Placing a Sports Bet: What's Involved?

Updated: September 27, 2026

For those who have never bet on sports before, walking into a sports book and walking up to the window or opening an online betting account can be intimidating. This is understandable. Sports betting can be like trying to read a foreign language without any training.

The good news is that once you understand the basics, placing a sports bet is extremely easy. In fact, once you have done it a few times, it becomes second nature. In this article, we will go over the basics of sports betting and the options available to punters when it comes to placing bets.

The Bookmaker's Vigorish

Unlike most games, sports bettors are not playing against other players. Instead, they may be forced to take on the house. To get their edge, bookmakers require what is called a vigorish or vig on each bet. This is a crucial aspect for bookmakers.

What is Vigorish?

Also known as the "juice", it is usually ten percent. This means that if you wager $100 on a selection - you must wager $110 to win $100. This means that if you wager $110 and win, you will receive $100 plus the $110 you originally wagered (and of course, if you lose, you will lose the full $110). This 10 percent is how sportsbooks make their money.

Instead of taking a closer look at sports betting, many might say to themselves, "The bookmakers only have a 10% edge? I can beat that with my sports knowledge!" However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Sportsbooks go to great lengths to set their betting lines and will change the lines based on bettor activity. Betting lines are carefully set.

What You Should Do :

Work hard and do your research

Although it's possible to win at sports betting, it takes a lot of hard work and information. The break-even percentage is 52.38% at a ten percent vigorish, but even that is something that few sports bettors worldwide ever achieve.

What You Should Not Do :

Pay for picks

People who buy picks from paid handicappers (which I wouldn't recommend) will often hear claims from these individuals that they win 60-70% of their bets. These are almost always untrue.

An individual sports bettor who wins 55% of his bets is above average and performing at an excellent level. Those who win closer to 60% of their bets are in the elite category.

Placing a Bet

For those from the US, you will most likely be offered American odds at your sportsbook of choice. American odds are simple to understand: each number is based on how much a bettor must wager in order to win $100.

Here's a basic example of an NFL game's betting odds with 10% vigorish:

The +3 and -3 are the point spreads for this game. This means that Pittsburgh must win the game by more than three points for bettors to win their Steelers bets. Cleveland must win the game outright or lose by less than three points for Browns bettors to win their bets.

When it comes to traditional point spreads, there will always be a favorite and an underdog unless the game is listed as a penalty shootout. Also, the listed odds at most American sportsbooks will always have the home team at the bottom and the away team at the top. In the example above, the Steelers are road favorites against the underdog Browns, who are at home.

Of course, if the game ends with Pittsburgh winning by three points, neither bet wins. In this case, both sides will get their original bets back as if the bet never happened.

It is important to remember that pushes are not possible if the spread or total has a half point, or what is colloquially known in the betting world as a "hook." For example, if the spread in the above contest was 3.5, there could be no push.

Additional Rules

Before you place a bet, it is important to remember that there are rules surrounding the contest for the bet to be valid. These are imposed by the sports book and usually do not change much from one bookmaker to the next.

This is simple stuff like an NFL game must go 55 minutes to be official or an NBA game must go 43 minutes for bets to be valid. For baseball, games typically need to go 5 innings to be official in the eyes of a sportsbook. Many also have the caveat that both listed pitchers must start for wagers to have action. If either of these conditions are not met, the bet will result in a push, and again, wagers will be returned.

Overtime Counts

Unlike European football betting, which separates regulation and overtime scores, all US-based sports include any overtime scores as part of the spread or total. If a football or basketball game goes into overtime, those points count towards both the spread and total. The same is true if a baseball game goes into extra innings.

Placing A Bet

In today's market, logging into your account and placing a bet can be done in a matter of seconds. Sites want a strong betting interface that is simple and easy to use. They easily spend hundreds of thousands on their site design and their backend options for bettors.

Login to your account

After logging in, bettors are presented with a list of odds by sport, usually listed on the left or right side of the page. Another click will usually break down the betting markets for each night.

Choose your sport

From there, it is as simple as selecting your selections and adding them to your betting ticket. Just about every online sportsbook makes this a two-step or two-click process.

Submit your section

Once players have made their selections, they will be taken to a review page where they will have one last chance to review their potential bets before confirming their bets.

Once a player confirms their selections, the bets are locked in and are final.

Most bettors will likely place their bets from their desktop computer, but just about every online sportsbook offers a mobile website or mobile app for betting on the go. These mobile options are designed to be scaled down versions of the desktop sites. Bettors will follow the same protocol for placing bets when betting via mobile.

A betting option that many have forgotten about is betting by phone. Online bookmakers offer toll-free betting lines that allow customers to call in their bets instead of betting online.

Some may choose to place bets over the phone instead of online, and this allows them to do so easily. For some bettors, this may be an attractive option as some sportsbooks also offer higher limits for phone betting compared to a maximum amount set for online betting.