The retail sportsbooks in Arkansas offer some betting types, but the options are bound to expand when mobile sports betting launches. DraftKings has tons of options on its site, which we'll break down in broad categories here. You don't have to be a veteran sports bettor to give any of these betting types a try, but it's important to at least know how to distinguish them first.
Moneyline
The simplest type of bet, which boils down to the simplest of all sports questions: Who will win? Favorites will have shorter moneyline odds that carry reduced potential payouts. But it doesn't really matter who's favored and who isn't. What matters is who has the higher score when time runs out. For example, the Tennessee Titans might be +210 underdogs against the Dallas Cowboys. The game's outright winner is also the moneyline winner.
Spread Bets
For spread betting, you're a bit less interested in who will win, and more interested in predicting the margin of victory. The favorite in a particular game has to win by a certain number of points — the points are the spread — in order to "cover" the spread. If the Arkansas Razorbacks' football team is a 3.5-point road favorite against the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Razorbacks win 23-17, Arkansas is the winner against the spread. With a margin of victory that exceeds 3.5 points, the favored Razorbacks covered.
Total Lines
Using a preset point total, you must predict whether teams will combine to exceed or fall under that sum. This is also known as an over/under bet and is often the second most popular bet in the US market. Using the above example of Arkansas vs. West Virginia, the total line might have been 44.5 points. Given that the total score was 40 points, sports bettors who picked the under would be the winners.
Parlay Bets
Parlay bets are less a betting type and more a betting format. To build a parlay, combine multiple wagers in one bet slip. You can parlay moneylines, spreads, point totals or others, using games from one or more sports. DraftKings Sportsbook also offers same-game parlays. Each wager in a parlay is called a "leg," and one failed leg makes the whole thing unsuccessful (though DraftKings often has promotions that reward you if you only lose one leg). The added risk is counteracted by the added reward when a parlay works out, because the odds are always longer than if you bet each event individually. At DraftKings Sportsbook, you could theoretically combine a Titans moneyline bet with the Arkansas/West Virginia over 44.5 points and the Arkansas -3.5 points for a parlay.
Futures Betting
If you want to bet on an event taking place in the future, such as a team championship or an individual player award, that's called a futures bet. One example would be picking the Atlanta Braves to win the 2022 World Series, a result that won't be settled until next fall. NFL futures are the most popular of the bunch, including the eventual Super Bowl winner and MVP.
Prop Bets
Prop bets don't always relate to the result of a game, but rather to the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an event within a game. Player prop bets are especially popular, and examples include an over/under for 3-pointers made by a basketball player, or picking a football player to be an anytime touchdown scorer.
