Sports Betting Definitions

What are Betting Markets in Sports Betting?

Betting Markets How can you begin betting if you don't understand the best betting markets? Learn more about them through this thorough overview.

Author:

Kukhanya Magubane

Updated:

16 November 2022

Table of content

What Are Betting Markets?

Betting markets are, ostensibly, the platforms that facilitate betting and wagering around the world. Sounds pretty self-explanatory, right? While that’s true, it would be a bit of a disservice to just leave this article at that.

In their totality, betting markets comprise a gargantuan, epic machine around the globe. One of the largest betting markets on the planet, sports betting, accounts for all of the following per Statista analytics:

Over $203 billion USD in total net worth globally

Over 197,453 employees around the world

Over 30,861 companies worldwide

Even the sports betting market alone has its own multitude of subcategories and markets within markets (more on all that below). Beyond sports though, these markets can also be used to wager on a number of different things, things like:

Betting on financials
Betting on reality shows
Betting on political elections
Betting on other notable world events

Before you dip your toes in these waters, it’s important to get a feel for the temperature, which is why we’ve created this in-depth guide to help you through doing precisely that. Read on to gain a better understanding of how different types of betting markets work, how to read such betting markets, and how we can help you find the best in the business.

How Betting Markets Work

Provided they live in regions where legal betting markets are supported, bettors have the option to wager on a wide range of betting markets to their heart’s content. Here’s how each type of popular betting market breaks down:

Asian Handicap Betting Markets: A variation of spread betting that originated in Indonesia. Tries to set the winning outcome between either side to be as neutral as possible, but this neutrality will vary depending on what is known about either side.

Fixed Odds Betting Markets: Any betting market that offers fixed returns or losses.

Over/Under Betting Markets: Betting markets where you wager on outcomes occurring over or under a certain number, not necessarily who will win or lose an outcome.

Live Betting Markets: Betting markets that allow you to wager on games and events playing out in real-time.

Scorecast Betting Markets: Require two correction score point predictions for the event to win.

Win To Nil Betting Markets: These two bets are rolled into one single unit stake.

Double Chance Betting Markets: These markets require you to select two different outcomes and consolidate them into one unit stake.

Correct Score Betting Markets: Require you to discern and wager on the correct final point total of an event to win.

In summary, these are the different types of areas that most betting markets serve around the world. The largest share of these markets can be attributed to sports, but as we’ve stated previously, bettors have the freedom to wager on a number of different things, should they choose to do so.

Now, you may understand the most common betting markets, but do you understand the most common odds systems utilized by these betting markets? We’ll dive into that in the next section.

How To Read Betting Markets

Generally, you’ll see four different types of odds systems across different betting markets around the world:

American Odds Systems: These types of odds systems are represented by numbers with plus (+) and minus (-) signs. These numbers account for the stake you’ll want to put down for every $100 you’ll want to win, as well as the potential earnings you could win for putting down such a stake.

Decimal Odds Systems: A common betting odds system used by bookmakers based in Australia and mainland Europe. Represents the potential winning odds in decimal figures, as well as the potential winnings, which can be calculated by multiplying the decimal with the stake figure.

Fractional Odds Systems: Common betting system in Great Britain, Ireland, and the Greater UK. Can discern potential winnings as fractional multipliers. For example, a $110 stake on a 2/1 multiplier can potentially pay out $220.

Betting Exchange Systems: Different from standard sportsbooks, most US betting exchanges list basic percentage odds of the likelihood that an outcome will happen.

Generally, these are the four basic odds systems utilized by most betting markets. But how efficacious are these betting markets?

Are Betting Markets Efficient?

There isn’t really a binary, yes-no answer to this question. Thanks to the internet age, betting market results, line movements, and updates are more efficient than they’ve ever been.

Even so, things can still evolve really fast, and really frenetically. For the most accurate betting results, it would be wise to source from a multitude of different betting market platforms related to the sorts of things you want to wager on. Things can evolve so quickly, that many of the most prominent iGaming platforms offer to follow real-time spread movements as they evolve during the game.

So, more often than not, yes, these markets are fairly efficient, but for the most accurate betting line results, you should follow a multitude of trusted, reputable resources that are known for yielding fast, responsive line results. Some trusted names in the industry include:

DraftKings Sportsbook

888 Sport

Sugarhouse Casino

Fox Bet Sportsbook

BetAmerica Sportsbook

Currently, Washington D.C. and over 14 states offer legalized online sports betting markets in the United States. As of writing this, those states include:

Since sports betting is effectively legal nationwide thanks to a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, this list is only bound to keep growing, expanding, and widening in time. When it does, we’ll be here to let you know, and let you know about the best betting markets, deals, and no-deposit bonus codes as they arise.