Straight Bet Explained: Simple Wagers in Sports Betting

As the years go by, the best sports betting sites out there offer more and more different types of bets.

From patent bets to Trixies and Lucky 15s, straight accas and Bet Builders, never before have sports bettors had more choice when it comes to placing whatever type of bet it is that floats their boat.

But not everyone wants to bet that way. Straight bets are still the first choice of many so let’s look at what are straight bets and the most popular types of straight bets that you might encounter.  

What is a Straight Bet?

All the bet types mentioned in the second paragraph above are dependent on at least two different selections winning.

Well, almost. A Lucky 15 is made up of 15 different bets which includes four singles that aren’t dependent on other bets, but the other 11 bets in it do depend on more than one outcome.  

A normal acca needs two or more selections from different events all to win for the acca to win, while a Bet Builder requires two or more selections from the same event to win, for the Bet Builder to win.  

Straight bets are just one bet, on one event. 

How Straight Bets Work 

There are two key elements to placing a straight bet. The first is to decide that the odds on it are attractive enough to warrant you putting your money on it. The second is to decide how much you want to stake on it.

Because straight bets are just the one bet and not dependent on other outcomes, there’s a very limited number of outcomes that can happen once they’re struck. This is what can happen.

Possible outcomes of a straight bet

Bet wins- Your straight bet is a winner and you’re paid out at the odds it was placed.

Bet is dead-heated- This could happen for example if the bowler you backed to take the most wickets in an innings in cricket ended up tied with another in a situation where there isn’t a tie break, such as less runs conceded. When bets are dead-heated between two runners, you get paid out at half the odds or at half your stake, which is exactly the same thing. If it’s a three-way dead heat, you’d get paid out at a third of the odds.

Bet Loses- You’ll lose the stake you put on the straight bet.

Bet is void/cancelled- The match is postponed or cancelled for some reason, such as persistent rain not allowing the event to be completed. It will also happen if you backed a footballer to score a goal and they didn’t play a part in the match. You’ll get your money back.

Bet pushes- Even though you also get your money back, in this case it’s for a very different reason. For example: if you backed Portugal to beat Sweden in football on a -1 handicap and they won by exactly one goal, the bet would neither win nor lose, so you’d be refunded. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Straight Bets

Advantages

•    You only need to do your research on one event. 
•    You only need to be right about one event, not several. 
•    Cash Out is more readily available on straight bets than on accas/Builders. 
•    The House Edge is much smaller on straight bets.

Disadvantages

•    Accas and Bet Builders tend to pay out at far bigger odds when they win than straight bets. 
•    Bookies tend to give out more free bets and other bonuses around accas and Bet Builders than straight bets.

How to Make a Point Spread Straight Bet

This is probably the most widely-used type of straight betting for wagering on US Sports.  

To avoid betting mismatches where one side is very short odds and the other is very long odds, bookies will give the underdog an artificial lead of X number of points/ goals before the game begins.

It’s then up to you to decide if you think the underdog will successfully protect that artificial lead or if the favourite will overcome it. Bookies deliberately create a point spread that makes both teams close to 2.0 (or 1.9 once they’ve inserted their house edge) so it’s almost a 50/50 game.

For example:

LA Lakers +12.5 points @ 1.9 
Miami Heat - 12.5 points @ 1.9.

Once the final result is known, the handicap will be applied to it.

In the example above, if LA win, draw or lose by 12 points or less and you backed them, you’d have a winning bet because their artificial lead was bigger than the points they ended up losing by.