Three Types of Betting

Money line: A money line bet is one in which you pick which team or player will win the match straight up.

This is the easiest bet to make , since you have a 50/50 chance of winning. Most new members will make this bet because they don't understand the other two types.

Spread: A spread bet is one in which you pick which team or player will cover the spread. The spread is a number of points which said player or team must win by, or come within. This is dictated by a – or + sign. In the image below Duquesne must win by more than 7.5 points to cover the spread, and La Salle must come within 7.5 points.

This bet is used with a lot of sports bookies in vegas and is commonly used more by experienced sport gamblers.

Total: A total bet is one in which you pick whether the total amount of points scored in the match will be over (signified by the letter "O") or under (signified by the letter "U") the number given. In the image below the number given is 162, and the odds for the over and the under are both -110, which brings us to our next subject.

This is also an easy bet. A lot of players will go along with this one because it's simple and straight to the point.

Betting Odds

Odds: You may have noticed that all three bets will often have a number in parenthesis next to them. These numbers are called the odds, and they determine your payout on bets placed. In the images above the money line example does not. This means that the odds are even and the amount that you bet is the same as the potential win amount. For games with odds other than even, they will have numbers with either a – or + sign. The standard example deals with one dollar:

For odds with a (–) sign your payout works as such: On a match that is -110 you would need to wager 1.10 for a potential win amount of 1.00

For odds with a (+) sign your payout works as such: On a match with +110 you would need to wager 1.00 for a potential win amount of 1.10

This example stays true throughout: -375 means that you wager 3.75 to win 1.00, and +375 would mean that you wager 1.00 to win 3.75. You don't necessarily have to risk a dollar; this is simply the ratio that is used to calculate your payout.

Parlays: A parlay is a bet that consists of multiple single bets. Parlays pay out more; however, you must win all of the single wagers within the parlay to win. Right now cross-sport parlays are not available.

Crony Bonuses

Your cronies are people that, whenever they win something, you get 5% of their winnings (losses do not detract from you). There are two ways people can become your cronies:

1) Use your 'crony signup link' (click the Mr. T head for more information on how to do this ... under Operation CentSports) ... your 'crony signup link' is a unique URL that you can post in forums, or write on bathroom stalls, etc. ... whenever people use that URL and then go on to sign up for CentSports, they automatically become your crony.

2) If for some reason your cronies are too dumb to actually do this, they can first make you their friend, and then, when they view your bet history, there will be a link for them to become your crony.

Either way, there is a maximum of $5 per 24 hour period that can be won from cronies.