If you are a sports enthusiast and had wished to wager on sports in the past, but were weighed down by all the technical jargon such as point spreads, odds, and book making, relax. After you have read this post, you shall be ready to participate in a short time period. Although sports betting may appear quite overwhelming to start with, it isn’t as complex as it may seem.

Gambling had deep roots in England and quite naturally, the colonists brought their love of gambling over to the states and continued with the tradition. Early colonists are already known to bet on cock-fighting, boxing, and horse racing. Within the early nineteenth century, almost all gambling was centered on horse racing with boxing in second place. On the other hand, with increasing popularity of baseball, the focus of sports gambling shifted to baseball betting towards the later a division of the century.

By the start of the 20th century, sports like the school basketball and football started getting the attention of open public and with the passage of time these sports were competing with baseball in terms of popularity. The earliest type of wagering on football and basketball involved the use of odds – a system still practiced today – also known as the money line.

The method of betting with money line posed big problems for the bookmakers and they were forced to come up with a substitute. A majority of gambles were inclined to place bets on college teams which were quite superior to their opponents, making the outcome of the matches a foregone conclusion and good online soccer (Highly recommended Resource site) resulting in losses for book makers. Just ahead of the Second World War broke out, the bookmakers introduce a whole new method of sports gambling that transformed this industry forever.

In basic terms, the point spread is a handicap that is placed on the likely winner of the basket ball or football game in points. By way of example, in the event the Lakers were expected to simply demolish the Clippers, the point spread for the game could possibly be calculated at all the way to 20 points. In other words, 20 points would be either subtracted from the total score of Lakers score, or added to the total score of Clippers. In such a case, any sports enthusiast who placed a sports bet on the Lakers would only make money if the Lakers win by at least 21 points. Similarly, gamblers wagering on the Clippers stand to win their bets if the Clippers win the game and even should the Clippers lose the game, gamblers can still win provided Clippers lose by 19 points or less.

The point spread helped the bookmakers to balance their books as bets on sports events were more evenly placed as compared with the previous system where the vast majority of gamblers placed bets on the same teams.

The huge success of the point spread helped the bookmakers recognize that the greater betting options the public had, the better bets they would be more likely to place. This realization resulted in the creation of another system, the totals. Also referred to as “overs / unders,”, this betting proposition provides the gamblers to bet on the total score of both the teams, irrespective of the outcome of the game.

Sports betting has gone through many stages of evolution with the passage of time. Bookmakers have continued to put together betting methods and opportunities, latest of them being teasers and parlays. In contrast, placing a sports bet with the traditional money line, against the point spread, or through totals, continue being the 3 most popular forms of sports gambling. Regardless of what sports you follow, there is an equal opportunity now to earn money through your favorite sports.