A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Sports Betting

Before May 14, 2018, all sports betting outside of the state of Nevada had been illegal. The explosion of betting markets since then has been nothing short of remarkable.

Americans love to gamble. In 2016, we spent over 100 billion dollars on all types of gambling, from horse races to nickel slots. The online betting market handles billions of dollars on a monthly basis.

In 2014 he stated in a New York Times op-ed, 'I believe that sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated.' Best Ways To Best Online Underground Sports Betting Legit,Best Ways To Best Online Underground Sports Betting Benefits. Online Should Betting On Sports Be Legal Pdf. Where To Order Hong Kong Sports Betting; Where Can I Order Which 4 States Is Sports Betting. Underground sports betting operations are often linked with more nefarious operations. Because of this, underground sports betting isn’t a victimless crimes, with profits often diverted to more sinister.

Although this is all exciting and we want in, it can be easy to get lost with all the terms getting thrown around. Read ahead for our crash course in understanding sports betting and how to get started.

Our Fascination With Sports Betting

The next time someone tries to give you an attitude about your betting, politely remind them that you are simply taking part in an ancient tradition.

That’s right. We know the Ancient Greeks were betting on sports and other competitions more than 2,000 years ago. Later, the Romans were placing bets on gladiator fights.

Over the years, different rulers have tried to make it illegal. Others realized that if you can’t beat them you should join and created legal gambling institutions.

From Underground to Mainstream

Sports betting continued to thrive across the world. Betting on horse races became very popular in England and moved to the United States.

There was a certain posh about going to the tracks. It was something that brought communities together and provided lots of entertainment.

Of course, there was no shortage of people trying to profit off of it.

The Emergence of Bookies

Bookmakers or bookies as most people call them, accept bets and pays them off. During different periods of history, bookmaking has been banned in various countries.

Depending on the place, bookies can work out in the open. They are a common site at casinos and horse tracks.

However, there was a time when they had to operate in the shadows to avoid trouble with the law and the IRS. Otherwise, Americans often placed bets through bookies overseas in places like the Caribbean and Costa Rica, where they could operate legally.

Understanding Sports Betting

Sb Sports Betting

If you have been around people talking about sports betting, you’ve certainly heard a bunch of funny words getting thrown around that may have gone over your head.

Sports betting has its own culture and, with that, comes its own language.

Here are some important terms to get you started.

Dog

Short for the underdog, the dog is the team or player that is less likely to win. However, that doesn’t mean they always lose.

Betting on the dog sets you up to win big if you can correctly predict an upset.

Who doesn’t love a great underdog story?

Odds On Favorite

This is basically the opposite of the dog. The favorite is the team that projected to win. Generally speaking, betting on the favorite is safer but the cashout is smaller.

Some people always bet on the favorite regardless. However, the favorite isn’t guaranteed to win so don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Point Spread

This is an important concept called spread betting. You simply pick a winner of a certain game but keeping in mind that the underdog will have a certain advantage.

For example, if New York has a spread of +6.0 points over the underdogs, Miami, then they have to win by at least 6 points in order for those who pick them to win the bet. If you think New York will win but only by 3 points, then you should actually pick Miami given the point spread.

Parlay

A parlay is when you bet on two or more consecutive games. In a three-team parlay, for example, all three teams that you selected must win.

This is an extremely exciting way to play. Imagine the excitement as your teams keep winning and you get ever closer to hitting that big score.

Over/Under

You can bet on more than the outcome of a game in terms of winning or losing. You can also try to guess the total combined score of both teams.

You can be on whether the combined score will be greater and or less than a certain number.

For example, if the over/under for football game is 25 and you pick ‘under’. You are hoping that it is a relatively low scoring game, without worry about who wins.

How To Get Involved

It’s never too late to get involved with sports betting. Since it has become legalized, there are tons of options in the sports betting market depending on what suits you.

You can hit an online betting market if you’re the type who prefers staying at home. Gone are the days when it was necessary to meet up with your friendly neighborhood bookie at Waffle House to place your bets and get paid.

Underground Sports Betting App

Don’t feel pressured to make big bets on things you don’t really understand. Take your time with some smaller bets to get a feel for how it works.

How Much Many Can I Make?

Truly, there is no limit to how much money you can make off sports betting. However, you need to bet more to make more.

In large part, it depends on your bankroll and how much you willing to bet. However, there are plenty of people who make a living on sports betting. However, always remember that you shouldn’t bet more than you can afford to lose.

Some people do it for fun and some people make hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Becoming a Bookie

It doesn’t stop there. You can become a bookie and help others place bets. No, you don’t have to be a wiseguy or wear a trench coat.

The fact is, becoming a bookmaker is a surefire way to make money. The more people you bring in, the more you get paid regardless of the outcomes of their bets.

Check out this article to learn you can become a bookmaker. Work on your own time and as much or as little as you want.

Getting the Most out of Sports Betting

Sports betting adds a massive degree of emotion and excitement to any competition, even if its division III college volleyball.

And of course, there is a lot of money to be made. However, understanding sports betting is crucial in order to get the most out of it.

Keep researching and practicing your new hobby. The money is good and the time is right. Start your bookie business today, with the best pay per head software, www.AcePerHead.com.

Underground Sports Betting Game

3 Good Books About Starting Out

When you start out better, you should dive into some books for strategies and more. It’ll help you in the long run. We’ve gathered our favorite titles together.

In 2019, sports bettors wagered $150 billion in 2019, according to Morningstar. That figure is set to surge in the future as more states legalize gambling and establish sportsbooks.

But the world of sports betting has its own lingo that people can find intimidating. Also, although most people are betting for entertainment, no one wants to waste their money on something they don’t fully understand.

However, there are many books out there that can help shed some light on sports betting. If you are a novice, these books will help you gain invaluable basic knowledge. And if you have the experience, these titles could help fine-tune your betting prowess.

In the following article, we’ll suggest three excellent books on sports betting that will not only educate but entertain.

1) ‘Sharp Sports Betting’ Leads Our Books

This book is considered by many as the “Bettor’s Bible.” The book is authored by Stanford Wong, a pioneer in gambling publications. The first work he authored, “Professional Blackjack,” is also considered a classic.

Wong’s legendary prowess on the blackjack tables and his gambling knowledge has allowed him to create a lucrative cottage industry.

Wong, born in Georgia in 1943, was fascinated by games as a child. In several interviews, Wong took to blackjack and counting cards after reading Ed Thorpe’s “Beat the Dealer.” He was so successful at the game that legend has it that at age 21, he was able to start putting himself through school with his winnings.

“Sharp Sports Betting” came about after Wong realized that there were no credible books on the topic out there. His book stays away from evaluating teams and players and sticks to the math involved to win at sports betting.

Wong covers the basics in clear language: money lines, spreads, parlays, and teasers. He also spends a good amount of time exploring Poisson distribution — or the probability of X-number of events happening in a fixed interval. The charts and statistical analysis Wong offers is a must-read.

2) ‘Fixed-Odds Sports Betting’

Joseph Buchdal is a bettor extraordinaire with a passion for sportsbook and soccer, or football as they call in his home in the United Kingdom. He’s a contributor to advise sites and has written several other betting books.

Buchdal’s book “fixed-Odds Sports Betting” is considered one of the best books about gambling. It holds wit and wisdom for the newbie and the experienced bettor alike. He emphasizes the practice of value betting, where you need to isolate that thing that is likely to happen, but oddsmakers are not favoring it to happen.

He tells how to isolate factors to maximize value betting strategies and hopefully come out ahead over time in his book.

3) ‘The Signal and the Noise’

If you want a good read on predicting events, including sports, but would enjoy a wider focus, an excellent choice is Nate Silver’s “The Signal and the Noise.” Silver is best known for his political predictions and his blog FiveThirtyEight.com.

Silver developed his forecasting prowess by calculating reams of baseball statistics over long airplane flights. His Pecota system was then successfully used to predict the first Obama election in all 50 states.

His clear, explanatory writing illuminates many mathematical, political, and cultural touchstones, which gives the reader a larger sense of the forecasting world.

Get In the Game

While we picked three books to get your sports betting reading list started, there are hundreds of titles to choose from. Wong’s pioneering idea to explore the world of betting in ways that make sense to the novice and hardened better alike has sparked a major industry of sports betting publications.

With all that is out there to read, you are sure to find a book that suits your interests.

Want to learn more about our betting services and software? Contact us today at (800) 909-5193.

Related Posts:

Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes

See All Guides

Placing bets via the shady realm of underground and unlicensed sports betting has never been a pleasant or safe experience. There are two places to bet on sports comfortably and securely: casinos and licensed online sportsbooks.

In this article, we explore how the illicit black market of sports betting functions, and speculate how widespread it really is. If you’ve ever been curious how sports bettors gamble in the back rooms of the world, read on.

Bookies, Oddsmakers, & Managers: Oh My!

It’s important to note that illicit operations like these are secretive and complex, and often have ties to organized crime. As such, they are super murky, and determining exactly how they operate is next to impossible (After all, it’s not like they go public with the information!). Despite that, the general structure of underground betting rings is relatively well-known and clear.

There are three different levels of a standard underground betting operation: the bookies, the managers, and the oddsmakers. The bookies are on the lowest rung of the betting ladder, while managers are the middlemen. Oddsmakers are the ringleaders of the entire operation, and they comprise the highest level of the operation.

What Do Bookies Do?

If you’ve seen any mob movies or television shows, you’re probably heard the term “bookie” tossed around. Quite simply, it’s a shorthand term for “bookmaker.”

Bookies collect bets from sports bettors and distribute the winnings. They’re responsible for the grunt work of laying wagers and distributing payouts for their superiors, as well as communicating the odds and selection of available bets.

Unlike online sports betting, underground bettors can’t learn about odds or bets for specific events unless it’s via word of mouth. Undercover betting operations don’t have websites which list available odds, nor do they have brick and mortar locations like Vegas sportsbooks.

What Are the Roles of Underground Managers?

Bookies report to a manager, whose role is to collect money from the bookies and inform them about the odds and available bets. This allows bookies to communicate information directly to bettors on the ground (It should be noted that bookies never meet, and rarely know who the ringleaders of the entire operation are).

Managers are an essential part of the underground betting process, serving as the barrier between the bookies and oddsmakers. If a bookie is arrested for their participation in an underground betting ring, this separation keeps the top of the pyramid from being implicated.

The Highest Level: Oddsmakers

Oddsmakers are the top of the pyramid, issuing orders that both the managers and the bookies follow. As their name implies, oddsmakers decide the odds and types of bets that are accepted from sports bettors. This is the most critical part of any betting operation and comprises the most significant part of the oddsmakers’ responsibilities.

Underground Sports Betting News

Oddsmakers are also responsible for supervising and directing the managers beneath them. They assign managers to specific neighbourhoods or regions, and issue directives on how many bookies they should keep under their employ. In a sense, oddsmakers are no different than senior managers within any traditional business.

A key aspect to note is that the very nature of the structure of underground betting rings makes it very difficult to stop them. Oddsmakers typically don’t know the bookies who work for them, and bookies often have no idea who is calling the shots. This separation between the highest and the lowest level of underground sports betting rings makes it difficult for law enforcement to make any meaningful arrests.

Underground Sports Betting

Underground Sports Betting and Organized Crime

Underground sports betting operations are often linked with more nefarious operations. Because of this, underground sports betting isn’t a victimless crimes, with profits often diverted to more sinister activities under the umbrella of organized crime. This could be arms trading, drug dealing, prostitution, and various forms of financial fraud

These operations gravitate towards organized crime due to the protection it offers. Because underground betting isn’t licensed or regulated, it falls beyond the purview of the law. As such, many of the protections that licensed sportsbooks enjoy aren’t afforded to underground betting operations.

Organized crime serves to protect the money involved in underground sports betting operations. This can include physical violence to prevent bookies from being robbed obtain prompt debt payments from bettors.

Thanks to KYC (Know Your Client) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) laws, money from underground sports betting cannot be deposited into a bank. Both of these laws require by law that banks must report any deposit over $10,000, in order to prevent banks for storing the funds of criminals. As such, the money from illicit sports betting operations is not then deposited into banks, it is instead stored in cash.

Due to the scrutiny of banks, underground sports betting operations handle all bets in cash, as it is untraceable. This certainly comes with an associated security risk for the bookies, managers, and oddsmakers. Holding cash isn’t nearly as safe as having money inside the secure confines of a bank. However, this is a risk that underground sports betting markets must run, as they have no other option if they want to avoid detection by law enforcement.

Why Do People Turn to Underground Betting Markets?

You might be wondering why, given so many legitimate available options online, people still turn to underground betting markets. In many cases, turning to underground betting markets is often related to a lack of knowledge related to safer, more legitimate ways of placing sports bets.

Secondly, sports betting still has a stigma attached to it. Underground betting markets are wholly confidential: you pay in cash and get paid out in cash. You don’t have to provide any identification whatsoever.

Finally, unlike licensed online sportsbooks, many undercover betting operations allow you to borrow money to make sports bets. A licensed sportsbook would never act as a bank. Underground sports betting operations understandably prey on sports bettors with addiction problems. These predatory lenders offer loans are accompanied by incredibly high interest.

We’ve all seen the movies: Owing money to an entity even tangentially-related to organized crime is never a wise move.

How Big Is Underground Betting in the United States?

Betting

According to the American Gaming Association, nearly 20% of the entire international sports betting market is wagered through underground betting channels in the United States. The remaining bets go through legitimate channels, either through licensed sportsbooks or government-sanctioned sportsbooks within casinos.

Interestingly, 25% of the total betting volume in underground operations takes place in New York and California.

Why You Should Use an Online Sportsbook

Unlike the black market, online sportsbooks offer consumer protection.

While bookies do pay out bettors more often than not, they aren’t legally obligated to. The only guarantee a bettor has with their bookie is one of mutual trust. There is no record of any transaction taking place whatsoever.

If bets go disastrously wrong for bookmakers, a bettor has no higher authority to appeal to. Bettors only know their bookie, and they certainly can’t contact the police or a bank. Additionally, it’s best not to make a fuss when dealing with a shady organization related to organized crime.

Lastly, bookies occasionally orchestrate match-fixing in sporting events, in an effort to defraud sports bettors. Unregulated and unlicensed bookies are only looking to make a profit. They don’t care about fairness or integrity.