What Is Sports Betting?
Sports betting is the practice of placing a wager on the outcome of a sporting event. From predicting which team wins a game to guessing the total number of points scored, there are dozens of ways to engage with your favorite sports through betting markets.
Before you place your first bet, understanding a few foundational concepts will save you money and frustration.
Key Betting Terms You Need to Know
- Sportsbook: The platform or establishment that accepts and pays out bets.
- Odds: The numerical representation of how likely an outcome is, and how much you stand to win.
- Handle: The total amount of money wagered on a given event or over a period of time.
- Juice / Vig: The commission a sportsbook charges on a bet — typically built into the odds.
- Sharp: An experienced, sophisticated bettor whose wagers often move the betting line.
- Square: A recreational bettor, often influenced by public perception rather than data.
- Line: The current odds or point spread offered by the sportsbook.
- Push: A tie between the bettor and the sportsbook, resulting in a refund of the wager.
The Most Common Bet Types
1. Moneyline
The simplest bet — you pick which team wins outright. Odds are expressed with a plus or minus sign. A -150 line means you must bet $150 to win $100. A +130 line means a $100 bet wins $130.
2. Point Spread
The sportsbook assigns a handicap to the favored team to level the playing field. If the Chiefs are -7, they must win by more than 7 points for a spread bet on them to win.
3. Over/Under (Totals)
Instead of picking a winner, you bet on whether the combined score of both teams will be over or under a number set by the sportsbook. This is one of the most popular bet types and the focus of much of our analysis here at Over 138.
4. Parlays
Combining two or more bets into one wager. All legs must win for the parlay to pay out. The potential payout is higher, but so is the risk.
5. Props
Proposition bets focus on individual player or team statistics rather than the overall game result — for example, whether a quarterback throws for over 275.5 passing yards.
Understanding the House Edge
Sportsbooks don't make money by being lucky — they profit from the vig. On a standard -110 line (common for totals and spreads), you must win roughly 52.4% of your bets just to break even. That small margin is how sportsbooks stay profitable over time.
This means consistent winning bettors must find genuine edges — not just guess correctly slightly more than half the time, but do so efficiently enough to overcome the built-in commission.
Responsible Bankroll Basics
- Set a dedicated betting budget you are comfortable losing entirely.
- Never chase losses by increasing bet sizes impulsively.
- Track every single wager — wins, losses, and pushes.
- Treat sports betting as entertainment, not income, until you have a long track record.
Getting Started
The best first step is to pick one sport you already follow closely and one bet type — ideally totals or spreads — and focus there. Depth of knowledge in a single area almost always outperforms shallow knowledge spread across many sports.
Explore the rest of Over 138 to dive deeper into odds formats, totals strategy, and sport-specific betting guides.