Sportsbetting. It’s fun and thrilling, ups the ante of excitement and makes a win or a loss, more than just, well, a win or a loss. Bet on your favorite team, be it baseball or any other game you think you know a thing or two about–the possibilities are endless – basketball, soccer and so on.

To help you on your way, Here are a few rules and words to get you acquainted with Sportsbetting.

Odds-maker (or Odds-compiler): This is the person who estimates the odds. Your job is plain and simple – beat him, rather, beat his odds.

Bets: Some Sportsbooks–where you can wager your bet, be in online or a place you can call over the phone or just personally drop by with your check book – have different combinations of bets for you to choose from.

But here are a few common types of bets:

Proposition bets: Make a wager on a particular result or outcome.

Parlays: Make multiple bets – of up to 12 – instead of separate wagers and boost your chances of a bigger payout. But all your bets must win for you to take home your reward.

Simple bets: You place your bet against the odds of a winner.

Point spread: Place a bet on a winner from two selections. But this is beyond just win and lose, and accuracy is the key. Players, as favorites and underdogs, are assigned points. You can bet on either of them. Should the favorite win more than the points spread or should the underdog lose by less than the points assigned, you get your money.

Progressive parlays: Like parlays you make multiple bets – up to 12 – and rewards are high in case of a win, but just not as high Parlays, but that’s because progressive parlays offer a reduced payout in case of a loss.

Head-to-head: Wager bets on competitors and not the outcome of the match.

Totalizators: The odds keep changing as per the share of the total exchange each possible outcome has received.

Future: Bet on a future event, when the odds are released at the beginning of each season. The odds keep changing as the match dates approach. This is for those who know their game well.

If-wager: You’re allowed to make a second-wager, not beyond the first amount, and subject to your winning the first selection.

These just a few options available–there are many more type, each with different attributes which may be of interest.

Bottom line: If you think betting is for you, give it a shot. Start small, see how it goes and have fun! And, as always, remember to please gamble responsibly…

Good Luck!

Here are some tips from one of the oldest and most well-known Sports Handicapping services in the business, Doc’s Sports Service, which has been family-owned and operated since 1971:

1. Be careful of services that have you call them for free picks and then immediately want your phone number to call you back. One of their high-pressure salesmen will call you back, tell you how their system really works, and believe me there is nothing ‘Free’ about it. These services typically charge you a percentage of your winnings. Since they have so many callers, they will give out different games to different callers, guaranteeing themselves a percentage of someone’s winnings. They don’t have just one set of picks. The winners are happy and ready to pay for next week’s picks, and you can bet your winnings the price of these picks will go up. The losers will get a call back from another service, most often the same service, using a different name, promising a great week, and the system starts all over again.

2. Watch out for services offering different levels of picks. For example, Diamond, Gold, and Silver packages, based on the idea that the more you pay, the better the picks will be. The question that always remains is “Why wouldn’t you give everyone your best picks?” Why give out the lower level of picks at all? The answer is obvious. To give out more expensive picks to those who can afford it and less expensive picks to those who can’t. In reality the outcome of the selections has nothing to do with the price that is charged and whichever group happens to be winning will be the one heavily promoted. Through it all the end result is obvious. These services do not have your best interest in mind.

3. Sports betting is a marathon not a sprint. The same principle that applies to any business, also applies to betting sports. There are no ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes. There are no ‘Locks.’ Any game can and will lose in almost unimaginable ways. And, you will unfortunately have your losing days. The bottom line is to win more than you lose.

4. Never bet beyond your means. Be patient and above all have some fun and enjoy it. If you can’t afford to ever lose – don’t gamble.

If you’re looking to use the handicapping info you can get from Doc’s or any other reputable service out there, make sure you make good decisions with regard to who you place your bets with. As with handicapping services, there are THOUSANDS of places will to take your money to place a bet. Again, be smart, and do you homework when looking for the right Baseball Sportsbook (any other sport for that matter).

Even if you are not a gambler, you can never have too much Red Sox info such as schedules (updated daily)

Or, if the Sox are not your team, (shocking as it may be, it happens…) you can always check out Picks on any other teams in Major League baseball.

And, as always, if you do choose to gamble, please do so responsibly.

Good Luck!

So, in my research, I also discovered that sports betting isn’t just about placing a bet, an calculation spreads and the like. Of course you can still bet on NFL and MLB, but you can also play poker online, in what is called a Poker Room. Here, you can play against thousands of players at hundreds of table. There are also tons of tournaments people can participate in.

There are also Casino Areas which offer everything you could possibly imagine. From Blackjack to Caribbean Stud Poker to Rock’n Slots to Pai Gow, everything you can get in a real casino is available online. You even have the option of playing completely online, or downloading free software. Casino Linesmaker is one of the sites that offers these options. Started in 1997, Linesmaker offers everything from soup to nuts, and is one of the industry leaders with a very diverse offering. They can eve cover a bet up to $1 million!

So, if you are interested in getting your feet wet in the world of on-line gaming/sports betting, or playing some poker, or any other such casino game, be smart, do your homework, and remember, please gamble responsibly…

Good Luck!

So, in my research on handicapping sites, I figure I would go to one of the best handicapping site around: Locksmith Sports Picks. Voted #1 in baseball handicapping at the Pro Handicappers League and Vegas Insider last year, Locksmith had a 53% success rate (296-263-6) and a +5005. That means if you bet $100 on each game, you would have won $5,005. Pretty excellent rate of return…

Locksmith also offers many different sports books listings on their site, so people have all the info they need to make an educated wager. And, surprisingly, there are alot of people who want to gather all the info themselves, from the pitching matchups, to where they are playing (Obviously, Fenway Park is an advantage to the Red Sox, although the Yankees have fared pretty well there over the years), what time of the day (some players and teams do better during the day than at night) Who the starters are, and how righties and lefties fare against them. There are a million and one variables that can and often give a team an edge, and both pro and amateurs handicappers look at them all.

Then, there are people who either don’t have the time, or the inclination, or ever the skill to do their own handicapping. So they will sign up for a handicapping service which, for a fee, will provide predictions by e-mail. Plans can run from 1 day with 1 handicapper to 1 year with a whole staff of handicappers, and everything in between…

Still not sure if its for you? This site is jammed packed with tons of info, on all aspects of betting, handicapping, and all of your favorite sports. While I am still a newbie when it comes to the betting/handicapping world, I know alot more than I did when I started…

So if you looking to place a couple of bets on the Sox (who are picked to face the Cubs this year in the World Series–and LOSE to them!) take a look at Locksmith–and let me know how it goes…

So I was surprised to hear that not only is sports betting legal, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry which is alive and well internationally.

This made me curious, so I went and typed “sports betting” into Ask–and I got 6,965,00 hits. The problem wasn’t finding information about sports betting, it was trying to figure out where to begin…

Sports betting is is now the most popular part of a 5-headed beast know as on-line betting. This also includes lotteries, horse and wireless wagering, and casino style games (which is probably the most well-known…)

There are approximately 3000 on-line casinos in existence today, with about 1/2 of them also offering sports betting. And you can bet on just about anything: from baseball and football to golf and cricket(!) You can even bet on who is going to win American Idol! Chances are, if there is a competition, you can place a wager on it.

And you don’t even need a ton of money to do it. For example, at some sites, you can wager as little as $5.00 if you are placing your bets via the ‘net, (the max is $5,000); If you are betting by phone, the minimum is $100, with the max being $100,000…

While credit cards are allowed at most sites, many credit card companies won’t allow you to use their cards for gambling(too much risk–for them). If that’s the case with your credit card, you can always go through such alternate deposit services as Firepay, Citadel, E-Check, Moneybookers, Western Union, etc. You have probably heard of the most popular of these services: Paypal, but they no longer allow their service to be used for these types of deposits…

Other options include wire transfers from your bank accounts and at Bodog you can even use your checkbook!

Some tips:

Go with a service that has been around a long time. Those who have been around for a while are for a reason…

Once you find 2-3 that seem like a good fit, do your homework–find out all you can about the services–Look on-line for reviews of these site. This will help you narrow down your choices.

Look for companies that are easy to do business with–I know that sounds obvious, but easy sign-up, excellent customer service, and quick payouts are all signs of a good company…

There are many less than desirable entities out there who are just waiting to take your money–but with a little common sense, and some research, finding a reputable place to “place you bets” isn’t impossible…

And remember, please gamble responsibly…

While playing Knock Rummy or Blackjack with my family for nickels and quarters is about as far as I will go, if your interests run a bit deeper than that, or the annual World Series or Super Bowl pool that guy runs at work is just too mundane, there is always on-line sports betting…Good Luck!

So I was surprised to hear that not only is sports betting legal, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry which is alive and well internationally.

This made me curious, so I went and typed “sports betting” into Ask–and I got 6,965,00 hits. The problem wasn’t finding information about sports betting, it was trying to figure out where to begin…

Sports betting is is now the most popular part of a 5-headed beast know as on-line betting. This also includes lotteries, horse and wireless wagering, and casino style games (which is probably the most well-known…)

There are approximately3000 on-line casinos in existence today, with about 1/2 of them also offering sports betting. And you can bet on just about anything: from baseball and football to golf and cricket(!) You can even bet on who is going to win American Idol! Chances are, if there is a competition, you can place a wager on it.

And you don’t even need a ton of money to do it. For example, at Betus you can wager as little as $5.00 if you are placing your bets via the ‘net, (the max is $5,000); If you are betting by phone, the minimum is $100, with the max being $100,000…

While credit cards are allowed at most sites, many credit card companies won’t allow you to use their cards for gambling(too much risk–for them). If that’s the case with your credit card, you can always go through such alternate deposit services as Firepay, Citadel, E-Check, Moneybookers, Western Union, etc. You have probably heard of the most popular of these services: Paypal, but they no longer allow their service to be used for these types of deposits…

Other options include wire transfers from your bank accounts and at some,  you can even use your checkbook!

Some tips:

Go with a service that has been around a long time. Those who have been around for a while are for a reason…

Once you find 2-3 that seem like a good fit, do your homework–find out all you can about the services–Look on-line for reviews of these site. This will help you narrow down your choices.

Look for companies that are easy to do business with–I know that sounds obvious, but easy sign-up, excellent customer service, and quick payouts are all signs of a good company…

There are many less than desirable entities out there who are just waiting to take your money–but with a little common sense, and some research, finding a reputable place to “place you bets” isn’t impossible…

And remember, please gamble responsibly…

While playing Knock Rummy or Blackjack with my family for nickels and quarters is about as far as I will go, if your interests run a bit deeper than that, or the annual World Series or Super Bowl pool that guy runs at work is just too mundane, there is always on-line sports betting…Good Luck!