Frequently Asked Questions

A 1 UNIT WIN IS +1. A 1 UNIT LOSS IS -1.05 UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED. For example: Yankees ML (-135) 1 unit. A Yankees win is +1 unit; a Yankees loss is -1.35 units; a push is 0 units.

Betting on the moneyline means you're just picking the winner of the game. There are no point spreads or over/unders — you are simply making a selection on the winner of the contest. Betting the favorite requires you to lay more to win $100; betting an underdog earns a larger profit. A $100 bet on a +200 underdog would profit $200, and you collect $300. It's a great introduction into sports betting for new bettors.

A teaser is a special kind of parlay where the bettor gets assistance on the point spread across multiple games for a decreased payout. The most common teaser is in football, where bettors get six points added or subtracted from each spread. Each leg has to hit for the ticket to cash. Seasoned bettors use teasers to cross the key numbers of three and seven. The classic "Wong teaser" is a two-team teaser at -110, targeting underdogs of +1.5 to +2.5 and favorites of -7.5 to -8.5, on games with low totals (under 49 in the NFL) to minimize variance.

A parlay is a multi-wager bet that requires all legs to win for you to cash. The more teams you include, the more you can win — but if any leg fails, the ticket is toast. Serious bettors should not rely on parlays for long-term success, but small parlays can present value: two strong MLB favorites you don't want to lay -250 juice on each become more affordable as a two-team parlay, especially when events are correlated.

There is no right answer. The best sport to wager on is the one that you know most about. The best way to increase the sports you bet on is by watching them and doing research based on historical data.

It can be safe as long as you use a trusted online sportsbook. No bootleg bookies please! It's also wise to have at least 5 books to help you get the best line, since lines change frequently.

Absolutely not. I don't consider myself a sports expert by any means, but the more I understand the sport I'm betting on, the better I do.

Also known as vigorish or juice, a vig is like a commission the bookmakers charge. It's usually how the bookmaker earns a profit.

When two teams play, the public usually favors one side, and more money is bet on one team. What we look for is the percentage of money on a team to be greater than the percentage of bets — ideally who the sharps are on. I prefer my money percentage at 50% or less, with the bets percentage 7-21% lower than the money percentage (the "sweet spot"). Beware of trap lines: if 60% of the money is on a team but the line moves against it, Vegas may be setting a trap — in that case, leave it alone.

Betting against the spread goes beyond simple wins and losses. Betting the favorite requires your team to win by a certain margin; betting an underdog lets your team lose, as long as it's not by more than the given number of points. In hockey (the puckline) and baseball (the runline), the favorite is -1.5 and the underdog +1.5 — the favorite must win by two or more, while the +1.5 underdog can lose by one and still cash.

Contrarian betting is a strategy of betting against the public or popular sentiment, on the belief that the public tends to be biased toward favorites and overvalues certain teams. By taking the opposite side, bettors can potentially find value in lines adjusted for public perception.

Hedging is reducing risk or guaranteeing profit by wagering the opposite of your original bet. It sounds counterintuitive, but it's a key advanced strategy — useful for locking in value when a line moves significantly after new information.

Absolutely not. With VIP you simply get a few more plays, unit sizes attached to each play, and my POD (Play of the Day). As a bonus, VIP also includes other well-known cappers' picks.