Molly's Online Poker and Sportsbook Guide

Also known as a combo, a parlay is a selection of two or more wagering outcomes, in which the odds for the payouts increase with the number of teams (sides/totals) chosen; the more teams you choose to parlay, the better the payout. You can combine different sports, pointspreads and moneylines in win/loss and/or totals betting.

In all honesty it's hard for me, on behalf of players, to recommend parlays because of the high hold percentage given to the house, but I can understand why players like betting parlays - it's all about the big payoffs! "Sometimes the smallest investments can turn into the greatest rewards," said one winner. more...

Arguably, there is no simpler bet than the game total. Simply add the score of the two teams together (including Overtime) and if it is higher than the posted total, the Over wins. If it is lower than the posted number, the Under wins. It doesn't get easier than that. However, unlike pointspreads, many new bettors have difficulty predicting outcomes for totals, either from lack of experience or just lack of knowledge.

Most bettors are fans and fans like points so the Over is always a popular choice for recreational bettors. This results in the totals typically moving up over the course of the week. However, professional bettors know this and bet enough Unders to keep bookmakers honest and the posted totals fair. A simple rule for betting totals though is to bet the Over early in the week and the Under late. This won't always work but if you track this rule over any length of time, you should see it holds up as a general trend. more...

A prop bet is a wager that is not directly related to the final score of the game (or event). For example, if your favorite baseball team is playing and you don't really have a feel for the outcome of the game, you might still have a feel for the pitchers or some of the players. You could place a prop bet or two on how those pitchers or players might do and that makes watching the game more exciting.

Fantasy sports is booming right now and by placing wagers on players who you feel may have a good game, props are also a great way for you to profit on your fantasy team. more...

As you're looking through this week's schedule and you're trying to decide on which teams to bet on, it's always a good idea to look at the home dogs first. When you take the dog, there are three results that can occur in a game: the dog can win, the favorite can win, or the dog can lose but cover. Two of those outcomes are good, only one is bad! Take the Week One game between Atlanta at San Francisco. San Francisco was down 21-13 and came back with a late touchdown that really didn't affect the outcome of the game (Atlanta won 21-19), but all of a sudden your +3.5 looks pretty good. Then in Week Two it was the New York Giants (+3) over Washington with some impressive looking defense from what I could tell. more...