SPORTS BETTING MECHANICS: SELECTION, WAGER, RETURN, STAKE, AND ODDS

Richard Lindsay | 12:10am GMT 05 December 2021

You will find this article helpful if you are intimidated by the terminology and mechanics of sports betting.  Once you learn the basics, sports betting is quite simple and easy to understand. Hopefully, you’ll find the information in this article helpful in your career as a football gambler.

Selection

Simply put, the selection refers to your choice of games. For instance, you can select win or draw. If Liverpool were to play Chelsea for example, then the three most basic predictions are Chelsea to win, Liverpool to win, and a draw. If you don’t want to select any option from this game, you can select two teams from another different league entirely, perhaps even another sport. Essentially, your selection is your prediction of the outcome of any sporting event.

Wager

Nowadays, saying you want to make a wager is an old-fashioned term, but it is still used. The term refers to the bet and every condition that it contains. Alternatively, the wager consists of the odds offered, the selection, the stake along the bet. You can get more information if you have a look here.

Return

The Return refers to how much a given bet pays out. The amount is based on the odds of your win and how much you get in return on your stake. In the case where a gambler makes a wrong selection, they will lose their stake and get no return.

Stake

A stake is simply the amount you want to bet on a particular selection. When you have chosen a specific outcome to bet on, you then have to determine how much you wish to wager. Therefore, if you want to wage $10, your stake is $10. When it comes to high stakes betting, the value of the bet is usually high.

For table games, a casino may set a maximum and minimum stake, and bookies may do the same for the sports bet option. Generally, online betting gives you a lot more flexibility when it comes to what you decide to stake.

Odds

Odds are the price you will pay for your selection. In theory, it is the chance that the event you selected will occur. In other words, if your chances of scoring a goal are 5/1, then for every 5 shots you take, one should come off. You should also know that the odds offered by not be the same as the chance of your selection happening. That’s where gambling comes in.

If the odds offered for your selection to happen doesn’t fall within your beliefs, then you may have spotted a bad or good bet. As a general rule, bookmakers are excellent judges of odds and appraise them accordingly. Look out for these bookies’ odds.

To put in Perspective

To win $1 in a 1/10 price, you need to stake $10 on the game. In this case, $10 would provide $11, The return is made up of your $10 stake plus the $1 you won. A bet of $1 would win you $10 if you placed it at an odd of 10/1. The return you get from your $1 bet combined with the $10 would be $11. In all cases, if a bet wins, the stake plus the amount won will be returned.

Conclusion

With the understanding of how a sports bet works, you’re ready to bet. It’s okay to make a few single bets before moving on to multiples and accumulators, but understanding these terms will help you know how to gather your bet accumulation.