Futures Betting

Futures are gambling odds that are posted in advance on the winners of various major events including the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, and the NBA Championship. These bets are often very attractive to bettors due to some teams getting long odds to win the championships.

Futures offer great risk reward odds for bettors and pique a bettors interest over the course of a season. There can be huge payoffs for long shot teams and home town favorites for casual bettors. One turn off for the recreational bettor is having their money tied up in a bet over the course of the season. Although sometimes the bet can be small with large payoff odds.

Professionals will bet more on futures because of the larger bankrolls that can take the hit of waiting the entire season on the bet.

Finding Value

Finding value in futures bets in very important. Some odds may seem enticing because of the long odds associated with the play. For instance, Kansas City to open the 2009 season has 60/1 odds of winning the Super Bowl. Now if you are a Chiefs fan this may seem enticing with Matt Cassell now at QB and the team looking up. But if you value the dollar in the slightest amount you can never make the bet on the Chiefs. There are 32 NFL teams, if each had the same odds of winning the superbowl, it would be 32/1 odds. So your valuing the Chiefs at about half value of a team being drawn out of a hat winning the Super Bowl. To bet on this would be foolish.

There have been instances where betting the long shots have paid off, though. In 2003 the Marlins beat 120-1 odds to win the World Series. And in 1999 the St. Louis Rams beat 200-1 odds to win the Super Bowl. These bets killed the books, even with the books setting a max payout amount (around $50k). But even beginning the 2009 season, the Lions are only offered 100-1 odds of winning the big show, which would be a ridiculous bet for any competent bettor.

Favorites usually don't offer to much value. With all the variables needed to win a championship and the need for everything to be going a team's way to win the championship, favorite odds are often greatly inflated.

Look for a team that realistically has a shot of competing the championship at inflated odds. Certainly don't bet on any team you don't think there is a shot of them making the playoffs.

When to Place a Futures Bet

Sportsbooks will update futures odds often weekly until it decides to stop carrying the futures bet. It is important to check odds often in case of changes in the bettors favor. Player transactions, injuries, team chemistry and a lot of other factors can affect the way the odds will change on futures. Injuries can change the futures odds significantly. Jump on opportunities before the book is able to change the odds.

The sportsbooks will often overvalue injuries, especially initially. So if you are interested in betting on a team after an injury occurs, check for opportunities as the odds will change significantly immediately following the injury.

Shopping Around

It is important to shop around for futures at multiple books before betting. If you are betting online, you've hopefully signed up for multiple sportbooks to bet on. If you haven't signed up for 3-5 books yet, sign up for a few of our top sportsbooks so you can always shop around for lines. You can find huge swings in futures odds from book to book. So before EVER betting on futures, make sure you have found the absolute best odds. Some books wont update their odds as often as others, so take advantage of that also.

Make sure the sportsbook your betting with is reputable and will be around at the end of the season. Again, make sure you are betting with one of our highly rated sportsbooks that you can find in our sportsbook reviews. If you haven't signed up with multiple books, we suggest you do so immediately with the top few books.