Sports Betting - People's Love of Sports Betting



People love to bet on sports. Whether it be your favorite college team or the Super Bowl, betting on a sports game is a great way to add an extra layer of excitement to your favorite sporting event. Given the reliance on skill and the ability to use knowledge to increase the likelihood of winning it's no wonder that many people prefer sports betting to gambling at a casino. One of the most popular forms of sports betting is flat racing or thoroughbred racing. Thoroughbred racing refers to most of the horse racing events held across the United States and the world. In horse racing race horses compete to cross the finish line first. In fact bets at horse races total more than 12 billion dollars per year.

Betting On Sports

People bet on all sorts of sports and the cumulative total is massive. Sports betting is a multi-billion dollar industry. Whether you are betting through sanctioned gambling houses or through local office pools, sports betting carries risks but so long as you are careful you can keep your loses to a minimum. There are many ways to be on sports so you will have to look at the individual rules and conditions of each bet you are looking to make.

If you are betting on a team sport you will almost certainly encounter a "spread." Since not all teams are equal in terms of talent and potential gambling houses try to "even the odds" by placing a cover on an event. This requires the favored team to win by a certain number of points in order for betters who bet on the favored team to record a "win." For example, in the 2013 Super Bowl the San Francisco 49ers were favored by an average of 5 points. In this case the Baltimore Ravens beat the 49ers and so everyone who bet on the Ravens won. Had the 49ers won the game but only by 2 or 3 points those who bet on the Ravens still would have won their bets while those who bet on the 49ers would have lost.

Betting On Horse Races

If you are looking to avoid the hassle of spreads than horse racing might be the best choice for you. Horse racing usually does not feature a spread or any equivalents. Instead, the horse who crosses the finish line first simply wins and people who bet on that horse will collect winnings. A straight bet like this is called a "win" bet and simply requires the gambler to correctly predict which horse will finish in first place.

In order to create an exciting betting environment and ensure that not everyone simply bets on the favored horses, race tracks offer different odds for each horse. A heavily favored horse might be given odds of 1-5, for example. In this case if the favored horse finishes first gamblers who bet on said horse will receive only $2.40 for every two dollars they bet. A horse that is seen as highly unlikely to win, however, might be given odds of 40-1. A gambler who bets on such a horse and wins would receive a whopping $82 dollars for every two dollars he bets.

Of course, if you are looking for more "complicated" bets there are many options besides straight "win" bets. For example, you could try your luck at a Trifecta box by predicting which three horses will cross the finish line in any given order. There are many other types of bets that can be placed so before you head to the local race track you should conduct a little research and figure out all of your options.

Horse racing is enjoyed by people across the world and is especially popular in the United Kingdom and United States. Many of the world's most famous horse tracks are now among the most famous sports venues in the world including the Churchill Downs in Kentucky. The excitement and tradition of horse betting have made the sport one of the most popular to be bet upon in the world and each year millions of people enjoy their time "at the races."