Sports Betting Guide and Terms - Futures

Definition

A futures bet is basically a long shot bet. It involves betting on a team that one believes will win the championship. Actually, as a sportsbook diversifies its lines (to attract more bettors), futures have also been expanded to include picking a team who will win its division/how far a team will advance/etc.

Long odds, long time

In general, futures bets are bad bets. One cannot foresee what will happen throughout the course of a season, so betting on a team to win the whole thing can be very difficult. Some factors that make betting on futures a long shot include injuries, unforeseen trades, bad streaks, etc. Another disadvantage of betting futures bet is the length of time the sportsbook holds one’s money. Unless done for fun, placing a futures bet in the beginning or in the middle of a season is a bad idea.

Betting on ‘favorites’

As stated earlier, anything can happen in the course of a sports season. Therefore, it is very difficult to bet on the odds-on favorite to win the championship. Often these favorites lose value throughout the season, due to injuries, trades, etc.

Who makes these types of bets?

People place futures bets are usually average public bettors. Mostly, people who visit Las Vegas or Atlantic City on a weekend are those who place the majority of futures bets. Often, these people simply place their hard-earned money on their favorite team, doing no handicapping or the sort. These are the types of people that the sportsbooks love. Not many sharps and professionals sports bettors place futures bets, as these types of bets are often hard to handicap in the beginning and middle of a season. As a season progresses, though, some bettors may be able to handicap and place futures bets accordingly.

Playoff futures betting

Unlike futures betting during the regular season, placing a futures bet during the playoffs can actually be very profitable. One only needs to look at how a team is playing currently to see if such a team is ‘championship’ bound, or is a fraudulent contender. Specifically, Major League Teams (MLB) teams who streak during the playoffs often also win the World Series (as in the case of the 2004-05 Chicago White Sox, and the 2003-04 Boston Red Sox).

Summary

In closing, futures bets are bets that ask a bettor who will win the championship. In general, it is not a good idea to place such bets early in the season, for anything can happen throughout the course of said season.