For most Americans, sports betting is an exciting new activity. Up until the Supreme Court overturned PASPA in 2018, betting on sports – besides horse racing of course – was only legal in Nevada. Even today, some states still only allow betting in person or don’t allow it at all.
What this means is that there are many new bettors who are learning the ropes. For first-time bettors, the world of sports betting can be confusing. Just like any sport or hobby, there is a lot of specialized language and conflicting opinions and information.
The best starting point is deciding what sport you want to bet on. This article will go through some of the most popular betting sports and briefly discuss their betting potential.
Hockey
Hockey is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. The NHL has been expanding a lot in recent years. The newest team, the Seattle Kraken, are just finishing up their first season in the league, while the Las Vegas Golden Knights were added to the NHL only four years ago.
Betting on the NHL has also been growing in popularity in the US and Canada – where hockey has a massive fan base. There are 32 teams in the league and the season lasts from October to June, providing plenty of opportunities to bet.
Hockey is a great sport for prop betting. A prop bet is a bet on an event or occurrence that you believe will happen during the game, such as a certain player scoring or how many fouls there will be. For hockey, whether or not there will be a fight and who will be involved is a great potential prop bet.
Football
The NFL is the biggest betting sport in the US – with the Super Bowl being the single biggest betting event of the year. For this reason, it is an excellent sport for bettors who are learning the ropes and want a big event to bet on that they can research well. Since it is so popular, finding a legitimate sportsbook offering good odds is a good idea.
One of the reasons that betting on the NFL is so popular is the widespread success of Fantasy Football leagues. Before sports betting was legalized, playing Fantasy Football allowed fans to get in on the betting action, in a way.
Even though fans can now bet on NFL games, playing Fantasy Football is still incredibly popular. This makes sense, as Fantasy Football allows the bettors to essentially manage their own team. For football fans, being able to bet on both of these forms of football is a fantastic opportunity to connect with the game.
Soccer
Much like hockey, soccer has been growing in popularity in the US in the last two decades – the MLS is now made up of 28 teams from across the US and Canada. Despite being a low-scoring game, soccer is a fast-paced and exciting sport.
Betting on soccer is hugely popular in other parts of the world and this provides American bettors with so many more opportunities to bet. The Premier League, England’s top-tier soccer league, is one of the prime choices for betting.
This is a great year for bettors interested in betting on soccer, since the FIFA World Cup will be taking place in Qatar in November 2022. Betting on this international soccer tournament allows soccer fans to test their knowledge and can be a great experience.
Basketball
Basketball is one of America’s favorite sports, alongside baseball and football. Part of the appeal is that the game is one of constant action and excitement. The high scores also make it hard to look away from what’s happening on the court.
There are two major types of basketball betting – betting on the NBA and betting on March Madness. Betting on the NBA is straightforward and follows the same line as betting on other major leagues.
March Madness, the NCAA tournament that takes place every spring, is unique and usually involves creating brackets. Building a bracket and being involved in a betting pool with friends or coworkers was popular before betting legalization and is even more popular now.
If you still have questions about betting, it could be a good idea to consult a betting guide. There, you can find information on the best types of bets for each sport – as well as tips on how to bet. A good guide will also provide you with stats and data on all of the sports that you’re interested in betting on.
The best and simplest piece of advice is to start small and simple. Placing small value, single bets on individual games makes it easy to keep track of what you’re spending and how well you’re doing.
As you gain more experience, you can move up to more complicated bets, though keeping the amounts small allows you to keep your focus on the fun.
