A common question from new or casual sports bettors is “What is a unit?”. A popular term in sports betting is “unit” and below I will explain what bettors mean they refer to a unit, and examples of it being used.

A “unit” in sports betting is a measurement of the size of someone’s bet. Because everyone has different sized bankrolls for sports betting, using the term unit is a way for us to show your profit or loss in universal terms.

These are known as ‘big bets’. There isn’t a choice of betting either $2 or $4. If one now wishes to bet, the amount must be $4 and raises must be in $4 increments. In fact, a fixed limit game with blinds of $1 and $2 is called a $2-$4 game due to the early betting rounds being limited to $2 and the last two rounds doubling but limited to $4. Money line (ML) NHL betting The simplest form of sports betting and the first stop of all hockey bettors. The money line sets odds representing an implied win probability for both teams. Each team/person in a matchup for a moneyline betting option is given a separate numerical value for bettors to wager on and these are called “odds.” The numbers, or odds, are determined by oddsmakers and sportsbooks based on how the two opponents match up, and each number is displayed with a minus sign (-) or a plus sign (+) in front of it.

Someone who is betting $10,000 per bet against the spread in NFL and is up $18,000 on the season isn’t nearly as impressive as someone who bets $10 per bet against the spread and is up $180 on the season. Using units gives us a tool to keep track of profits and losses without the dollar value.

Because basic sports betting strategy tells us that you should be betting somewhere between 1-5% of your bankroll on each wager, it is generally accepted that a unit is equal to approximately 1% of your bankroll. Nothing is set on stone with this, but that is an easy way to calculate a single unit.

Using the above formula, someone who has a $1,000 bankroll would be betting $10 per unit, while someone with a $50,000 bankroll would be betting $500 per unit.

Using the bankroll management strategy that recommends 1-5% of your bankroll on each bet you would essentially want to bet between 1-5 “units”.

Many sports handicappers will release their plays with units, with the most common being 1-5 units or sometimes 1-7 units. The 1,2, and 3 unit plays are more of the average plays, while the 4, 5 and sometimes 6 and 7 unit plays are the big plays where the handicapper feels they have found a lot of value on a play.

If a handicapper released a 5 unit play and you had a $1,000 sports betting bankroll you would be risking 5% (5 units) or $50 on the play.

When a bettor says he is +25 units on the year what does that mean?

This would be a measurement of his success on the season so far. Referring to being +25 units means he is “plus” 25x whatever 1 unit is to him. This could be +$25 for someone, while it could be +$25,000 for another.

How can a handicapper with a 25-32 record be +15 units?

It is possible to have a sub .500 record but still be up units if you are betting on underdog or “plus money” selections. For example, picking only NFL underdogs on the money line could lead to a negative record but profits on the season.

Can a sports bettor actually be +1546 units?

There is a lot of ways you can inflate your numbers to make yourself sound good. Like I said earlier a unit = 1% is just a general guideline and everyone has their own way of doing things. Read the fine print. 1 unit to that bettor could 0.001% of their initial bankroll for all we know.

Below is a video basically going over what was said above…

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There are many types of bets, but the most common are: moneyline bets, spread bets, total bets, parlays, teasers and futures. In the beginning we will explain how to read betting lines and then we will deal with different types of bets.

Betting line

Betting line usually shows current odds or moneyline, point spread (handicap) and total for a particular event. For example we can have a line like this:

Sportsbooks can stuff a lot of numbers in a betting line and sometimes even don't indicate what they mean. When you learn what all these numbers mean you won't be confused any more.

The -170 and +150 are money lines which are used in moneyline bets.

The -6 and +6 are the point spread which are used in a spread bet.

The over 44 and under 44 are the total points which are used in the total bet.

The minus sign (-) always indicates the favorite. The plus sign (+) always indicates the underdog.

Moneyline betting

Money line bets are on the winner of the event. In the example the -170 for the Patriots means that you have to risk $170 to win $100. The moneyline on the Bengals is +150 which means that a $100 bet on the Bengals would win $150, if the Bengals win the game. Of course when you bet $100 on the money line bet and win $150, you will receive $250 on payout.

Spread betting or point spread betting

Spread bet is a bet on score difference between two opponents. In the example above the Patriots are favored to win by 6 points and that is marked with -6 next to their name. So you can make two spread bets: 1) that the Patriots will win by 7 or more points or 2) that the Bengals will lose by 5 or less points. If the Patriots win by exactly 6 points, then the spread bets would be a push and the initial stakes would be paid back to the bettors. Usually with a spread bet the bettor stakes $110 to win $100.

Total bet

These are bets on the number of points scored in the game by both teams combined, including points scored in the overtime. In the example above the bettor bets whether the total points between the Bengals and the Patriots will be over or under 44. Like in the spread betting the odds are -110, that means risk $110 to win $100.

Parlay

The parlay is a bet on multiple sports events in which all teams must win or cover for the bettor to win and yield huge payout. If just one game doesn't win you lose the entire bet. If one or more games end push then these games are ignored. If you win all other games you get paid according to the games you won.

Teaser bet

A teaser is a special type of parlay in which the point spread on each game moves a particular number of points in the player's favor. Price of moving the point spread are lower odds.

Futures

Ml Betting Term

Ml Betting Terms Meaning

Futures are bets on future events. At the beginning of the season, the bookmakers give odds for teams who will win the championship. Futures are really difficult type of bet just for wise guys.