Michigan Sports Betting

Basics of Sports Betting: A Guide for Beginners

It’s finally legal to gamble online in Michigan. Yes, the 22nd of January 2021 marked the beginning of a new era for lovers of the online gaming experience within the state. 

And with over 25 Michigan-based online gambling platforms offering casinos, poker sites, and sportsbook apps, fans finally have the opportunity to place wagers anytime, anywhere, and without restrictions. 

However, while thousands of gamers are already populating the wheels of the 26 tribal casinos throughout the state and the three commercial casinos downtown Detroit, individuals new to the world of sports betting are having a hard time fitting in. 

Sports Betting in a Nutshell  

Before we dive too deep into the many details and terms you need to familiarize yourself with before hopping into any sports betting platform in Michigan, let's tackle this simple yet profound question; What is sports betting? 

Sports betting means placing a wager in line with your predictions towards a game. For example, let's say you've got a strong feeling Motor City Firebirds will score more three-pointers than West Michigan Lake Hawks; you can make a run for it. 

Note that every wager placed is between you and the betting platform you are making use of. Every bet must be definitive—there is no room to sit on the fence. And you can place a variety of wagers with the same or different outcomes. 

Everyday Sport Betting Terms 

Just like every other industry, the sporting world comes with a lot of jargon. And unfortunately, your everyday vocabulary won't count for much if you are trying to experience Michigan’s online gaming opportunities for yourself. 

Don't worry; this doesn't mean you need a crash course to understand a sportsbook app. Instead, we've taken the opportunity to list out the basic sporting terminologies you would come across when gaming in any of Michigan's tribal or commercial sports betting platforms. 

Common Terms

Wager: your bet on a sports game.

Games/Action: signifies the types of sports bet available in a gaming platform.

Sportsbook: where you find all the available wagers or bets you can place concerning a sporting event. 

Line: the odds of a game.

Closing Line: the odds are not static; they are bound by change. The closing line shows the final odds before the game begins.

Cover: winning by more of the point spread.

Limit: the maximum amount you can stake.

Hook: a half-point. A hook is the 0.5 attached to most odds.

Off the Board: games with closed wagers. Either because the games have started or because the sportsbook is no longer offering odds for the game. 

Opening Line: the first odds attached to a specific game.

Pick ’em/Pick: a game with little to no information about who would win or lose. That's both sides are seen as equals. The winner of such a game is a spread winner. 

Push: when the end of a game signifies that the wager is a tie. 

Straight Up: the favorites of a game. 

Steam: the outcome of a game is dependent on many factors. And steam is all about the upward or downward spiral of an odd when a set of gamers are putting in or pulling out their wagers based on specific game-changing information. 

Ticket: your record or evidence of a bet placed. 

Underdog (or Dog): the team with the least potential to win.

Types of Sport Bets

At this point, we believe you now understand the fundamentals of sports betting and the terms you are bound to come across regularly. If this is the case, it's high time you partook in the thrill and intensity of placing a bet. 

Information is power, not just from the media or political standpoint, but also in sports betting. Without detailed information on the type of sports bets Michigan's online bookmakers offer, your betting experience would only go as far as the surface of your preferred sportsbook.

To share in the adrenaline rush that comes with big wins and a huge pay-out, you need to understand the type of sports bet you can place. 

Straight Bet

A straight bet is among the most common and easiest way to go about online gaming. All you have to do is pick a single game and place a wager on any outcome you deem possible. Straight bets give you the opportunity to place your wager on Money Line, Point Spread, or Over/Under. 

Money Line Betting 

This is the simplest way to place a straight bet because it does not have a spread to cover. Pick a preferred side, predict whether they will win or lose, then place your bet. 

This style of betting revolves around the $100 parameter. So that's regardless of whether you are a fan of the underdogs or the favorites. Your stake would be nothing less than $100, the same way your win would be nothing less than $100. 

Note that if you are placing a Money Line bet on the favorites, you might have to stake well above $100, even when your win wouldn't earn you more than $100. While as a fan of the underdogs, you don't need to stake more than $100, and your potential win would earn you far more. If it’s a tie, push happens.

For example, if speculations are high on the Detroit Pistons {-225} winning over the LA Lakers {+185}, you have to bet $225 on the Detroit Pistons to win $100, or $100 on LA Lakers to win $185. 

Some sports allow you to place money line bets on an even wager. That means a $100 wager earns you an extra $100 if the game ends in a draw.

Point Spread

This {also known as the Line} is another popular method you can use in placing a straight bet. Point spread allows you even out odds. For example, let's say you have a hunch that Minnesota Vikings will pull a tough fight against Detroit Lions, but skepticism wouldn't let you go all-in; you can place a point spread bet. 

With a point spread straight line bet, you can handicap the favorites. That means you can give Minnesota Vikings points or goals ahead before placing a bet—even if you intend to bet on Detroit Lions winning.  

In simple terms, point spread bets empower the underdogs and offer the favorite the opportunity to show their wits. There are no ties or push in point spread bets.

Over/Under

This is a widely appreciated straight line betting method. It allows online gamblers to feel the intensity of sports betting from a whole new horizon. Most Over/Under does not rely on a particular team emerging victorious. Although, you can place your Over/Under straight line bets on such basis if you deem it probable. 

To better explain what an Over/Over bet means, let’s look at the potential possibilities of Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins scoring 12 points in a baseball game. The over margin allows you wager on both teams scoring more than 12 points, while the under margin means that at the end of the game, the total corners played would amount to 12 or less. 

Over/Under betting is popular in a variety of sports, and just like the point spread, it does not leave room for a push or tie—it's either you win, or you lose. 

Parlay Bet

Parlay bets are common for the huge cash-out opportunities they offer. Unlike the straight-line bet, the success of your parlay bet ticket is not dependent on a specific team. Parlay bet gives you the freedom to make multiple wagers on a particular stake. 

That means in a parlay bet, you can weigh the possibilities of potential occurrences in multiple sporting activities, combine their odds, and place a single bet with any amount of choice—standing on the confidence that your predictions are accurate. 

Multiple factors go into winning a parley bet, including luck. So, you might want to bear in mind that while you can use $1 to win over $10,000 in parlay betting, this betting style is not a strategy that guarantees long-term success. But then again, when it comes to obtaining big pay-outs from a single ticket, no betting type does it better than parlay.

Teaser Bets 

Like the Parlay bet, you would need to select two or more events to make up a teaser bet slip, and each event must-win for pay-outs to be possible. However, unlike the parlay, which relies solely on the lines provided by the sportsbook, teaser bets allow you to adjust the point spread and over/under to a certain degree.

The range to which you can adjust and readjust the lines in a teaser bet varies in different sportsbooks. Teaser bets make the multiple betting sequence more intuitive and easier to win. It puts you in the driving seat and gives you tangible control over your ticket. 

However, you must have it at the back of your mind that the margin between the possible pay-out you get from a parlay bet and a teaser bet is quite huge. Although teaser bets provide attractive methods to win, parlay offers outrageous pay-out possibilities. 

Futures Bet 

Future bet gives sports fans not moved by the thrill of everyday gaming the opportunity to win big from a team or club of choice. A futures bet is not solely about you putting your funds where your mouth is, although you are free to explore such an option if that's your preferred style of gaming. 

Enjoying the huge pay-out and convenience that comes with futures bet requires a basic understanding of the sporting event and the power of long-term gaming strategy. To partake in a futures bet, pick a team of choice from any sporting event and make big claims with your money at stake. 

Round Robin Bet

Since parlay bets are the most lucrative there is, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the round-robin bet is designed to help you gain substantial footing around multiple parlay tickets. A typical round-robin bet allows you to construct smaller parlays in line with the large parlay ticket. 

In simple terms, let’s say you place a parlay bet comprising of 15 games. Next, construct smaller parlays to include all possible combinations of events in the large ticket and place a wager around it. A minimum of three small parlay tickets combining multiple outcomes around the initial 15 games makes a round-robin bet. 

Note that there is no maximum to the number of parlays you can tie around your round-robin bet. So if you are looking to maximize losses and enjoy huge pay-out opportunities, make round-robin your preferred bet type.

Preposition Bet

Preposition bet, or Prop bet as it is popularly known, is a wager on an event ancillary to the game's outcome. Prop bet allows you to bet on play-based events, game-based events, and team props. 

With preposition betting, you can bet on events like which player would score a goal, if a player will be sent off, how many goals a particular team would have scored by halftime, which team would score first, and so on. Prop bets are a lot of sports analyst's favorite. 

In-Play Bet 

Nothing ignites the raw spark and intensity of sports betting better than an in-play bet. Popularly known as live betting, an in-play bet allows you to place your wager during gameplay. 

So, whether you didn't get a chance to place your stake before kickoff or you fancy the exhilarating feel and excitement of predicting potential outcomes after kickoff, in-play bet has got you covered.

In Conclusion 

With Michigan planning to expand its online gambling offerings in 2021 and beyond, there is no better time to join the thousands of sports lovers gambling responsibly across the state. In addition, the industry is regulated by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), so you know you will have a safe and secure place to place your bets. 

And since this piece brought you all the information you need to pioneer lucrative online sports betting activities around Michigan, what’s stopping you from picking a preferred sports betting platform and getting down to business?