If you are a sports enthusiast and had wished to wager on sports in the past, but were weighed down by all the technical jargon for example point spreads, odds, and book making, relax. After you've got read this post, you shall be ready to participate in a short time frame. Although sports betting may appear quite overwhelming in the beginning, it is not as complex as it may seem.

Gambling had deep roots in England and quite naturally, the colonists brought their love of gambling over to the united states and continued with the tradition. Early colonists are already known to bet on cock-fighting, boxing, and horse racing. Within the early nineteenth century, the vast majority of gambling was centered on horse racing with boxing in second place. On the contrary, with increasing popularity of baseball, the focus of sports gambling shifted to baseball betting towards the later part of the century.

Through the start of the twentieth century, sports like the school basketball and football started getting the attention of community and with the passage of time these sports were competing with baseball in terms of popularity. The earliest form of wagering on football and basketball involved the usage of odds - a system still practiced today - generally known as the cash line.

The method of betting with money line posed big problems for the bookmakers and they were forced to come up with a substitute. A majority of gambles were inclined to place bets on college teams that have been quite superior to their opponents, making the outcome of the matches a foregone conclusion and resulting in losses for book makers. Just before the Second World War broke out, the bookmakers introduce a new method of sports gambling that transformed this industry forever.

In basic terms, the point spread is a handicap which is placed on the likely winner of the basket ball or football game in points. As an example, should the Lakers were expected to simply demolish the Clippers, the point spread for the game could possibly be calculated at as high as 20 points. Simply put, 20 points will be either subtracted from the total score of Lakers score, or added to the total score of Clippers. In such a case, any sports enthusiast who placed a sports bet on the Lakers would only earn money if the Lakers win by at least 21 points. Similarly, gamblers wagering on the Clippers stand to win their bets in the event the Clippers win the game and also in the event the Clippers lose the game, gamblers can still win provided Clippers lose by 19 points or less.

The point spread helped the bookmakers to balance their books as bets on sports were more evenly placed in comparison to the previous system where a large number of gamblers placed bets on the same teams.

The huge success of the point spread helped the bookmakers recognize that the greater betting options the general public had, the more bets they would be very likely to place. This realization resulted in the establishment of another system, the totals. Also referred to as "overs / unders,", this betting proposition provides the gamblers to bet on the total score of both the teams, irrespective of the outcome of the game.

Sports betting has gone through many stages of evolution with the passage of time. Bookmakers have continued to put together betting methods and opportunities, latest of them being teasers and parlays. On the flip side, placing a sports bet with the traditional money line, against the point spread, or through totals, continue being the three most popular forms of sports gambling. No matter what sports you follow, there is an equal opportunity now to earn money from visit your url favorite sports.