Baltimore sports fans can finally wager on their favorite NFL team online.
For the last 11 months, Marylanders could wager on the Baltimore Ravens at one of the state’s five retail sportsbooks. But the state celebrated the launch of its online sports betting industry Wednesday, Nov. 23.
Therefore, Sunday’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars marks the first time Maryland bettors can legally bet on the Ravens online.
Here’s a look at the most common bets you can place on the game if you’re in Maryland.
Betting on the Ravens moneyline
If you decide to bet the moneyline, you are essentially betting on the outcome of the game. The moneyline is simply a fancier way to reflect the bet’s odds.
If the number displayed is negative, the outcome is the favorite. If it is positive, the outcome is the underdog.
When it’s negative, the number shows how much a bettor must wager to win $100. When it is a positive number, that is the amount won when betting $100.
Here is the moneyline for this Sunday’s Ravens-Jaguars game, according to DraftKings Maryland Sportsbook on Monday.
Baltimore Ravens: -205
Jacksonville Jaguars: +175
In this scenario, if you were to bet $205 on the Ravens, you would win $100. In other words, you’re essentially laying the sportsbook about 2-to-1.
On the other hand, if you think the Jaguars will score the upset, the sportsbook is offering 1.75-to-1 on your money. A winning bet there would collect $275 — your $100 stake and $175 of winnings.
Wagering with the spread
There’s another way to bet on Baltimore Ravens game. Aside from the moneyline, bettors can wager using the point spread.
Unlike the moneyline, it’s not simply about which team will win. In this bet, the sportsbook factored in the skill discrepancy between the two teams. Instead of just betting on the outcome, you’re betting on how much one team will win or lose.
Here is the spread for the Ravens-Jaguars matchup:
Ravens: -4.5
Jaguars: +4.5
Like the moneyline, the negative number is always the favorite. The positive is the underdog.
But in this instance, betting on the favorite is more about how much you think they will win by. The Ravens are “giving” 4.5 points. If you bet on the Ravens with the spread, and they only win by a field goal, you’ll lose that bet.
On the other hand, the opposite is true. If you were to bet on the Jaguars “getting” 4.5 points, and they lose by a field goal, you’ll win your bet.
You’ll often hear experienced sports bettors refer to winning a bet on the spread as the team “covering.” It’s a shorthand term for covering the spread.
The over/under
Betting on the game’s outcome using the moneyline or the point spread are two of the most common bets. But there is another popular bet that doesn’t have anything to do with which team wins.
Betting on the over/under, or total, is choosing whether the total points scored between both teams will be more or less than a predetermined amount set by the book.
The over/under for the Ravens-Jaguars this Sunday is currently 46.5 points. If you think the two teams will combine for more than that amount, you would bet the over. If not, you would take the under.
Baltimore Ravens same-game parlays
If those three types of bets are too boring for you, same-game parlays have become one of the more popular options on DraftKings. The Boston-based online betting powerhouse is one of the seven licensed operators to launch a Maryland online sportsbook.
A same-game parlay is a bet where you pick multiple game outcomes. To win the bet, you must correctly pick every leg of that wager. If you’re on the wrong side of just one of those picks, you lose the bet.
However, if you pick everything correctly, the payout is always a much better return than a single bet.
For example, last January, one FanDuel bettor in Pennsylvania entered a six-leg parlay for 50 cents. He correctly picked the player to score the first basket in six different NBA contests.
That pocket change turned into a payday of more than $130,000. But it’s important to remember that while more legs of the parlay will increase the payout, it will also lessen the chance of you getting it right.
