the final combined point total of both teams is known as a total or Over/Under wager. Oddsmakers set a number, the game total, and bettors wager on whether the actual final score will go Over or Under that set total.
In order to avoid ties, oddsmakers often set a game total in increments of a half-point. In NFL football, for example, bettors might see a game total of 45.5 instead of 45 or 46. Games can’t end in a half-point, which eliminates a “push” or a tie in betting.
Totals can be significantly impacted by pregame variables like the weather and injuries. Game totals can also be impacted by in-game factors such as injuries during the game. Totals can also be affected by the course of a game.
For example, if one team is dominating the other, the winning team may take out all of its starters. They might not make significant attempts to score either. This would play a role in the outcome of the game total.
Totals bets are accompanied by odds that are usually -110. There are times when the odds will be different but, for the most part, totals bettors will not receive odds of even money or better. In the case of -110 odds, that means a bettor will stake $110 to win $100.
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Advanced Sports Betting – Parlays
The odds of winning a parlay bet are slim. A parlay is a bet that consists of multiple bets. All of the individual bets that make up the parlay must win in order for the parlay to win. As a result, parlays are difficult to win. Learn more about how to win your first NFL parlay bet.
Additionally, the more wagers you place as part of the parlay, the more money you stand to win if they are all successful. However, if the parlay suffers just one loss, the entire wager is lost. What would be typical payouts for parlay bets are shown in the table below:
| # of Teams | Payout |
| 2 | 13-5 |
| 3 | 6-1 |
| 4 | 12-1 |
| 5 | 25-1 |
| 6 | 45-1 |
| 7 | 85-1 |
| 8 | 165-1 |
| 9 | 300-1 |
| 10 | 550-1 |
The total number of games or wagers you place is listed in the “number of teams” column. The payouts start to improve because parlays of four or more are very challenging to win.
These odds and their respective payouts are why bettors are drawn to parlays. In the case of a two-team parlay, $100 bettors would win $260 if both individual bets won. Similarly, a $100 bettor playing a 10-team parlay, would win $55,000 if each individual bet was a winner.
Teaser Bets
Another advanced sports betting wager is the teaser. What is a teaser? A teaser is a form of a parlay that allows bettors to adjust the point spread (or game total) in their favor. Because the bettor can manipulate the point spread, the payout is lower than a regular parlay.
The best example of a teaser is the NFL 6-point, 2-team teaser. The odds of such a bet are -110. Bettors wager $110 to win $100 in this case.
Bettors that understand NFL key numbers know that teasing a point spread to cover these key numbers is a useful advanced sports betting strategy.
Most NFL games end with a scoring margin of 3. Other common margins are 4, 6, and 7. Knowing this, NFL teaser bettors often look for short underdogs and long favorites to teaser.
For example, the Ravens are an 8-point favorite over the Browns and the Steelers are a 2.5-point underdog to the Bengals. A teaser bettor could package these bets together and with the tease would get Baltimore -2 and Pittsburgh +8.5.
The Ravens only have to win by 3 and the Steelers cover if they lose by 7, 6, 4, 3, or win outright.
The more teams one adds to a teaser; the higher the odds. The typical NFL 3-team, 6-point teaser pays out at +180, for example. Teasers are most common with NFL games.
If Bets
If bets are a string of wagers that only go forward if the prior game is won. These types of bets are an advanced sports betting strategy that involve a series of two to fifteen bets. Take the following as an example.
A bettor wagers $110 to win $100 on the Seahawks -3.
The previous bet is a winner, so the entire $220 is then placed on the Rams +6 at -110 odds.
If the second game is a winner, the bettor would receive $440, $220 in winnings and the $200 stake.
Had the first bet resulted in a loss, no bet would be placed on the second game.
If bets usually involve no more than 15 individual bets. The odds on the bets don’t change or improve as you add more teams because the series of bets ends whenever a bet loses.
Additionally, you are not required to wager the full sum of a previous win. In the above example, the bettor does not have to wager the entire $220 on the Rams. The bettor can stipulate the stake amount.
