The History of Sports Betting:
Sports betting can be traced back to ancient times when early civilizations held sporting competitions as basic as foot races, wrestling and rock throwing. People began "betting" on who would win. The Greeks began the earliest form of the Olympics and betting on the participants was commonplace. Gambling was a long standing tradition in early England and this migrated over to the United States with the early colonists who were known to have wagered on everything from fighting, horse racing, and even cockfighting. The colonists brought their love of gambling across the ocean and the growth of sports gambling began to flourish.
In the 1800s, horse racing was the sport of choice among gamblers, with boxing also very popular, but as the popularity of baseball increased in the later part of the century, so did baseball betting, and the popularity of wagering on the sport was brought to the forefront during the 1919 World Series, which will live on in infamy as the Black Sox Scandal.
College sports, such as football and basketball, began to catch on in the early stages of the 20th century, and quickly, those two sports soon rivaled baseball as popular betting activities. For a number of years, football and basketball bets were placed using odds, a practice that still takes place today and is known as betting with the "money line". The Birth of the "Point Spread" The biggest problem with the "money line" is that a number of the college football and basketball games were such mismatches that all of the gamblers would be betting on the same team, which is not what the bookmakers wanted. The basic principle was to accept an equal amount of wagers, or "action" on each team that was playing each other and the Bookie would charge a commission to the loser. The Bookie would collect the money wagered with the commission from the loser and pay the winners, minus the commission which would be kept as profit. In the 1940s, the bookmakers changed the face of sports gambling forever when they came out with the point spread which helped them balance their "action" or bets taken.
The "point spread" is a handicap placed on the expected winner of a football or basketball game in points. If the Giants are expected to roll past the Bears, the point spread on the game could be as high as 10 points. The Giants would be -10, or favored by 10 points. Basically, that means 10 points are subtracted from the Giants score or added to the Bears score for betting purposes. If a gambler places a bet on the Giants, they must win by 11 or more points for the gambler to win their bet. Those placing bets on the Bears will win if the Bears win the game or lose by 9 points of less.
The primary purpose of the point spread was to help the bookmakers balance their books. Instead of the vast majority of gamblers all betting on the same team, there were more bets placed on both teams. Because the bookmakers make the bettor risk $11 to win $10, balanced action will guarantee the bookmaker a profit regardless of which team wins the game.
The television explosion of the 1950s was another boost for bookies, as sports and television was a perfect match. People soon found out that a wager on a game would add to the excitement of watching the game and sports gambling has been growing at a steady rate every year.
"Totals" come into the mix:Bookmakers quickly realized that the more betting opportunities they had for the general public, the more wagers the public would make. That thinking led to the creation of "totals" or "Over/Unders". Totals, or over/unders, is a betting proposition where gamblers wager on the combined final score, without regard to the winner of the game.
Betting against the point spread, with the money line, or on totals are the three most popular forms of sports betting that take place today. In recent years, bookmakers have continued to come out with additional betting opportunities, such as "parlays", "teasers" and "proposition" wagers. These additional wagering opportunites are designed to entice more "action" or bets.
Understanding the history of sports betting and the terminology associated with this hobby, is essential to getting started. "More to come soon!"
What is a "Parlay?" coming soon
What is a "Teaser?"
What is a "Proposition?" |
