Hawaii plays Purdue this weekend. UH has a terrific passing offense and Purdue’s passing defense is rather wanting (91st-best). While there is a talent difference between the WAC and Big Ten, I like the home team’s chances to beat the 17-point spread.
Can I just walk into a casino, say “I’m putting $1000 on Hawaii”. Four hours later, Hawaii wins by 25 and I walk out with $2000?
Yes, minus the ‘taste’ or whatever Vegas calls the money the house keeps for every bet placed.
I thinkvigorish or vig is the word your looking for.
Just keep in mind that not all casinos offer sports betting. I don’t know what the law is in Hawaii, but I know that in NJ, it’s not allowed.
Private bookmakers and offshore gaming sites provide the same services, although they are illegal to use, but everybody does it anyway.
That last part was supposed to be in small text.
I’m not sure about Vegas, but for online sportsbooks 1.90 or 1.91 is an “even-money” bet. That is, the house is keeping 9 or 10 cents of every dollar of winnings as the vig. So on your $1000 you’d get back $1900 or $1910.
However, sometimes if lots of people are betting one side, instead of moving the line (say, to 17.5 points if everyone is betting UH), they will just adjust the odds a bit and you’ll only get 1.85 or 1.8 for betting one side, and 1.95 or so for betting the other side. So it is possible you could get 2.00 to 1 if lots of people disagree with your take on the game. But more likely they’d just move the point spread.
Also, and I’ve only seen this at some online books, you can “tease” the line yourself if you want. So you could say “I think UH is going to win by more than 21, not 17” and the odds will be adjusted accordingly. So you might get 2.5 to 1 or something by giving up those extra 4 points.
Is there a seperate line of betting if you think the underdog will win outright?
Yes. It’s called the money line. For example, if the Cowboys are favored by 11 tomorrow against the Bucs, you can take the Bucs to win the game outright (risking $100 to get back $260) or the Cowboys to win the game (risking $280 to win back $100). That difference between $260 and $280 represents the vigorish.
BTW, I haven’t seen the money line on that particular game. I just made up the numbers as an example.
Also, typically the loser pays the vigorish. If you bet $100, you walk out with $100 more in your pocket. But if you lose, you lose $110. Thus, the vigorish is really only 5% of the total wagers.
Illegal in Hawaii, that’s why I was asking about Vegas. I had a friend tell that you couldn’t just bet one game, but had to do a three-team parlay (sp?) or some such. They do it to make it harder to win, but I guess he was incorrect. Thanks all.
Although I do laugh when I hear those guys aggressively marketing their “guaranteed lock of the week” on the radio. If it was so guaranteed (because of their “information”), wouldn’t they take their own advice, bet the house, and be zillionaires, rather than do radio pitches?
Well, it depends on your point of view(*).
First of all, to HubZilla. . .if you don’t want to look like a rookie, you can go to the window, and place an $1100 dollar bet. (or if you’re a small timer, an $11 or $100 bet). That way, you win $1000 – you avoid the small change. Usually, there will be a big board of lights, and you’ll see something like
433 Hawaii +17
434 Purdue -17
435 Texas -13
436 Texas A & M +13
And you go to the window, and tell them “$1100 on 433” if you want Hawaii. At least that’s how I remember it. I haven’t made a non on-line bet in ages.
As to the “point of view” I mentioned earlier. . .
I always thought of it like I was making a $110 dollar bet. If I lose, I lose my $110.
If I win, they only give me back $100. That is, the winner paid the vigorish.
I just think of it as a charge for being allowed to pick whatever side I want.
Do they cancel the money line for some games or for some teams?
Like if there is a team (in college) favored by 40pts and you bet the money line for the favorite to win knowing (along with everyone else) that they’re sure to win but the only question is by how much. In that case can I place a bet that the favorite will win outright? Like a $1000 to win $1050?
Last time I was in Vegas (end of Sep), I noticed there wasn’t a money line on the higher point spread games. I think it maxed out around 2.5 to 1 or around 7-10 point spreads.
I now see the light.
As Fear the Turtle said, they max out at a certain limit for football and basketball. For baseball they don’t. You’ll oftentimes see the Yankees at -600 to win 100. If you take the opposing team, you only risk 100 to win 500.
This is a scammier scam that you might think.
They give out one side of a bet to half the callers, and the other side to the other half. When the game is decided, half the callers have now been hooked with a winning pick.