If you are a sports enthusiast and had wished to wager on sports within the past, but were weighed down by all the technical jargon such as point spreads, odds, and book making, relax. After you’ve got read this post, you shall be ready to participate in a short time frame. Although sports betting may appear quite daunting originally, it is not 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 happen to be known to bet on cock-fighting, boxing, and horse racing. In the early nineteenth century, almost all gambling was centered on horse racing with boxing in second place. Alternatively, with increasing popularity of baseball, the focus of sports gambling shifted to baseball betting towards the later a component of the century.

Through the start of the 20th century, sports like the school basketball and football started getting the attention of general 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 usage 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 put together a substitute. A majority of gambles were inclined to place bets on college teams that have been quite superior to their opponents, making the outcome of the matches a foregone conclusion and resulting in losses for book makers. Just prior to the Second World War broke out, the bookmakers introduce a whole new method of sports gambling that transformed this industry forever.

In simple terms, the point spread is a handicap that is placed on the likely winner of the basket ball or trusted online football gambling site game in points. As an example, should the Lakers were expected to simply demolish the Clippers, the point spread for the game might be calculated at all the way to 20 points. In other words, 20 points will 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 in the event the Lakers win by at least 21 points. Similarly, gamblers wagering on the Clippers stand to win their bets in the event the Clippers win the game as well as in the event 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 were more evenly placed in comparison to the previous system where almost all gamblers placed bets on the exact same teams.

The huge success of the point spread helped the bookmakers recognize that the greater betting options the general public had, the greater bets they might be likely to place. This realization resulted within the creation of another system, the totals. Generally known 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. On the flip side, placing a sports bet with the traditional money line, against the point spread, or through totals, will still be the three most popular forms of sports gambling. Regardless of what sports you follow, there is an equal opportunity now to earn money from your favorite sports.