You may or may not have already learned that future bets are wagers placed far in advance of a sporting event after reading our Overview of Sports Gambling Bet Types.

The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing free odds by betting when oddsmakers first release them or well before an event is decided. For example, placing a future wager on the Kentucky Derby a month ahead of time can get you a much better price on a horse than betting much closer to the race when the real contenders are revealed to see.

Future odds are not set and can be adjusted by sportsbooks periodically, but the odds at the time of your wager are the odds you are locked into.

A futures bet example with major team sports would be NFL futures, where you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season starts. An NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl might be 20/1 in the preseason, but by midseason, those odds might decrease to 10/1 if the team turns out to be a legitimate championship contender.

It�s important to note that sportsbooks can change futures at any time, and they are available to be bet all the way until the event gets underway. Future bets are also not restricted to the championship game, as you can bet on who will win a conference or division too.

Future bets in NFL and NCAA, NBA and college basketball and MLB baseball are team-oriented in that you bet on the team�s performance while proposition bets on non-team future events that involve individuals like boxing, tennis, golf and NASCAR are also available. Keep in mind that with futures you are always betting that the event will happen, on whether the team will accomplish something such as a championship and not against their chances of doing so. For example, if Duke is 5/1 to win the NCAA Basketball Championship, you can bet $100 on Duke and will win $500 if they win it all - but with standard future betting you cannot bet against Duke winning it all.

Exotic Bets

Betting on unusual events. Some sportsbooks post odds and take bets on a wide variety of other sports related events and activities. A few others will take bets on just about anything you can think of.

Proposition Bet or Prop Bet

A proposition bet is a bet that might be considered unusual, such as:

1) Who will kick the first field goal?

2) Who will reach 100 yards in rush first?

3) Who will score the last touchdown?

The Super Bowl normally has hundreds of proposition bets for you to choose from.

Sports Betting Strategy

How to win at sports betting online: (Strategy, plan, tactics, method, system, technique.)

The challenge of sports betting is to collect and analyze information and then make a sound judgement on what to bet on, what type of bet to place and how much. To create an opportunity to be a winner, you need to take into account three main factors, analyze them and act on your findings accordingly. These are:

1. The odds offer (Price)
2. The value of the odds (overpriced or underpriced)
3. The type of bet (single, multiple, combination, etc.)

The odds offer has to be at least 2:1 to make it worthwhile. If necessary, choose a selection with a slightly higher risk to prop up the price.

The value of the odds must be such that the sportsbook's commission is to a minimum, if at all. Some lines get 'steamed' unnecessarily. When this happens, the 'favorite' price lengthens. Take advantage of those situations.

Three type of bets seem to stand out as a sensible combination to use because they are simple, not difficult to win and have good winning potential: the Straight bet, the Doubles and the Future.

Sports betting is one area where skillful players can win out. But it is important to understand that the skillful players are not "beating the bookies" so much as beating unskillful sports bettors.