Ohio sports betting before Bengals vs Ravens game: A beginner’s guide

On Jan 13, 2023

Sports betting has been legal for about two weeks in Ohio.

Sports betting has been legal in Ohio for nearly two weeks and Sunday night’s wild-card game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens figures to be the most-bet event yet.

So, whether you’re already planning to put money on the game, thinking about taking the free-bet promotions or are just confused by all the terms being thrown around, this guide is for you.

We’ll start with the most common terms and figures and by the end you’ll be able to decipher almost anything you hear and be knowledgeable about betting.

Different types of sports bets: The spread, over/under and moneyline

The three most common types of bets are the spread, point total and moneyline. A spread is the amount of points a team is favored by or receiving in a game. The easiest way to understand this is you either add or subtract the amount of points a team is giving or receiving. The Bengals are 7.5-point favorites as of writing this, which means you would subtract 7.5 from the Bengals’ final score Sunday night. If they still win after that, they covered the spread.

All betting lines are subject to change, based on the amount of money, or handle, bet on them. For instance, the Bengals-Ravens spread already moved a full point this week because it opened at 6.5. A 1-point fluctuation indicates a lot of money being bet on the Bengals.

The point total, or over/under, is simply the amount of points scored by both teams at the end of the game. This week’s playoff game currently has an over/under total of 41. Betting “the over” means the game will go over 41 and “the under” is less than that. So, you’re either cheering for a lot of scoreless drives or points to be scored early and often.

The moneyline is the simplest bet because it’s either a win or a loss, no point spread factored in,

Odds are the plus or minus numbers next to a bet

Ever wonder why you see -110 all over the place and then some crazy numbers like +2500? Those are the odds and they represent the amount of money needed to either win $100 or a fractional multiplier to that same amount. The Bengals as 7.5-point favorites are -111, so you would need to bet $111 to win $100. Conversely, the Ravens are +320 to win the game outright. That means a $100 bet would net you $320.

Rotation numbers keep tellers happy

If you’re going to a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, you need to know the rotation numbers of the bet you want to make. The board will look something like this: 115 Cincinnati -7.5 O41 -390.

The 115 is the rotation number, which you’ll need to give the teller at the window when you’re ready to place your bet. The -7.5 is the spread, O41 is over the point total for the game and -390 is the moneyline odds for the Bengals to win (bet $390 to win 100). Some tellers will kick you out and tell you to come back if you don’t know the rotation numbers.

Vigorish, or the vig, the juice and a ‘good price’

The reason -110 is so common is because it’s the baseline odds factor since the casino charges 10% (vigorish, or vig, and also referred to as the juice) on bets. From that baseline, odds increase or decrease, just like the Bengals being at -111, making it more expensive to bet on them this week.

Sports bettors and handicappers will often use the term “good price” or “good value” on a line. This means a spread, point total or other bet they like has better than standard -110 odds. For instance, the Seattle Seahawks are currently -105 to cover a 9.5-point spread this week. If they lose by less than 10 to the San Francisco 49ers, a $105 bet will net $100 profit. Those $5 might not seem like a lot, but it adds up when we’re talking about professional bettors with thousands of dollars on each bet.

If you win a bet, you also get your initial stake back. So, that $111 you bet on the Bengals will have a total payout of $211.

Parlays and teasers

Now that you know about standard bets and odds, it’s time to get a little more complicated. Say you like the Bengals to cover the 7.5-point spread, both teams to score more than 41 points combined and the Seahawks to lose by less than 10. The sportsbook gives you the chance to wrap all of those into one bet called a parlay.

Parlays come with increased odds and much higher potential payouts, but there’s a catch – all of the bets in a parlay have to win. Most sportsbooks will let you combine up to 12 bets in a single parlay where 10 cents could win more than $1,000, but that’s because it’s highly unlikely to happen. Enter, the teaser.

If you want a better shot at cashing a bunch of bets at once, you can do what’s called a teaser. It’s similar to a parlay in that you have to hit all of your bets, but it’s more likely to cash because you can add points to either side of the line. The most common teaser is six points, which means you could move the Bengals to 1.5-point favorites, the total to 35 and give the Seahawks 15.5 total. However, adding or subtracting those points will cost you when it comes to the odds. So, the payday from cashing a teaser will still be higher than a straight bet on one thing, but significantly less than a parlay.

Player propositions

One of the biggest additions to the betting smorgasbord is player proposition bets or props. Maybe you think Joe Burrow will have a huge game Sunday. You can bet his total yards thrown, touchdowns, interceptions, total attempts and basically any measurable statistic.

Other common propositions include the first player to score a touchdown, players to score a touchdown at all, defensive/special teams touchdowns and even the result of the coin toss. Yes, you can bet on heads or tails, although this is usually reserved for the Super Bowl along with hundreds of other propositions. You can even create cross-sport parlays on props, so you could bet Burrow’s stats, and parlay it with college basketball, the NHL, tennis, golf or anything else on the board.

Don’t let the hook cost you

If you want to sound like a seasoned veteran of sports betting, you refer to the half-point in a line as “the hook.” The Bengals aren’t 7.5-point favorites, they’re “giving seven and the hook.” Maybe you don’t like that number because it’s more than a touchdown. If someone around Paycor Stadium or at the bar asks you if you like the Bengals to cover, you can say “I liked the number at 7, but I don’t like the hook.” Or if you lose, you can blame the hook for costing you.

If you want to adjust the 7.5-point spread to 6.5, you can tease it down a point and pay the extra juice. These are also called adjusted or alternate spreads and the odds can get a bit out of hand the more extreme you go in either direction.