How to Bet Online Sports Betting
So, do you want to place your first online sports bet? We assume this is your first time betting since you read this guide. We understand if it’s not your first bet, but it’s been a while. Technology changes quickly.
This guide will walk you through every step of online sports betting. We’ll start by discussing what settings you need to make to facilitate your betting. Then we’ll discuss choosing the actual bet you want to place. With all this information, we’ll dive into your real wagers and determine how your winnings are collected. We will also assume that you are very sharp and will crush the first bet.
When you complete this guide, you will be 100% informed and ready to start placing your first real money online sports bet. Exciting, isn’t it? We think so! Our team of experts are all former beginners and can attest to wanting someone to guide them through the process.
Start setup
The first step to online sports betting is setting up your account. It’s more complicated than stuffing dollar bills into your USB drive and yelling at your computer screen your desired bet. It would be awesome if it were, but sadly, we don’t live in that world yet.
Below, you’ll find the steps you need to complete to make your first bet. Each step has a dedicated guide if you need more explanation on what to do. Everything should be straightforward, but we want you to prepare in case of any issues.
Choosing Online Sports Betting
Since we’ve established that we can’t just yell at the computer, you must find a sportsbook that will accept your yelling and take action. Thankfully, there are plenty of great options to choose from that offer a wide range of moves for all your favorite sports, some of which you may have never even heard of.
While “having lots of options” is undoubtedly good, it can also make it challenging to decide. We will never leave you to the wolves on decisions that matter. You see, unfortunately, there are a lot of bad apples in the online gambling industry. These sites don’t deliver on their promises, are sometimes untrustworthy, and offer a “sub-par” betting experience (which is a great way to say it).
Please allow us to help. Below, you’ll find a few things. First, you’ll see a list of our recommended online sportsbooks. These are the highest-rated and most trusted online sportsbooks that offer the best action in most sports. These are the sites you want to play with.
However, if you need more information before deciding, we also have a dedicated guide that will walk you through every step in choosing the best sportsbook. We know you’ll be blown away by the quality of the sites we recommend, but we know that some people like to take a little longer to make important decisions, and we respect that.
Funding Your Sportsbook Account
Once you’ve chosen the right sportsbook, it’s time to put some money into the account. It can be a scary process for many people because they’ve never done it. Good news, we’ll walk you through it step by step. We’d even offer to hold your hand if it would make things better for you.
Our picks
One of the most extraordinary free resources we offer is sports betting picks from our team of expert bettors. Not only will we give you our Picks in real time, but we’ll also tell you the reasons behind those picks. You can get your bets right with our pros and walk away from the book a winner.
These picks are updated daily and cover a ton of different sports. If you want to avoid doing the work or doing your research, this is a great place to start choosing a bet or bet.
The process should be an easy and headache-free one. Typically, online sportsbooks walk you through the process, give you options, and let you know everything you need to know to fund your account quickly.
On the one hand, we want to mention. Don’t feel like you need to load your entire bankroll online at a time. If you’re brand new to this, get your feet wet by starting with a small deposit. Do it if you love it and want to move all your money online. But we want you to realize that baby toddlers are acceptable here.
Below is an entirely dedicated guide to walk you through the financing process. We’ll give you step-by-step instructions on how to deal with issues that might arise, different funding methods, and some tips to help smooth the process and ensure you get the most out of it.
Choose bet
Administrative work is a breeze! Your account is set up, and you have money, which burns a hole in your virtual pocket. Now, what bet? If you already have a hot tip or prediction, place your bets anyway. But if you’re new and need help figuring out where to start, we’re here to help.
We’re providing you with a host of resources to help you make the choices that have the best chance of winning. Take a moment below to select the best fit for your needs.
Training Course
Some of you may have come to this page from the training ground, But if you found this guide elsewhere, let us introduce you to one of the most excellent free resources on the web. Training Grounds is our online ‘school’ for beginners in sports betting.
We’ll teach you “how to bet online sports betting” and more and provide some great basic strategies. If you’re interested in making your expert picks, this is where you should start. Training Grounds is full of information, strategy guides, and how-tos to help you learn how to make the best choices.
For example, we have a dedicated guide on researching your sports betting options, which walks you through all the different ways to examine the game or competition you’re interested in. It is just one example of the resources we have available to you.
Strategy Section
If you are advanced in online sports betting, you may need a more advanced betting strategy to help you choose your options. We have some great resources to help you.
In this section, you will find strategy guides separated by sport and bet type. Additionally, we have some very advanced guides to help you understand online betting math and higher-level strategies that you can use to crush books. These aren’t ideal for complete beginners, but we want you to know they’re out there and waiting for you when you’re ready. Oh, and did we mention they’re also free?
Place a bet
We’ve covered so much, and we’re only now getting to the heart of this article. Let’s talk about how to bet! You’ve set up your account, funded your account, and you’ve selected the bets you want to place.
The next part of the equation is easy if you place your bet on a good sportsbook. It is the point on the timeline where it will become undeniable if you are not at a great sportsbook.
Log into your sportsbook account is the first thing you need to do. If you just created an account, you are probably already logged in. Using the menu, navigate to the sports and games you are interested in betting on. Most sportsbooks have a menu on the left side of the screen that lets you choose a Sport, and then there may be a drop-down menu for the specific league you’re looking for.
E.g.:
If you want to bet on an NBA game, you may need to select “Basketball” and then select “NBA” from the drop-down menu. After doing this, all games should fill the center of the screen.
Find the game or match you want to bet on and click on the type of bet you want. If you don’t see the bet type you want right away, you can click on the ‘More’ button, which will take you to the complete list of available bets on a particular game, match, or match.
Next, you must check the bet odds and ensure they are to your liking. Odds display in American odds format (e.g., +110). If you want a different format, most good sportsbooks will have an option where you can choose to change all odds to your preferred format (decimal or fractional). It locates in the upper right corner of the screen.
When you click on the bet you want, it should populate the virtual bet slip, most likely on the right side of the screen. Here you can enter the amount you wish to bet. When you enter your bet amount, it should also tell you exactly how much you will win if you make the correct prediction. Some sportsbooks will show you a profit figure, and some will display the total amount that will return to you.
What’s the difference? Profit is the amount you get back, not including your original bet. The amount returned is your profit plus your original bet returned. For example, say you bet $20 on an even money bet (meaning if you win, you get $20). The profit on the correct bet is $20. Your refund amount is $40. It is because the sportsbook will return your original bet and then give you your winnings. If they only give you $20, you’re not making any money! Instead, they credit your account with $20 of your initial bet and then credit your account with $20 of your profit. Just make sure you know which one the sportsbook is using when you place your bet.
If you like the amount you get for getting it right, it’s time to finish your wager. Before you hit the ‘Confirm’ or ‘Bet’ button, read the entire bet slip to make sure you are betting what you want to bet. It’s easy to click on the wrong bet or select something by accident, especially if you’re in a hurry.
Take your time and make sure everything is correct and to your liking. After confirming, click the “Bet” button! Some sites may require you to click the “Confirm” button, but others only need one click. After placing a bet, please double-check to ensure accuracy. Make sure everything notices in the translation, and the amounts, games, bet types, and the odds are still correct.
Notes:
If the odds are incorrect, contact support immediately and tell them that you need help with the bet you just placed. Don’t wait a second. Reputable sports betting online site with excellent staff will take care of this for you quickly and without any problems. However, if you wait a few minutes, you may experience difficulties.
One thing that can happen during betting is that the odds can change. Things are handled slightly differently depending on which sports betting online site you are on. Some sites will update the odds in real time and even pop up a notification on your bet slip before you hit the ‘submit’ button. You can accept the new odds or cancel your bet when this happens. Sometimes the odds are in your favor, and sometimes not. Most of the time, they don’t move for such a short amount of time, but it happens.
If so, check out the new odds and decide whether you accept them if they work in your favor; great! Of course, you’ll like those. If they go against you, you’ll have to reevaluate whether you still want the bet and feel like it has the value you’re looking for. Continue the process if you decide to do so. But if you choose not to, close the bet and start looking for something else you like—no reason to force a bet to get some action.
Once you’ve placed your bet, it’s time to sit back and wait! You’ve done your job, and now it’s time for your chosen team or players to do theirs. The betting process can be intimidating initially, so we recommend starting with small bets to get the hang of it. That way, if you make a mistake, you can learn cheaply. We don’t expect you to make mistakes, but it happens occasionally. You should be fine if you double and triple-check the bets you place.
Collect your winnings
You win your bet! Congratulations. The next step is to collect your winnings. If you’re accumulating funds, you should wait to claim your winnings, and that’s perfectly fine. Most people only withdraw their first cash for a short time because they like to ride the waves and accumulate capital.
However, if you’re ready to quit, it’s easy. Online sports betting offers many different options for you to choose from. To help you with this process, we’ve created a dedicated guide with all the details you may need to deposit money into your pocket offline quickly.
The guide includes:
- Step-by-step instructions on how to withdraw money.
- An introduction to the most popular withdrawal options.
- Here are a bunch of great tips to help make the process smoother.
Here are some tips for things you should be doing right now (before you even feel like quitting), so we highly recommend you take a quick look at the guide now, so you’re fully prepared.