Let’s be real for a minute, here. There are many different types of sports bettors – in fact, we’re confident that every single bettor is unique and each one has their own style, strategy and system that works for them. In this article, we want to focus on the kind of bettor who isn’t interested in complex, multi-tiered bets, but prefers to stick to a single wager on a single game.
There are plenty of different ways to place bets, especially when you start getting into betting systems that focus on how much to bet based on the results of your previous bet. But the most straightforward way to go about betting on sporting events is to make a single bet on a single game at a time, based on the available information and your strategy.
Locking yourself into multi-wager bets, like parlays, or splitting your bankroll into increments to place multiple simultaneous bets, might help you win big, but they are also considerably riskier than a straight, or single, bet.
Single or straight bets are really easy to understand: you place a bet or a value you have chosen, on a team, player or event that you have selected, and you wait to find out the results. It’s by far the most common form of sports betting, and it is the type that amateurs and newcomers will use almost exclusively.
That doesn’t mean you don’t have options, however. You can play moneyline odds, points spread, or totals; you can choose to bet only on certain games in a tournament, or bet on every single one, one at a time. Single-bet sports betting has infinite possibilities.
Just take the story of Jona Rechnitz as an example. He placed a single bet of $1000 that the first goal in a particular NFL game would be as a result of a safety – something that is exceedingly rare. He didn’t bet on the game’s outcome, or the points spread, or any of the usual options. No, he chose to place his one and only bet for that game on one very specific outcome that had to happen early in the game. His bet paid off, and, due to the astronomical odds, he won a staggering $50,000! The truly astonishing part is that he placed a similar bet on a similar outcome two years later, and beat the 50/1 odds again! We should also mention the fact that this New Yorker donated the winnings to charity – both times!
Do you have approximately ten hours available right now? No? Ok, in that case, let’s summarise. There are thousands upon thousands of strategies that you can apply to make more informed sports bets, and it’s impossible to discuss them all here. Fortunately, we have a whole series of articles and guides on everything related to sports betting, and our library is growing all the time.
That said, there are a few tips we can give you to help improve your straight bets:
As everyone knows, parlay is that thing that pirates do, an amicable, or at least, peaceful, discussion between enemies. Wait! That’s parley! Parlay is that other thing, the one where you use a bit of money to make a lot of money! It’s a way for single bets to roll over and keep winning. It’s also a great way for bookmakers to reverse their own losses.
Parlay is a system where you place a single wager on multiple consecutive games. Your winnings from the first game are used to bet on the second game, winnings from game 2 for game 3, and so on. However, this system relies on streaks – one loss means total loss, no matter how many preceding games were wins for you.
When it works for a bettor, it’s a fantastic way to exponentially increase your winnings off a single bet. Unfortunately, it’s a whole lot harder to predict the outcome of multiple games upfront than it is to bet on each game individually, using new information each time. For instance, if you bet heavily on one team because of their star player, and that player gets injured halfway through, you may regret that choice. On the other hand, if you place a bet on each game at the appropriate time, you can adjust your decisions based on players’ injuries, or other factors that might influence the outcome.
To parlay or not is a personal choice, and if you are confident enough that you can win, then by all means, go ahead. The upside is that your real loss will never be higher than that initial bet. The downside is that any gains you make could be wiped out in a second. On the flip side, if you placed single bets on each game individually, your wins may be smaller, but you get to keep them!
Whether you’re new to the world of sports betting, or have years of experience, we want you to have the best information and skills available to make you a better bettor. Check out our various guides to learn more.
