Types of Sports Betting

Sports betting is a form of gambling where you place a wager on the outcome of a sporting event. The goal is to win money by making accurate predictions about the game’s result, which can range from time-honored classics like football and basketball to emerging trends like eSports.

The most common types of sports bets are moneyline and spread bets. A moneyline bet pays out if you correctly pick the winning team, while a spread bet rewards bettors who successfully handicap the game by predicting how many points a favored team will win by. In addition, some bettors choose to combine multiple outcomes into a single parlay, which offers higher payouts and requires more in-depth knowledge of the sport and betting dynamics.

You can also place wagers on specific events, such as how many points a player will score or the total number of field goals kicked during a soccer match. These bets are called props, and they can offer much more lucrative payouts than traditional moneyline and over/under wagers. Props are based on research, such as analyzing team statistics and assessing player forms and injury reports.

Another popular option is placing a futures bet, which is a wager on an event that will take place in the future. For example, a bet on the Super Bowl champion for this year’s NFL season would be a futures wager, which would not pay out until the league awards its championship.