USA Today Sports Betting
Navigating the New Landscape • Everything about sports and gambling has changed in the last few years. We’re here to help you make the most of this brave new world.
BEING A SMARTER BETTOR
Rules to Bet By • Avoid these eight mistakes that are common to rookie sports bettors.
Betting Terms and Concepts • Want to put a dime on a teaser? The world of sports gambling has its own special language, and mastering it is the first step to becoming a sharp.
Sports Betting Strategies • Successful wagering is about more than handicapping teams. The sharpest gamblers use these tactics to find an edge.
How to Hedge and Middle Your Bets
Understanding Sharp Money vs. Public Money
When and How to Fade the Public
Why Every Bettor Wants Closing-Line Value
Key Numbers and How to Use Them
10 Commandments From Vegas Insiders • Be leery of promos. Set aside your partisan biases. Do a monthly reality check with your bank statement. And remember: This should be fun.
Sport-Specific Wagers • Some types of bets are universal, but horse racing, NASCAR and others offer specialized propositions.
HOW WE GOT HERE
The History of Sports Gambling • The decades preceding legalization were marked by scandals that underlined why leagues wanted to keep betting in the shadows.
The Big Decision • This 2018 Supreme Court ruling gave states other than Nevada the power to legalize sports gambling, kicking off the modern era of wagering in America.
Why Legalizing Sports Gambling Was the Right Move • USA TODAY’s columnist argued in 2018 that sports became truer to the experience of fans when the Supreme Court brought betting out of the shadows.
Cuban: Supreme Court Doubled Team’s Value • The NBA owner was among many prominent figures who hailed the 2018 ruling that legalized sports gambling as a boon to their businesses.
NCAA Reminds Athletes They Can Only Fill Out Brackets for Fun, Not Money • As the rules on gambling were about to change in 2018, colleges rode their players hard to remind them that they were restricted from participating in this particular rite of spring.
The House That Gambling Built • Before the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling on sports betting, the Las Vegas stadium being prepped for the Raiders’ arrival faced questions about its links to the casino industry.
The NFL’s Sportsbook Deals Reveal Its Decades of Hypocrisy • The league had come down hard on players involved in gambling—and even fantasy sports, as in a case involving Tony Romo—but by 2021 the NFL had warmed to the betting industry, as it saw an opportunity for profit.
THE FUTURE
What Will the Next Phase of Sports Gambling Look Like? • Advancing technology and even broader legalization across states could amp up the already intense betting experience.
AI (and We Don’t Mean Allen Iverson) Has Got Next • Whether it’s data analysis or the ability to set odds for mid-game bets in an instant, the latest tech promises to push gambling to superhuman levels.
Step Inside the Future of Betting in Sports Venues • The placing of sportsbooks inside arenas and stadiums is changing the gameday experience by giving fans a new kind of action.
Can Gambling Boost Flagging Interest in NASCAR? • One challenge is that auto racing doesn’t have the same level of appeal to gamblers as the major team sports.
The New Reality for College Sports • An Alabama baseball betting scandal highlights the pitfalls of the gambling era for the NCAA.
Is Another Black Sox Scandal Inevitable? • Despite the massive increase in sports gambling, experts believe that fixing games would be much harder to pull off today than it was in 1919.
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